By Melissa Scroggins

What could be better than striking gold? How about a huge list of Adobe Illustrator resources? For many designers, a list of resources to help finish those design projects in a quick and easy fashion is like finding gold on the Web.

In this article, there are over 200 (mostly) free resources for Adobe Illustrator. Since many designers have made these resources free for others, please take the time to check out the license agreements before using any resources for projects.

Finally, have fun stockpiling all the brushes, patterns,, symbols, vectors, swatches, and fun additions to the Adobe Illustrator presets. After all, among these resources, there’s sure to be a few gold nuggets just waiting to be found.

1. Brushes

There are a multitude of brush sets that can add volumes of creativity to design projects. So many effects can be achieved by stylizing the appearance of paths with brushes. Check out the following brush sets which offer a variety of styles ranging from sketchy to abstract and everything in between.

17 brushes for Illustrator

28 Free Illustrator Brushes for making Swooshes and Swirls

33 More Paint Brush Style Illustrator Brushes

20 Free Illustrator Art Brushes: Ink Sketch Lines

57 Exclusive Illustrator Multi-Colored Paint Brushes

Free-Dot Dash Illustrator Pattern Brushes

10 Arrowhead Brushes for Illustrator

Free Illustrator Brushes: Ink/Watercolor

60 brushes for Illustrator

Free Illustrator Brushes and Vectors: Foliage

Illustrator Art Brushes

35 Free Abstract Illustrator Brushes

Illustrator Brushes, Series 3

Illustrator Brushes, Series 4

Sketchy Illustrator brushes pack (16 brushes)

Vector Art: “Imperial Leaf” Seamless Pattern Brush for Adobe Illustrator CS4

Feather Brushes by ~HumanNature84

30 Illustrator Pattern Brushes for Making Flowers and Circular Designs

ABSTRACTION by ~HumanNature84

Thorny vine brushes by *Shurakai-Zero

vector 3D paint brushes by ~HumanNature84

illustrator brush set 1 by ~nrmb

HN vector brushes by ~HumanNature84

57 Multi-Colored Illustrator Paint Brushes

Natural brushes by ~HumanNature84

AI Custom Drawing Brushes 1 by ~maniacresources

illustrator brush set 3 by ~nrmb

Crosshatch brushes by *Shurakai-Zero

85 Illustrator Paint Brushes

Celtic Border brush v2 by *Shurakai-Zero

Exclusive Illustrator Watercolor Brushes

illustrator brush set 2 by ~nrmb

Autorama Brush Illustrator by ~lucasribeiro

Vector Chains by ~pica-stock

Rope Brush by ~lucasribeiro

Victorian vector brush pack by ~sergeypoluse

Illustrator Light Banner Brush by ~lucasribeiro

Candy Cane Brush by *pica-stock

Hydronix — vector splash pack by =r2010

100 Wonderful Water Color Illustrator Brushes

construx by =r2010

Links Brushes by ~Xentric

smoke – illustrator brush pack by =r2010

technix brush pack by =r2010

Retro Circle AI Brushes by ~debh945

Chalk Illustrator brushes by ~melemel

Technix v.2 by =r2010

Beads and Gems by ~Korat-Nibelan

illustrator brush pack01 by ~joyologo

Starwalt Fun Art AI Brushes by *gigistar

Further Resources For Brushes:

30+ High Quality Adobe Illustrator Brush Sets

45 Excellent Sets of Adobe Illustrator Brushes

30 Sets of High-Quality Adobe Illustrator Brushes

45 Excellent Sets of Adobe Illustrator Brushes

Mega list of Vector Brushes- Over 1000 Free brushes and still counting!!-Artistic Inspirations AiVault graphic design blog

Adobe Illustrator Brushes, Free Illustrator Brushes, Symbols, Symbol Libraries, Illustrator CS4, CS3 Brushes, CS2, CS Vector Shapes, Illustrations, Images, More – Illustrator Tutorials Tips Books Resources – Web Site Resources, Website Tips, Websitetips.com

Adobe Illustrator Brushes downloads section

A Huge Compilation of 60 Free Illustrator Brushes – Vectortuts+

2. Gradients, Swatches, and Patterns

Gradients

Gradients allow a designer to apply a graduated blend of colors. In doing so, the artwork can change dramatically with even a subtle color change. Here are just a few samples of gradient resources.

Illustrator Metal Gradients by ~TrabzonSport

Adobe Gradient Pack by ~magnet14

130 gradients for Adobe Illustrator

Swatches

25 Woven Plaid Swatches

Illustrator Swatches

12 Most Cute & adorable color & pattern swatches – What little boys are made of!

55 Seamless Line & Crosshatch Swatches

Free Illustrator Colors

Patterns

Patterns are a great resource for a designer. Whether applied to a background or as an added detail on a character, the addition of just the right style pattern can make all the difference.

