Free Graphic Design Resources

This is a selection of the best free design resources and tools for graphic designers from across the web. These tools and resources are particularly aimed at design students and they will definitely come in useful in creating all sorts of design projects; these are webpages that should certainly be bookmarked! We really hope you find this list useful and if you know of any other free design tools or resources you think we should add then feel free to contact us and let us know.

Adobe Color CC

Create color schemes with the color wheel or browse thousands of color combinations from the color community using this interactive web tool. Everthing you need to prepare a design color scheme is at your fingertips with this great tool.

www.color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel

Avatar Icon Creator Pack

Whether you just want to make your own avatar icon, your colleagues’ or friends’, or if you’re up to a full business or personal project, you can use this incredibly complete pack to build up a huge amount of combinations in just a few simple steps. This is the easiest way to create a detailed avatar!

www.designshock.com/avatar-icon

Bittbox

The Freebie Gallery on the Bittbox website includes a vast selection of brushes and textures available for free download and use in Photoshop. Expect scratched backgrounds, paint blotches, wooden textures and loads more free design resources.
www.bittbox.com

Canva

Canva’s awesome suite of features make it easy to turn ideas into stunning designs. Simply search for the best graphics, photos, and fonts, then use Canva’s drag and drop tool to create a design. Whether your next design project is a creative collage, a social media graphic or even a web mock up. Canva’s features make it possible for anybody to create amazing designs for free.

www.canva.com

Creative Bloq

Creative Bloq is a design blog but we want to focus on just one post - a mammoth list bringing together over 2,500 brilliant design freebies, covering everything from typography to 3D design. The list is updated regularly with new design resources added all the time.

www.creativebloq.com/design/free-resources-for-designers-12121531

Creative Market

Go to their "Get Free Goods" section for a line-up of the best free goodies on Creative Market from the past week. To mix things up the website offers a variety of graphics, including vectors, Photoshop packs, fonts and textures.

www.creativemarket.com

DaFont

DaFont is a huge online library of great fonts in a wide variety of styles.The fonts presented on this website are their authors' property, and are either freeware, shareware, demo versions or public domain. There is also a great preview function to help you select the best font for your design.

www.dafont.com

Design Instruct

Design Instruct offers lots of free resources, as well as a ton of useful articles. Simply head to their Freebies section to download anything from icons, vectors and fonts, to Photoshop actions, stock images and textures.
www.designinstruct.com

Dribbble

As well as being a great source for design inspiration, Dribbble also high quality freebies including icons, fonts, vector illustrations, patterns and textures. They are often featured on numerous websites, but you can be the first to view the very latest additions by searching the ‘freebies’ tag on the Dribbble website.
www.dribbble.com

FlatIcon

FlatIcon is the largest database of free icons available in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and BASE 64 formats. Flaticon offers users, high quality graphic designs: totally editable vectors carefully selected by their design team in order to provide users with great content that can be used in both personal and commercial projects - all for free!

www.flaticon.com

FreeDesignResources

As the name suggests this website is a library of  design freebies. Free Design Resources is a site dedicated to help you find the high quality design resources for free. Crafted with love from amazing artists and professional designers around the world.

www.freedesignresources.net

FreePik

Freepik helps you to find free vector art, illustrations, icons, PSD and photos for using in websites, banners, presentations, magazines or any design project you are working on. They are currently creating hundreds of free vectors every day so you'll be sure to find what you need for your design project.
www.freepik.com

Pixabay

A library of free images and videos you can use anywhere. All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required so their images are perfect for any design project.

www.pixabay.com

Pixeden

Full of free graphics and web resources, Pixeden has a little bit of everything. From graphic design and web design templates, to a whole host of icons and vectors, there’s a lot to choose from. You can sign up for a free account but if you want something a bit extra, they offer relatively cheap premium plans too.
www.pixeden.com

Pixel Buddha

Browse through Pixel Buddha’s endless catalogue of design freebies, including icons, templates, vectors and more. The website has a few high quality fonts as well, which are good for adding a personal touch to a project. From time to time the website hosts limited special offers as well, letting you snap up premium design resources for nothing, nada, zilch...free! Just another good reason to bookmark this website.
www.pixelbuddha.net

