Grunge Toolbox For Designers

Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by Shawn Ramsey in Resources

A super-gigantic collection of resources for anyone looking to use subtle, medium or heavy grunge in their designs.

Lately, I’ve been finding myself taking advantage of the grunge look in some of my design work. I’m not talking about the over-the-top super dirty grunge appearance, but more of the subtle hints of dirt, scratches and anything to break apart from a plain old canvas. If you find yourself using subtle grunge in your designs, or even a bit heavier use, then I have a treat for you today. Below you will find an in-depth collection of brushes, textures, fonts, inspiration and tutorials all centered around the grunge style.

Grunge Brushes

BLUEFAQS TEXTURED BRUSHES

In this pack you’ll find 20 textured brushes in many different styles such as denim, canvas, concrete, wood, scratches, speckles and many more, most of which are in a soft, subtle form. Each brush either fades out on the edges or was carefully cut as to not leave straight lines or noticeable cut-off points. - View Set

42 MORE SUBTLE TEXTURED PHOTOSHOP BRUSHES

There’s a massive variety of textures & surfaces in this set, all at different sizes and shapes. The sort of thing you can expect from this set is really soft; Chalk, Concrete, Denim, Fabric, Paper textures as well as a few harsher brushes, including some chalk strokes and some paint roller brushes. - View Set

FUNCTION BRUSH SET: 33 SUBTLE GRUNGE TEXTURES & EFFECTS

The idea with these brushes is that they are to be used to create subtle grunge effects within your designs. They were made from various dirty textures, surfaces and fabrics from images they took themselves. They are perfect for being used to add some faint grunge effects to anything. - View Set

FREE HIGH RES MIXED BRUSHES PACK

A range of strokes styles, from thick and heavy through to light and rough, giving plenty of variety when grunging up or distressing your designs. Each brush weighs in at the max 2500px size, giving awesome levels and detail and allowing the brushes to be used for any project. - View Set

FREEBIE PACK - 25 GRUNGE BRUSHES

An exclusive set of 25 grunge brushes recently released by psd.tuts+ and designed by Stefan Surmabojov. The set contains various textured brushes including concrete, rust, cracks, peeling paint, dirt and much more. These brushes are quiet loud and will work great for an instant grunge appeal. - View Set

VARIOUS DIRTY GRUNGE BRUSHES

Here is a collection of several different sets of dirty grunge brushes. These brushes can be used to add an aged or worn appearance to your designs. Try playing around with varying opacity levels to add a stronger or a bit more subtle appearance. Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8

VARIOUS SCRATCHES BRUSHES

Adding a scratched appearance to your designs can really help to bring out the aged look. I personally like to use the brushes sparingly and near the edges when working on grungy projects. Here are a few of my favorite sets that have come in quite handy. Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4

VARIOUS WATERCOLOR BRUSHES

Here are a few of my favorite watercolor brushes scattered throughout the web. When used properly, watercolor brushes are great for simulating water stains, for add a little texture to different layers or even in full color to help brighten up your designs a bit. Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8

Grunge Textures

PAPER TEXTURES

You can’t look past paper textures when you’re shooting for that grunge look. Fortunately, there are plenty of free, sharp looking paper textures available for designers. Some have water stains, a few are moldy and others just have that perfect aged look.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

CONCRETE TEXTURES

Concrete textures are another great resource for pulling off the grunge appearance. Their dull, gray look and weathered exterior make them ideal candidates. Just like paper textures there are no lack of concrete textures ready for the hands of designers.
Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 | Set 9

FABRIC TEXTURES

The best thing about fabric textures is the enermous variety of different styles. Canvas, denim, cotton, mesh materials… the list goes on. When situated in the right places, they can all play a major part in the background of your designs.
Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8

WOOD TEXTURES

Wood textures are a great way to add a natural look and feel to your designs. The variety of shapes, textures and color that this organic material can take on, makes it a great resource. Here are several collections of wood textures.
Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7

VARIOUS GRUNGE TEXTURES

Here you will find a collection of many different random styles of grungy textures. Anything from worn leather, grungy bokeh, rust metal, splatters, dried dust and much more can be found scattered throughout these sets.
Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8

Grunge Fonts

40 FREE RETRO AND VINTAGE FONTS

A collection of free fonts that I put together back in May. There are a total of 40 fonts listed, all of which work well for grungy/vintage designs. Each font is displayed in it’s own design so that you can get a feel for how it will look within a project.
View the fonts

63 MUST HAVE GRUNGE FONTS

A must-have collection of grunge fonts put together by Danny Outlaw. Although the list was compiled in 2008, don’t let that fool you. There are plenty of fonts in this collection that are spot on for modern day grunge designs.
View the fonts

30 FONTS PERFECT FOR VINTAGE AND RETRO STYLE DESIGNS

A nice collection of retro fonts compiled by Henry Jones from webdesignledger. The font’s range from a 1920’s look all the way up to the retro typography style of the 50’s. If you’re looking for a font to compliment an aged appearance, you’ll find one in here.
View the fonts

100 GREATEST ABSTRACT AND GRUNGE FONTS

You read that right, 100 abstract and grunge fonts. Hongkiat has always been known for their giant collections of resources and they don’t hold back one bit in this one. There are plenty of fonts to choose from in this collection.
View the fonts

Grunge Inspiration and Tutorials

GRUNGE IN WEB DESIGN: SAMPLES AND BEST PRACTICES

An excellent article written by Mike Smith for Spyre Studios showcasing the awesomeness that is grunge. Throughout the article you’ll get some great pointers and examples of how this style of web design is all about the details.
View the article

A LITTLE BIT DIRTY: BRILLIANT GRUNGE DESIGN TUTORIALS

A selection of some of the best grungy Photoshop tutorials to help you make simple edits to your boring photographs, to make your photos look dirty and grungy, or to even make professional photo manipulations in the grunge style.
View the tutorials

40 GRUNGE WEB DESIGN TUTORIALS, RESOURCES AND INSPIRATION

To create grunge designs you need to learn the basic skills and have some good materials like textures, images and fonts. This article from Tripwire Magazine gives you both to help you get started with your grunge designs.
View the tutorials

SHOWCASE OF TEXTURES IN PRINT DESIGN

This post showcases a great selection of print design projects that make good use of textures; making the work more visually appealing. Since textures go hand-in-hand with the grunge look, I thought this showcase would come in handy.
View the showcase

100 OF THE BEST CREATIVE AND GRUNGE DESIGNS ABOUT

This is a two part post dedicated to pure grungy design inspiration. Brought to you by Pro Blog Design, you’ll see 100 websites all of which feature the grunge look. If it’s shiny and clean, you won’t find it in this showcase.
View Part 1 | View Part 2

Wrapping Things Up

I did my best to include some of the best resources that I have come across related to grunge. If you have put some grungy resources together that I missed or know of something that should have definitely made the list, please let me know in the comment section. If you’ve found the collection useful, please bookmark for future reference, share with your friends and let me hear your thoughts below :)

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• 20 Free Fonts Ideal For Logos And Headings
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• 70 Creative and Practical Uses of the Ampersand
• 30 Free Fonts Perfect For Typographical Introductions

Tags: fonts