30 Great Places to Find Premium Vectors
Published December 2, 2010 in Shevaa in Graphics
As a graphic designer, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Take a lesson from the pros and work smarter, not harder. There are tens of thousands of inexpensive premium vectors which take hours off of your design time. Mix or match, these vectors can be used to create the perfect atmosphere in any piece. Here are thirty premium vector sites.
1. Web Design Ledger Premium [$7 monthly]
WDL offers countless premium vector packs for your use. You have access to vectors, textures and WordPress templates. Their huge library is updated every week, and can be used in both professional and personal projects. There is no risk. Cancel your subscription at any time with their 100% satisfaction guarantee.
2. GraphStock [$39 yearly]
GraphStock doesn’t skimp on the features. There are thousands of gradients, vectors, icons and templates available for download. Environmental icons, characters and conceptual designs are at your fingertips when you use this service. You don’t have to go searching for that perfect vector drawing anymore.
3. MediaLoot [$19 monthly]
Receive button sets, textures, vectors and icons every month. The icons contain PNG files as well as layered PSDs for your use. There is plenty to choose from, including texture packs, icons, vectors and brushes. This site is set up as a one-stop shop for designers who are frustrated with purchasing individual stock.
4. Vandelay Premier [$9 monthly, $79 yearly]
With a membership, you have access to PSD files, templates, brushes, textures and vectors. You also receive access to a marketplace and career resources. Stay up to date on all of the latest designs.
5. Arsenal [$34.99 per pack]
Each vector set provides access to over 150 designs. There are skulls, zombies, ambient and anatomical pieces for you to choose from. You can purchase vectors, brushes, textures and fonts from the site.
6. Ben Premium Vectors [$5 per pack]
Hand created vectors which are perfect for tattoo and website designers. Choose from trees, skulls or ships, with a few animals in the mix for good measure. When you sign up for the newsletter, you receive news and information about the latest vector sets.
7. Tuts+ Premium Vectors [$9 monthly, $78 yearly]
The best designers in the world contribute vectors to Tuts+. Receive the benefit of their experience with numerous vectors delivered to your desktop and the option to download thousands more. Your single membership provides you access to flash designs, vectors and Photoshop drawings.
8. Artbox 7 [$159]
Over 6000 design elements are available with the purchase of this package. You receive the complete designer package which includes the Supreme Brush Set, the Supreme Vector Set and the Supreme Icon Set. Vector sets can also be purchased individually.
9. Trendy Tuts Premium Files [$29.95 for 6 months]
Receive access to over 350 premium vector files. There are numerous tutorials and web layouts at your disposal. You can use their layer styles, buttons, navigation buttons and more. Choose from some of the best vectors including colorful flowers and chatting people with speech bubbles.
10. Design Fruit [$14 per pack]
Choose from tattoo designs, flower designs or even Japanese foliage at Design Fruit. This site frequently runs specials, so you can get many of these hand drawn items for even cheaper. Great site for finding borders and other art.
11. Designious [Individual packs $10, Bundles start at $39.99]
Choose from individual vector and illustration packs at Designious. This service is great for those who are looking for specific vectors, including people, heraldry and symbols. You can also purchase tee shirt designs and select from multiple font packs.
12. Vectorious [$12 to download up to 20 illustrations in a day. $30 per month.]
The vectors at Vectorious are in categories like abstract, vintage, people, and business. The backgrounds section has over 3000 illustrations for your perusal. The detail on these vectors is absolutely exquisite. One of the few sites which offers a daily rate for its downloads.
13. Vector Stock [Starts at $1 per vector]
Artists are regularly uploading new designs to the Vector Stock site. As a result, it has become a large collection of free and paid vectors. You can sort the vectors by most downloaded, most viewed, latest, or newest vectors. If you’re looking for crests, trees, or abstract art illustrations, this is the place.
14. VectEezy [$19 monthly, single vector packs available for $3.99 each]
Download vectors, web elements, brushes and textures at VectEezy. Choose from decorative, flourish, ornaments, floral, or swirl patterns in EPS or Adobe Illustrator format. There are a lot of free vectors on this site. The Eezy Premium package allows you access to other web elements like brushes and icons.
15. The Vector Lab [Pricing starts at $19.95 for vector packs]
You can purchase textures, borders, fonts, patterns, icons, and vectors at The Vector Lab. There are a huge number of categories, including anatomy, crests and heraldry, transportation, and nature. These detailed vectors are great for even the most casual of designers.