The Hungry JPEG

Download awesome, free graphic design resources today. The Hungry JPEG was started in November 2014 as a website to help designers, crafters, newbies, seasoned graphic design ninjas and well, anybody with an interest in the design world. The aim was to provide high quality design resources and we think they've done just that.

www.thehungryjpeg.com/freebies

Unsplash

Subscribe to the Unsplash mailing list to get 10 free high-resolution photos every 10 days. Expect seascapes and landscapes, architecture, travels on public transport, individual journeys, and much more. The website is great if you’re looking for something nicer than a standard stock image, and all images are free to use in your designs however you like.
www.unsplash.com

Visme

Visme is both an online Presentation and Infographic tool which markets itself as the resource to help you become a better Presenter, Communicator and Story Teller. Similar to Canva you can search for graphics, photos and fonts then drag and drop them to create your design.

www.visme.co

The Positives of Gaming Infographic

The Positives of Gaming - Click to enlarge

Lets start off on a positive note! This great infographic highlights all the good things about gaming, the positive effects it has on gamers and it even finds space to debunk a few myths about gaming too. That's an awful lot of info in one image. If you would like to learn more about gaming or games design you can read more >>>

Game Design Team Infographic

The Games Design Team - Click to enlarge

The games design process can be completed by just one person but that person would need to be highly skilled in many different areas of the design process and production stages and have a lot of time on their hands too! For these reasons computer games, much like anything else, are designed and built by a team of people each with their own specific set of relevant skills. The infographic above outlines the job titles of the 8 main members of a game design team. The list is not definitive and other job areas do exist. but these are what are considered to be the most important roles. Read More >>>

Game Genres Infographic

Computer Game Genres - Click to enlarge

Video game genres are used to organize video games based on their game-play interaction rather than visual or narrative differences. For example, a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or in outer space. Most computer games fall within a particular category or genre. Some bridge different gaming styles and, thus, could appear under more than one genre simultaneously. This infographic provides a list of all the main game genres with the features of each genre explained in brief. Read More >>

Game Design Process Infographic

The Games Design Process - Click to enlarge

The computer games design process is based on the general design process but has a process which is solely focused around the area of computer games. The headings differ from those in the general design process but they are effectively the same steps just broken down further and re-titled for a particular task. The overall process takes on the form of 3 major stages, as shown in the infographic above, with each containing a subset of more specific stages. The stages are called pre-production, production and post-production. As the names suggest the processes central objective is the creation of the game. Read More >>>

Gaming Career Infographic

Choosing a Career in Gaming - Click to enlarge

Want to work in the gaming industry but nor sure where to start or what to do? Then this is the infographic for you. Go from Start and answer the questions as you go to guide you to the ideal gaming career for you. If you would like to learn more about careers in the gaming industry then you can read more >>>

History of Gaming Infographic

A quick history of video games - Click to enlarge

Recently the global video game market was said to be valued at approx US$70 billion, but the modern video game industry had a very humble beginning. This short but concise infographic will guide you through the main events in the evolution of gaming. If you would like a more detailed history then read more >>>

Game Review Infographic

Mass Effect 3 Review Infographic - Click to enlarge

Video games are unique in that they provide an interactive experience that differentiates them from watching movies or listening to music. Games require the active participation of the user and you can't do much else while playing. This gaming infographic charts some of the players' interactions when playing Mass Effect 3. Once you've spent enough time playing a particular game, you should have enough experience to write a compelling review of it. Read More >>>

Culture of Gaming Infographic

How gaming is effecting our health and culture - Click to enlarge

If there’s one skill that we all want to keep improving, it’s decision making. No matter what you end up doing for a living, whether it be a secular job, military or stay-at-home, the ability to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of several choices is important. Gamers can breathe a sigh of relief; new studies have only served to confirm that playing video games can help us make better decisions, faster and this infographic outlines the findings. Read More >>>

The Rise of Mobile Games Infographic

Click to enlarge

This is a big infographic! But then again mobile gaming is now very, very big business and the mobile gaming industry is still growing year on year. If you would like to create your own mobile or 2D game then you can start learning for free right now. Read More >>>

The Neurology of Gaming

Click to enlarge

5 Different Approaches To Creating a Website

It is important to state before we start that the creation of your website is just one of the steps in the web design process and it's not the first one! So I would really recommend reviewing the web design process first to make sure you are adequately prepared for this stage. So many people jump straight in at this stage and waste a lot of their time because they have not completed the previous steps in the process so don't say you weren't warned. Now with that little rant over, lets look at your options for creating the website.

