Although stock photos are a logo design no-no, these are some great resources for any occasion that may call for stock photos. Some sites listed below even offer free stock photos.
- http://sxc.hu – When you need free stock photos, Stock.XCHNG is one of the best. This site is known for being one of the leading sites for free stock photos. Additionally they are dedicated to ensuring that each image is free and safe. When you download from this site, you can do so with confidence.
- http://www.stockvault.net – If you want to access almost 20,000 free stock photos, Stock Vault is the site for you. This site features great stock photography from more than 4,000 photographers. These photos aren’t for commercial use however and are only for personal, educational and non-commercial use.
- http://www.freefoto.com/index.jsp – I bet you didn’t think that you would find Nasa on a list for free stock photos, but if you need space themed images, this site has some really great ones. Many logo designers find that these photos can double as great textures and backgrounds in your work. Check it out for some of the most amazing space photos on the web.
- http://www.freefoto.com/index.jsp – Free Foto claims to boast the largest collection of online stock photos. Link back and attribution are required, but this can be a great site to find some really great photos.
- http://freerangestock.com – This site, Freerange Stock, is dedicated to providing high quality free photography for use in personal and professional projects. Each stock photo is taken and loaded to the site by a small group of dedicated photographers. Each image is high quality and ready to use. You will find however that while the photos here are great, there aren’t always as many to choose from as on other sites.
- http://www.deviantart.com – Do you ever get tired of having to create account after account? Sometimes it can be frustrating to accounts at every site you visit. Deviant Art now allows downloads without registration, which can really save you some time and effort. Plus, they feature a wide selection of stunning and free stock photos for your design work. This site is definitely recommended.
- http://www.flickr.com – Flickr has a combination of amateur and professional photography all with various licensing agreements. If you want to use photos found on Flickr, make sure that you only search for those with creative commons licensing to avoid violating any copyright laws.
- http://www.morguefile.com – This site offers many great stock photos for personal and commercial use. This site does request that credit be provided to the photographers whenever possible. This site is easy to filter and makes finding photos easy. The only real drawback to this site is that it can take quite a while to load which can be frustrating when working on a big project.
- http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com – Pixel Perfect Digital offers some truly great images. You will find that each image is carefully and professionally edited making for great looking photos. This site does have a small collection (only about 7,500 photos) but each is great and will really make a mark in any project.
- http://www.freemediagoo.com – Logo designers will love the free photography and textures found on Free Media Goo. You will love these free stock photos that are always royalty free. If you need audio or Flash, you can also find it on this site, although this won’t really be needed in logo design.
- http://www.everystockphoto.com – Rather than searching through multiple free stock photo sites, why not just visit EveryStockPhoto for one stop searching. This site is a search engine that will search through various sites and provide you with a comprehensive listing of free stock photos. Licensing information for each photo will vary, but you can easily find the details listed with each photo result. The site is free and also allows you to create a go to collection of favorite free photos.
- http://openphoto.net – Open Photo has been rounding up great free photography for years. You will find images a little hard to find on this site. The best way to find great images on this site is to browse through categories. This will take a little time, but can really pay off in some great stock photos.
- http://www.istockphoto.com/free_image.php – Often you can find free stock photo sections on paid sites. iStockPhoto offers one free photo each week. If you want to take advantage of this great deal for high quality photos, make sure that you check back each week, and that you create a photo storage and tagging system on your own computer. This can be a great resource down the line however if you merely take the time to plan ahead.
- http://www.cepolina.com/freephoto – Cepolina has about 5,000 free photos available on their site for personal and commercial use. These photos are typically only within the nature and travel niche, but can be a great resource if you need something along these lines. It is definitely worth a visit to see if this site has anything that you can use.
- http://www.fotolia.com/FreeContents – Fotolia has a wide selection of great free stock photos. Bear in mind however that their selection is always changing. If you see something you like, download it immediately. It might not be there when you come to the site again in a few days. Accounts are free, but registration is required to use this site.
- http://search.creativecommons.org – A creative commons search is a great way to find various free stock photos with free licensing. This site checks many sites on the internet and also provides informational resources if you should ever decide to license works of your own. They believe that creative works should be shared and built upon and this site lives up to that goal.
- http://www.logodesign.com/logo-design-articles.php – If you need some free and open clip-art, try the selection at Open Clip Art. All of the graphics found here are public domain and can be easily used in a variety of different logo projects.