As a developer, I find it really easy to picture in my head how a system should work, how the code should be structured etc but I must admit I do sometimes struggle to make my creations aesthetically appealing. Luckily there are loads of generous people on the internet who are happy to make beautiful web elements for you to use on your applications, some of them have even created websites full of bits and pieces you can use. In this post, I’m going to do a quick round-up of some of my favourites.

365psd

As far as I know, 365psd is the longest running site on this list. They have loads of different elements, from buttons and badges to full app designs.

PremiumPixels

Premium Pixels is a site by Orman Clark where he adds PSD files you can download on your site. Some of the work on there now is submitted by other authors such as the one above by Haziq.

I’ve seen a few WordPress themes by Orman and they’re all fantastic. You can buy his themes on Theme Forest (full disclosure: that link is an affiliate link. I’m not trying to hide it, I’m just trying out a plugin that tracks how many times a link is clicked).

Pixels Daily

Media Loot

Media Loot isn’t technically free as you need to have a subscription to download most of their stuff but every now and again they release free stuff that you can download without an account and it’s always excellent quality.

That’s just about all of the resources I can think of off the top of my head. If you’re willing to pay a few dollars for the resource you’re looking for then it might be worth checking out Graphic River too, they release a free item every month so it’s worth checking the site out every month just for that.

Although the site isn’t up yet, they are offering a few free teasers in the MediaLoot blog.

Free Icons

Free Corporate Identities

Free UI Set

On their splash page it says they’re launching Feb 2010 (which has already been and gone) so I guess they’re not too far away from launching now. If you stick your email address in the box on their splash page they will keep you up to date with what’s going on.

Just print it off, stick it on a wall near your desk and I’m sure it will help.

Download the WordPress cheat sheet here.

So here goes, my four favourite icon sets.

Milky

The milky icon set contains over 130 png icons that are perfect to use on a lot of different types of websites.

IcoJoy #3

IcoJoy do offer loads of free and premium icons. For this article I selected the free pack of theirs that I use most (#3). You can see some of there other free icons here and here.

Silk Icons

The silk icon set is probably my favourite icon set of all. There are 700+ icons in the set so there is pretty much an icon for every purpose. If you haven’t seen this set before then you’re in for a treat!

LED Icons

You might have noticed by now but I do like the mini icon sets and the LED set is no different. Again this set contains loads of icons which means you pretty much have an icon for every need.

If I haven’t mentioned a set that you think really should be up here, or if you have created a set you would like me to list, get in touch using the contact page.