There are 5 main ways to create a website and although not all of them require knowledge of HTML and CSS it is definitely better if you have at least a basic understanding of them.

The 5 ways to create a website are...

• programme it yourself
• get a website template
• use a website builder
• utilise a CMS
• hire a web designer

Now that we know each of our website creation options, let's explore each of them in more detail.

Programme it from scratch 

If you already have good HTML and CSS skills or perhaps you are a web design or multimedia student in the process of learning HTML and CSS then this is a good option for you. Programming a website from scratch is also the most cost effective of the 5 options discussed in this article however it is also the most time consuming option. 

To help with this approach there are a number of very good code editor programmes available online such as Komodo Edit, which is an excellent free code editor which you can use to make programming your own website a little easier.

Start with a template

If you really want to program the website yourself but need a little bit of a helping hand getting started then perhaps a website template is the way to go, just be sure to get a responsive template to ensure your website is as user friendly as possible. This is also a great option if your programming skills are better than your design skills as you can keep the templates design features and use your programming skills to edit the content to suit your website needs.

You can choose from an amazing 100 free responsive website templates here. So a website template is definitely a great idea, especially for new web designers, just be sure to customise it as, a bit like a stock photograph being used in a poster, it can appear stale and without character in it's raw, template state.

Use a website builder

Website builders advertise themselves as the easiest and quickest method to create a website. Companies like Wix and Weebly are the best options for this approach and they both offer a starter package where you can get online with a free sub-domain name and free hosting. Although on the surface it may seem like a good choice, in my opinion, this is not a good option.

Website builders always seem to result in very rigid web designs, the free domain name is not a full domain and they tend to overcharge you for a full domain name. You often need to upgrade to a paid account to get a custom domain too and the monthly or yearly pricing structure is usually quite expensive. Bandwidth restriction, custom ads and extra storage space are other things that often need to be paid to unlock. In summary, this wouldn't be a choice I'd recommend.

Utilise a Content Management System

This would be my recommended option. CMS for short, content management systems are similar to, and often confused with, website builders. The difference being a CMS website design and structure is often created by a web designer first before being handed over to a client who only has access to a front end to make any required updates.

However, if you have learned some HTML and CSS, you can take charge and create the website design and structure yourself using systems like Blogger and WordPress. Which one of these is better is constantly being debated online with my personal preference being Blogger (read why). 

Whichever you choose, there are many others available too, this is a great option which offers you templates to get started, widgets to drag and drop in while still having access to the HTML and CSS to make advanced or specific changes and tweaks.

Hire a web designer

If you don't have the time to learn how to build a website or you need to have complex functions or a very specific look for your website and you have a budget, then you will want to outsource the work.

Be careful who you hire, though. A poorly developed website can cost you money, drive away customers, and hurt your reputation. Following a few basic steps will increase your odds of hiring a creative, technically savvy, and cost-effective design firm or freelancer.

Much of your choice of designers depends on whether you want to work locally with someone, or whether you are willing to work remotely with them over the phone. Here are some things to think and ask about when hiring a website designer.

The 5 Principles Of Logo Design

Following up on our article on the logo designs of the summer Olympics we will now learn how to create a logo by using the 5 basic principles in the area of logo design, collectively known as the principles of logo design.

The logo design principles state that a logo should be...

• simple
• memorable
• appropriate
• timeless
• versatile

Each logo design principles relates to a particular ideal of logo design and should be considered individually, however all the principles also relate to each other and it is when all the principles are used together that the best logos are created.

Simple:

Simple Apple Logo 

Simplicity is the most important of all the logo design principles. Logos can appear in various places and in various sizes such as small emblems on t-shirts or as iconic symbols on billboards. It is because of this that they need to be clear and simple so that they still display correctly and effectively at any size. Logos are designed as vector graphics to ensure they retain their image quality at any size but it is just as important that they retain their overall clarity as well. 

A good test of a logo's simplicity is if a child could draw it

By keeping you logo simple you are ensuring that at any size it will be easy to identify and read. In this way, a logo should really only contain a single graphic and a small amount of text. Prime example of simple logo are the Nike 'swoosh' and the Apple 'apple'. They are clearly identifiable at any size and even work without any text as seen above.

