1 Best Free Sites To Download Vector Files For Your Designs

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As a designer its always handy to have a collection of pre-made vector objects to use in your designs, but finding a best/perfect piece of vector is not an easy task, even though there are quite a few resources around the web, some of the websites are best and others are not worth checking, here is a collection of the best 25 of them where you can download free vector files. - Enjoy!

1) 123Vectors

2) QVectors

3) Vecteezy

4) Vector Vally

5) Vector 4 Free

6) Cool Vectors

7) Vector Art

8) Dezignus

9) Vector Portal

10) For Designers

11) deviantART

12) Vector Junky

13) Vector Tuts

14) GoMedia Zine

15) BittBox

16) 123 Free Vectors

17) I Heart Vector

18) Keep Designing

19) Web Design Blog

20) Hydro 74

21) Vector Lady

22) Vector Workshop

23) Vector Magic

24) Free Vectors

25) Vector Jungle

1 Incredible Retro Ads That Show the Audacity of Nazi Germany

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The Third Reich, Germany’s Nazi era, existed from 1933, when Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Worker’s Party came to power, until 1945, when the regime collapsed at the end of the Second World War. As evidenced below, the media of the Third Reich era were instrumental in creating the impression of a confident and stylish modern European country, with an air of optimism and triumphalism reflected in the print ads of the time.

1. Mercedes-Benz Image

Months after taking power, Hitler created the Luftwaffe, Germany’s powerful and technically advanced air force. The Nazis officially announced the Luftwaffe’s existence in 1935, a policy that violated the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. The eventual purpose of the air force was to help implement the Third Reich’s Blitzkrieg across Europe.

Mercedes-Benz was famous for producing luxury automobiles, but they also built aircraft engines for civilian and military vehicles, as shown in this advertisement. Mercedes-Benz engines were used in many of the Luftwaffe’s aircraft, including the iconic Messerschmitt fighter plane.

Image: USM Books

2. Volkswagen


Image: Wikipedia

While Hitler wasn’t keen on driving himself, he was enthusiastic about cars and roads, and in 1933 gave the order to Ferdinand Porsche to design and produce the ‘Volks-Wagen’, the peoples’ car. The car was developed to be both affordable and mechanically simple, to make breakdown less likely and repairs easier. After the war, the Volkswagen would be become internationally known as the Beetle, an icon of 20th Century car design.

This advert from 1939 tells German citizens to save five marks a week if they want to drive their own car, with the graphics showing the Beetle’s characteristic curves.

3. Focke-Wulf


Image: Calvin College

Focke-Wulf was a manufacturer of civilian and military aircraft that supplied many fighter planes to the Luftwaffe during the war. This advert, from 1944, states that the company is helping solve the grate tasks of the day with the aim of establishing a New Order in Europe.

4. Agfa, Leuna and Ford

The Weimar Republic had started the construction of Germany’s autobahn motorways, and Hitler enthusiastically embraced the project, developing a network of ‘Reichsautobahnen’ across the country. The improved infrastructure would enable Germans to travel freely in their own cars, create employment and economic growth (although slave labour was later used in their construction) and make the movement of military equipment and troops faster and simpler. This poster encourages motorists to speed along the Reichsautobahnen, roads that have no upper speed limit.

6. Efasit


Image: Calvin College

This advert informs the public that Efasit foot care products are reserved for the marching feet of German soldiers, but reassures that once peace arrives Efasit will be freely available to the friends of German products.


7. Conti Atlas


Image: USM Books

This advert promotes Continental Tyre’s Conti Atlases, road maps for German drivers. The number of cars, and the highways to support them, greatly increased in inter-war Germany, and driving tours became a fashionable pastime.

8. Kiel Agricultural Fair [1937]

Image: Calvin College

This poster publicises an agricultural fair that took place in Kiel in the summer of 1937.

9. Olympic Sailing [1936]


Image: SS Relics

Germany hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The decision to hold the games in Germany had been controversial, leading to much international debate and many athletes choosing to boycott the event. The Nazis used the Olympics to promote their ideals of an Aryan master race, while simultaneously trying to clean up their image by removing anti-Semitic signs from tourist areas.

This poster is for the game’s sailing events, which took place at the Port of Kiel.

10. Berlin International Automobile and Motorbike Exhibition [1937]


Image: nyctreeman

The Internationale Automobil und Motorrad Ausstellung Berlin 1937 was a vast motorcar and motorbike exhibition that attracted thousands of visitors from across the world. The exhibition showcased the products of Germany’s thriving auto industry along with the country’s advanced transport infrastructure, at its height before the destruction of the Second World War.

11. Benger


Image: nyctreeman

This stylish design advertises Benger tricot undergarments.