16. WeGraphics [$7 monthly]
You can find some great hand-drawn and computer illustrated vectors at WeGraphics. You can find finely detailed bird’s wings, shields, roses, trees, and skulls. You can also acquire icon, brush, texture sets, and DVD and tee shirt mockups. Looking for a set of social bookmarking icons? WeGraphics has it.
17. I Heart Vector [$9.99 per vector pack]
Each vector set is sent to you in both EPS and AI format, for ease of use. Many of the vectors on I Heart Vector are free, but there are also some excellent premium vectors. These vectors can be bought individually or in packs. There are heraldry animals, people, collage, antique, and many more categories from which to choose.
18. Premium Vector Packs [$7.95 per pack, currently $19 for the whole site]
The vector packs here are composed of illustrations like birds, evil skulls, and ornate designs. Each pack has at least ten drawings, bringing your cost per drawing under a dollar. Each of these packs is available for immediate download.
19. Grafpedia [$49 for 12 months, $199.95 for 12 months plus commercial license]
Vectors, brushes, photoshop styles, icons, and textures are available with a membership at Grafpedia. This site is perfect for those who are looking for web elements to suit their needs. There are plenty of hand-drawn illustrations, including birds, trees, vegetables, and bottles.
20. GraphicRiver [Vectors start at $4]
Users upload their vectors and graphics to the GraphicRiver site. There is a large search mechanism, one which is broken down into types of pictures, including backgrounds, illustrations, vectors, and textures. Whether you’re looking for a button, a font, or the best building vector, you can find it among the 16,000+ items at GraphicRiver.
21. Vector Vault [Vectors starting at $1]
Vector Vault claims that it is the ultimate source for vector art. Indeed, there are some exquisite drawings available for download. There is a comprehensive selection of vehicles, objects, and logos for popular brands. This site features a Barack Obama collection. You can also find some great buttons and textures.
22. iStockphoto [as low as $.95 per vector, subscriptions available]
Mostly known for its photos, iStockphoto also sells vector illustrations. You can download professional illustrations from all over the world. There are numerous categories, including holidays, animals, concepts, and food and drink. These design elements and drawings are intriguing and vivid.
23. Cutcaster [Purchase credits for $1 each and download directly. Bulk purchases available]
Hundreds of vectors and thousands of stock photographs are available at Cutcaster. When you are searching for the perfect illustration, choose the advanced search feature of the internal search engine. There are over thirty categories from which to choose, including agriculture, technology, holidays, and religion.
24. Big Stock Photo [Prices as low as $1]
Big Stock Photo has over 5 million photos and 300,000+ vectors which have been uploaded by the global graphic arts community. There are vectors of all styles and quality. The most simplistic pictures can be seen with detailed hand illustrations. Your categories include health, food, education, and animals.
25. Shutterstock [$249 buys you 25 downloads a day for a month]
Shutterstock is a large site from where you can purchase photos and vector illustrations. Over 1.5 million vectors are available for download from global artists. Each of these can be found in an EPS format. You can find textures, gradients, brushes, and icons.
26. Chadlonius [Individual vectors start at $4.99 each]
Chadlonius is a vector designer who sells premium vectors through his design blog. Each of the vectors is hand-detailed and executed with care and attention. Subjects are available in clip art, animal, skull, and tee shirt designs. His work is available on some of the other vector sites.
27. Graphic Leftovers [Vectors as low as $1]
Graphic Leftovers has over 90,000 vector illustrations which are found through casual browsing. The categories span the gamut from wooden signs to abstract art. To purchase artwork, visitors deposit money into their account and directly buy the chosen illustrations.
28. My Vector Store [Unlimited downloads for $89.99]
At My Vector Store, there are over 2000 premium vectors which have been divided into sets. The most recent sets include signs, people, office, and multimedia, but there are many more from which to choose. Your membership provides you access to textures, fonts, WordPress themes and shopping cart themes.
29. FlavaFX [$14.95 per set]
The vector sets available at FlavaFX are richly detailed, each with at least 40 vectors. Over 100 vector packs cover the subjects of crests, nature, animals, technical, and symbols. FlavaFX provides four free vector sets, designed to whet your appetite.
30. Stock Graphic Designs [$199.95 for the entire set]
There are over 6900 downloadable vector and brush designs, with new illustrations added regularly. You can purchase sets of vector packs or you can choose to purchase individual vector sets. This site offers previews of each set, with some amazing drawings of eagles, hands, and design elements.
Assemble the perfect web sites with these vector illustrations. You can get brushes, vectors, fonts and even textures for low prices. You can choose to get your vectors one at a time or receive a boatload at once. Embellish with your personal flair for dazzling work.
Great list. I’m familiar with most of these already, but I have never heard of some mentioned in this post