Back To Top

Memorable:

Memorably Creative Vividways Logo

There are 3 stages to making a logo memorable. To make a logo memorable you must first ensure it is simple. Like anything, the simpler it is the easier it is to remember, it is no different with logos. The second key element to making a logo memorable is to make it as original as possible, if something is unique or different people tend to remember it and it will be set apart from other similar businesses, products or services. The originality of the logo can be achieved through elements such as interesting fonts, unique shapes, bright colours or a catchy tag line. 

When you think of a brand, if you can visualise it's logo then it's memorable.

The logo above uses bright colours, interesting and unique forms and shapes which themselves create original lettering. The third stage to making a logo memorable is to make it relative or appropriate to the business, product or service it is representing. This is discussed in more depth in the next section.

Back To Top

Appropriate:

This Solicitors Logo Is Appropriately Clean Lined & Serious Looking

The Colourful Toys Я Us Logo Is Appropriately Fun & Quirky

When designing a logo you must consider the business, product or service that the logo is representing. You cannot design in any style or using any fonts or colours that you want. Every logo is different and requires a different approach, an approach that is appropriate to the business, product or service it is representing. To give an example a logo for a solicitor should ideally be clean and linear with a mono or two toned colour scheme to represent the serious and professional nature of the service being offered. 

As long as a logo doesn't feel out of place then it's appropriate

On the other hand bright colours, quirky fonts and curved lines would not be suitable for a solicitor's logo, however they would be suited to a toy store or play-school to represent the fun nature of the business. An appropriate graphic, such as a house for an auctioneer, also helps to immediately associate the product or service being offered with the name of the business which by itself may not suggest a specific product/service. 

For example a local business called after the owner, lets says 'Smiths' does not in itself suggest any particular product/service that is why an appropriate graphic is necessary. An appropriate logo graphic is also vital for new businesses logo to help consumers to identify with them and their logo while they are still in the process of marketing their company identity.

Back To Top

Timeless:

Olympic Logo Is Iconic & Timeless

London Underground Logo Unchanged Since 1908

A company can be in business for months, years, decades or even centuries; therefore it needs a logo that will stand the test of time and not 'age' badly. A logo may be tweaked or updated slightly over time but it should not require a full overhaul as that would mean the company would have to spend lots of money re-marketing its new identity, which can be a very expensive process, especially for large companies. 

An unchanged logo, is a timeless logo

Public bodies or services also require logos and as they cannot go out of business they tend to be around for a long time and thus need a timeless logo design, the London underground logo is a classic example of this. It is a simple logo design using basic shapes, primary colours and clean, simple text. As previously mentioned, all the logo design principles link together and it is evident in the London Underground logo as it is because of it's simple and appropriate style that it has remained unchanged for so long. The Coca Cola logo, the Olympic logo and numerous car company logos such as Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes are other examples of timeless logos which have remained unchanged for decades.

Back To Top

Versatile:

Apple Logo Showing It's Versatility

A versatile logo is one that will work equally well at any size and in any colour scheme. The logo must first be simple in order for it to have the potential to be versatile, again reinforcing simplicity as the key logo design principle. 

If the same logo will work on a badge, banner and bus then it's versatile

The best way to achieve a versatile logo design is to first design the logo in black and white, as, if the logo works in black and white it will most likely work in any suitable colour scheme. See the example of the Apple logo above.

Back To Top

Now You're Ready To Create The Logo...

Once you have used the logo design principles above to actually plan out and design your logo on paper the next step is to actually create the logo as a vector graphic using a software such as Illustrator or Photoshop. Well, we have you covered there too with this illustrator logo design tutorial. We hope you find it useful. You may also be interested in exploring the general principles of design, if so, then click here.

Coming up with ideas is tough so here are our top 3 idea generation techniques

As mentioned in the design process section coming up with an idea for a design, a slogan for a campaign, an image for a poster, a name for a website etc. can be difficult. However, by focusing on fulfilling the key requirements of the brief and allowing your research to inspire you it is possible to generate original designs for your project. Here we discuss our top 3 idea generation techniques.

Brainstorming:

Brainstorming can be useful but only if you relax and let the ideas flow, don't over think things

Brainstorming is often used where a lack of ideas is a problem. There are numerous approaches and theories on brainstorming and the different types and their levels of success are open to interpretation. In design, like many other things, different approaches suit different people and it is up to you to test out some of the brainstorming techniques and decide for yourself which one best suits you.