12. Traumlastic


Image: nyctreeman

Another underwear ad, this time declaring the virtues of ‘Traumlastic’ corsetry, designed to help German ladies with the stresses and strains of bending to pick up picture frames.

13. Hamburg-America Line


Image: SS Relics

The Hamburg-Amerika Linie was a company established in Hamburg in 1847 for sea travel, which soon grew to become Germany’s largest shipping company. This poster from 1934 promotes Mediterranean cruises, with a ship cutting through the azure waters that form the background to the exotic scene of women at work.

14. UHU


Image: Calvin College

This 1944 ad is for UHU, the German glue, and suggests that while Nazi soldiers are fighting for a ‘happy and united Europe’, the children on the homefront are preparing for ‘the great tasks of reconstruction and peace.’ UHU, the ‘all-sticker’, is necessary for tinkering and model-building, essential to German children’s creative learning.

15. Dujardin Brandy


Image: Calvin College

17 Excellent Packaging Design Tips We All should Know About

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Great design tips from Vanessa Fogel, we all should consider when working with packaging designs. Vanessa is a well known packaging designer and this was what she had to say in a TED Conference. Enjoy!

Design tips from the designer’s mouth

• Stick to the basic design rules, but try and be innovative, even if it is just through the use of different paper or varnishes. Be a Leader rather than a follower.
• Always keep your design simple, never over-complicate the process. Always question why something is being done. Don’t design for design sake.
• Gimmicks may look impressive initially, but will not give your brand longevity. Do not change your packaging often.
• Make sure your name and branding, and message is strong.
• Make sure that the printing and production costs of your packaging are realistic.
• Do your research in the market; know your facts before starting the design process, as you don’t want to go through the same exercise in a hurry.
  Invest in your product by always using a specialist-packaging designer.

Future trends

• Sustainability is the biggest world-changing concept at the moment. Turning life-draining wastefulness into green gold is the new Holy Grail. Don’t ignore its siren call. It will matter to every package designer on this planet very soon.
• Bio-based, biodegradable and recycled materials are becoming more and more relevant. Internationally there is strong emphasis on environmentally friendly packaging, to the extent that certain noxious packaging materials being banned in some EU countries, that require certification of environmentally – compatible packaging.
• Greening a product in the first place, of course, is the best way to reduce its environmental footprint. Companies are motivated to do so for a variety of reasons including increased consumer demand, pressure from partners across the supply chain and risk to the brand simply by being complacent. Adding the eco friendly banner to your product has become a strong sustainable marketing tool.
• Technology has to become the designer’s friend, and designers must embrace these technologies. Package design on the whole is becoming more simple, but the message conveyed is more sophisticated, hardworking and streamline in design, and design quality. Design should convey a strong concept of lifestyle, and graphic imagery.
• Good simple design, combined with more complex use of substrates, whether environmentally friendly or just unusual, mesh together with the use of interesting shapes and dyes, can culminate in some exciting printing technologies, results in great design. This is an exciting challenging time for designers.

Cost saving packaging tips

• Planning design, and printing in advance gives you time to weigh-up your options and evaluate new suppliers. It’s good practice to regularly evaluate alternate suppliers. Look for suppliers that are willing to work with you to identify cost saving options the industry is capable of delivering.
• Once the development process is complete and specifications agreed 80% of the costs are embedded, leaving only 20% of the problem to work on for those in manufacturing. Therefore major opportunities for saving occur in the design stage and this is where your designer can assist you.
• A good designer will see a way of creating brand extensions, or streamlining your costs, through the use of good clever, well thought out design.
• Continue looking at cost saving ideas even when you need them the least. A simple modification to your packaging specifications could lead to substantial cost savings over the long run.
• Determine your production volumes annually. Unit costs decrease in accordance to volume. It’s more expensive ordering small quantities so rather order less frequently and let your suppliers carry the stock, invoicing only when it goes into production.
• Most food products are perishables, (unlike good wine) and a stagnant inventory doesn’t improve with age. Excess inventory ties up capital and ‘hidden’ costs such as damaged, lost, redundant stock, warehousing, insurance and financing costs, all eat into the bottom line.
• Insist on having a service level agreement in place. A simple way to measure your supplier performance levels is based on on-time, in-full and error-free deliveries. By regularly monitoring and managing your suppliers you can maximize the benefits of your sourcing strategy, and ultimately increase your profit margin.

Vanessa Fogel is a specialist packaging designer, based in Cape Town South Africa. In the past she worked in both England and America, returning to South Africa, where she started her own small specialist studio, winning many design awards both in her own country and Internationally. Being passionate about good design has lead to many exciting projects for, Disney International, and in her own country for Orange River Cellars, which is one of the largest wine producers globally.

Vanessa Fogel can be contacted via email: vdesigns@iafrica.com or via her website: vanessafogeldesign.com