Vector Art: 10 Amazing Baroque Style Patterns for Adobe Illustrator

new pattern by ~grunii

Paisley Seamless Pattern by ~jilbert

textures_poluse by ~sergeypoluse

Vector Patterns

Free Seamless Vector Pattern Set 2

pop art vector texture by ~sergeypoluse

Eyes of Miice by ~jilbert

Batik is Beautiful – Free Vector Swatches UPDATED « ClickPopMedia

10 Seamless Vector Patterns

Kaleidoscope Dreams by ~jilbert

Baroque Seamless Pattern

15 Seamless Animal Print Patterns

5 Free Seamless Vector Patterns

High-Resolution Photoshop Brushes, Vectors, Illustrator Swatch Patterns and Vinyl Decals

Free Seamless Patterns – Paisley

Free Textures and Vector Pattern Set

125 Vector Japanese Patterns

20 Seamless Plaid Patterns for Illustrator

MonochromeGeometric

Further Resources For Patterns:

450+ Abobe Illustrator Patterns

Huge Collection of High Quality Patterns

Squidfingers / Patterns

Kaliber10000 { The Pixel Patterns Collection }

Vector Art – A Digital Illustration Blog

3. Symbols

The use of symbols in a project can save time and file size. Check out some samples of quality symbol sets which are sure to be useful resources for a variety of design projects.

Drips and splatters Vector Symbols Library

33 Free Illustrator Symbols by =namespace

Simbolos3 by ~Cherryflip

Vector Garden Symbol Set by =namespace

14 Glossy boxes by ~Anya82

Bugs Vector Pack by ~formatdelete

Illustrator Christmas Symbols by ~bcre80v

Further Resources For Symbols:

Top 10 Free Adobe Illustrator Symbols Resource Sites

Symbols for Illustrator ® CS4 CS3 CS2 CS1 10, royalty-free: 1000s of stunning designs

4. Vectors

The range of styles in the following vector resources are just a sample of the huge amount of free vectors a designer can find on the internet. Not only is the artwork superb, but imagine the time saved by not having to create each design element.

21 Amazing Splats for Illustrator

Tattered Banners « ClickPopMedia

Vector grunge style package

Vector package of hearts

Exclusive Freebie: VectorLab Sample Pack

30 vectors of cities

Silhouettes of business people

Geometric Abstract Vectors Pack 2

Birds in Flight

Free Vector Doodles – Women’s Clothing & Fashion

10 Free Grungy Spray Vectors

Free Keep Fit Vectors – Give Your Designs a Workout!

Vectors and dogs

Vector Splats

Winter Cabin

Vector Heraldy 2 Design

Safari Logo

Vector Illustration for Musical Theme

40+ Free Vector Stickers

Flying Birds

Vector Vitruvian Man

90’s Technology

Vector Design 3

Polaroid

Snowflake Vectors

Super-Fun Monsters

5 Floral Ornaments

Floral Colorful Illustration

Hummer

Green Cityscape Art

Free Vector Pack 15 Sampler

Alfred Doodle Set 6

Korean Vector Flowers

Colorful Pattern Background Vector

Colorful Backgrounds

41 Animals

Pink Cherry Blossom Tree

Christmas Tree

Vietnam Airplanes

Floral Ornaments

Abstract Vector Series

Paint Brush Vector

Modern Mouse

Free Twitter Drops

School Mega Pack

Orange Landscape

Further Resources For Vectors:

46 Excellent Free Vectors by vectorvaco

49 Amazing Resources for Free Vector Graphics

The Ultimate Collection Of Free Vector Packs

Vector Art: 10 Stunning Vector Pattern Sets for Adobe Illustrator

Conclusion

There are always more Adobe Illustrator resources popping up every week. Keep an eye out at the sites for their weekly freebies, giveaways, and “free” sections. In doing so, one might just find pure vector-based gold!

Further Resources

• Great Adobe Illustrator Resources
  A Good Selection of vectors and other resources.
• 80 Best-Of Adobe Illustrator Tutorials, Brushes, .EPSs and Resources – Noupe
  Collection of Patterns, Brushes, Vector Packs, and Vector Sources.
• 50 Best-Of Designer’s (NEW) Download Picks and Resources – Noupe
  Collection of vector packs, brushes, patterns, fonts, and icon sets.
• Adobe Illustrator Toolbox
  Articles, Brushes, Vectors, and other resources.
• Free Downloads for Adobe Illustrator – brushes actions clip art more
  Free Illustrator downloads of brushes, actions, symbols, etc..
• 80 of the Best Vector and Illustrator Free Resources
  Collection of brushes, symbols, plug-ins, vectors, and more.

About the author

Melissa Scroggins, of PeachPoPs, is a freelance graphic designer who loves designing icons, creating vector illustrations, and playing survival horror video games. You can follow her on Twitter.