There is already a large amount of existing resources and lists on brainstorming techniques so it would be fruitless to repeat another one here, instead a selection of recommended links are listed below for your examination. Everyone is different and different different techniques work for different people so browse through all the links below and find a brainstorming approach that works for you - and then stick to it!

Mind Mapping:

A mind map is a diagram used to visually outline information. A mind map is often created around a single word or text, placed in the centre, to which associated ideas, words and concepts are added. Major categories radiate from a central node, and lesser categories are sub-branches of larger branches. The image below is a mind map which is explaining mind maps!

Sample Mind Map

This can be a useful technique when you want to come up with ideas, images, words or anything that you can associate with a particular theme, perhaps given to you by a client. You pre existing connotations of a word, place or colour tend to come out in a mind map easier than they might in a discussion on the topic.

Random Idea Game:

This is my personal favourite, probably because it is the most fun to do. One thing is certain with this technique is your ideas will be original.

What you do will differ slightly depending on the type of idea you need but basically create 5 columns with the headings time, place, person, object and animal. Then as quickly as possible, so as to prevent over-thinking, write down 10 to 15 related items in each column. For example in the time column you could write down anything from 2.45pm to the year 2099 or in place it could range from the corner of your living room to the forest moon of endor! All items can be real or imaginary so don't think just write.

Once you have done that the fun can begin. At random choose one item from each column at random (as quickly as possible) and force yourself (again as quickly as possible) to create a scenario/scene/story that involves them all. You will get some truly weird and wonderful ideas that you can then use as settings for a computer game, the basis of a novel, an image for a poster or anything at all really.

Here's one for you.....

"Arnold Schwarzenegger astride a unicorn carrying a mop in the Colosseum of ancient Rome".  

Surreal and weird but also unique and memorable!

http://www.onlinedesignteacher.com/2015/11/what-file-type-should-i-use_24.html

Before reading this section it is recommended that you first read the section on colour theory as a basic understanding of colour related terminology is expected.

With so many colour variations to choose from settling on a colour scheme can be difficult

A colour scheme is a combination of colours that, when put together, compliment or contrast one another in an aesthetically pleasing way. Colour schemes are used by artists, graphic designers and interior designers to create visually appealing imagery. Colour schemes can be put together at random, but most professionals choose colours based on their relationship to each other in the colour wheel. The colour scheme types explained here are monochromatic, primary, secondary, complimentary, analogous, triadic, warm and cool.

Monochromatic colour scheme:

Poster with a monochromatic colour scheme

A monochromatic colour scheme is made up of just one main colour, but features a number of shades of that one colour. A simple example of this would be a colour scheme of blue, dark blue and light blue, as seen below. Monochromatic colour schemes could also feature the base colour, shades of that colour, and white and black.

Sample Monochromatic colour swatch

Primary Colour Scheme:

Poster using primary colours

This is another basic type of colour scheme where the basic primary colours of red, yellow and blue are used. A primary colour scheme can be made up of any shade of each primary colour but works best when the shades match evenly. In other words don't mix a bright red with a muted blue and yellow.

 Sample Primary colour scheme

Secondary Colour Scheme:

Image with a secondary colour scheme

This is a type of colour scheme where the secondary colours of purple, green and orange are used. A secondary colour scheme can be made up of any shade of each secondary colour but works best when the shades match evenly. In other words don't mix a bright purple with a muted green and orange.

Sample Secondary colour scheme

Complimentary Colour Scheme:

This images uses the complimentary colours of blue and orange

This colour scheme involves matching a primary colour with the secondary colour opposite to it on the colour wheel. For example, a colour scheme based on shades of yellow and purple would comprise a complimentary colour scheme, as seen below. Other complimentary colour pairs are blue with orange and red with green.

Sample Complimentary colour scheme

Analogous Colour Scheme:

Poster using an analogous colour scheme

An analogous colour scheme is created by pairing colours that appear side by side on the colour wheel. For example, an analogous colour scheme may include purple, blue and green. More subtle combinations may also be created by matching mixed colour tone combinations such as blue-purple, blue and blue-green, as seen below.

