Alright, so the other day I was grinding away on this project, right? Needed some design templates and icons but my wallet was screaming. Figured there’s gotta be free stuff somewhere, but every Google search just flooded me with “free trials” that wanted my credit card later. Total headache.
Started Digging Around
First thing I did? Hit up those subreddits where designers hang out. Scrolled through years of old posts like an archaeologist. Found this mega-thread with broken links from 2018 – dead ends everywhere. Then someone mentioned “Jon Graz” in some buried comment. Zero context, just a name.
Got stubborn. Went full detective mode:
1. Searched Twitter for that name with keywords like “resources” and “free”
2. Checked GitHub repositories tagged “design-tools”
3. Dug through Pinterest boards until my eyes crossed
Boom – finally found a Google Doc link in some designer’s bio. Felt like winning the lottery till I opened it… just a messy list of random hyperlinks from 2020.
Cleaning Up the Chaos
Spent two nights testing every single tool in that dumpster fire of a list:
- Clicked 40+ links – half were dead or paywalled now
- Tried a “free” stock photo site that watermarked everything
- Got spammed after downloading a “mockup generator”
Started a fresh spreadsheet, killed dead links, and added notes like “FAIR WARNING: This color picker tool nags for upgrades every 5 minutes.” Organized everything into categories:
• Design Assets: Vector sites, icon packs
• Writing Tools: Grammar checkers
• Code Helpers: Free snippet libraries
Added ratings too – three-stars max since free always has limits. Found gold though: This no-name SVG library saved me 10 hours of work.
Lessons Learned the Hard Way
Free ain’t ever free-free, ya know? That “unlimited downloads” site? Capped at three per week. The “premium plugin”? Only worked with old software versions. My spreadsheet’s now filled with disclaimers in angry red text.
Still use it daily though. Better than starting from scratch every dang time. Just added a new tab called “Sketchy But Functional” for tools that work but feel like they’ll disappear tomorrow. Classic internet.