Analogous colour scheme

Triadic Colour Scheme:

This graphic design images uses a triadic colour scheme

A triadic colour scheme is made up of three colours spaced evenly apart from each other on the colour wheel. The primary colour scheme made up of the primary colours--red, yellow and blue is an example of this. These colours are all an equal distance from each other on the colour wheel, and form a triangle on the colour wheel when connected to each other. To produce a different triadic colour scheme, move the triangle until it points to different colours on the colour wheel such as yellow, red-purple and blue-green.

Triadic colour scheme

Warm Colour Scheme:

This movie poster uses a warm colour scheme

The colour wheel is divided into two halves, warm colours and cool colours. The warm colours include reds, oranges and yellows, including all variations of these colours. The warm colours are associated with action, passion, love, rage, danger and heat.

Warm colour scheme

Cool Colour Scheme:

This movie poster uses a cool colour scheme

The cool colours are found on the opposite side of the colour wheel, and these colours include all blues, greens and purples. Cool colours are associated with coolness, peace, calm, depression,
sadness, sky and water.

Cool colour scheme

Polygon Modelling Techniques

Polygon Modelling is a technique used to model objects in Blender (or other 3D modelling softwares) in a series of different ways. It can be used in a lot of different ways, and is used in a lot of general modelling. Each of these techniques can only be used in edit mode (tab) in Blender.

Once you understand how to use these techniques and shortcuts, you'll have access to creating more objects by modelling them yourself, for example, turning a cube into a table, or a plane into a room, or a simple curve into a wine bottle.

In this tutorial, I'll be explain each polygon modelling technique, and show you an example of each technique. I'll also give you the shortcuts for the techniques that have them.

Polygon Modelling Basics

Polygon Modelling techniques are applied to the three different parts of an object in edit mode; Faces, Vertices, and Edges. These can be selected in Edit Mode (tab), and are located at the bottom of the screen (only when in edit mode) as shown below.

From Left: Vertex select, Edge select, Face select

Face: 

This is the surface between three or more Vertices.

Face Select

Vertex: 

These are the points that are located at the end of every Edge.

Vertex Select

Edge: 

These are the lines that connect two Vertices, and surround Faces.

Edge Select

Polygon Modelling Techniques

*Keyboard shortcuts are in brackets

Extrude (E):

This extracts a new edge, face or vertex from one that has already been selected. For example, you can extrude a face from a selected face, an edge from a selected face, and a vertex from a selected vertex.

Extruded Edge

Bevel (Ctrl + B):

Bevel can only be applied to the faces of objects. Its function is to create an additional face below the one that is selected, which in turn, angles the edges between the faces on the object.

Bevel Technique

Inset (i):

This technique can only be used on the faces of objects. Inset allows you to create another face inside the one that you had previously selected.

Inset Technique

Spin:

Spin is used to rotate a face or edge that is selected around an axis, based on where the placement of the 3D Cursor is on the project. There is no keyboard shortcut so just use the spin button and options in the toolbar.

Spin Technique on face

Merge (Alt + M):

This technique merges multiple  vertices, edges, or faces together. It is generally only used on vertices or edges.

Merge Technique

Subdivide:

Subdivide is used to divide the face of an object into separate segments, thus creating more faces upon the one that has been divided. There is no keyboard shortcut so just use the sub-divide button and options in the toolbar.

Subdivided Technique

Knife (K):

The knife technique allows you to manually cut through vertices and faces, creating new vertices, edges and faces.

Knife Technique used to cut surface of face

Loop, cut and slide (Ctrl + R): 

This is a process with three parts, as the name suggests - loop, cut, and slide. The first is to loop a selection around an object, choosing which axis to cut on. The second is cut, which cuts the object on the chosen axis. The final is slide, in which you can slide the cut along the edge or face, before clicking and finishing the cut.

Loop

Cut

Slide

Fill (F):

This allows the user to fill in a gap that may appear in an object in the scene.

Gap that may appear

Gap is filled in with Fill technique

Bisect:

This is used to split objects into separate sections. There is no keyboard shortcut so just use the bisect button and options in the tool bar.

Manual Bisection

Lifted Bisection to show properly

Try some of these techniques yourself. Once you familiarize yourself with them, you can go onto experiment and make a lot of high quality objects and scenes in Blender.

Sample scene created with Polygon Modelling techniques