Material Design, a comprehensive design language developed by Google in 2014, has established itself as a foundational framework for digital interfaces. Initially created for Android software, Chrome, and Google products, it has expanded to influence web and mobile application design broadly. The system is characterized by its use of clean, direct realism effects, careful shadows, and layering to create a three-dimensional user experience. For consumers, developers, and designers seeking to utilize this aesthetic, a variety of free resources are available. These include UI kits, icon sets, and templates that facilitate the creation of modern, user-friendly applications and websites. The following guide details the types of free Material Design assets available, their specific features, and the platforms and formats in which they are distributed.
Overview of Available Material Design Resources
The landscape of free Material Design resources is diverse, encompassing several categories of digital assets designed to assist with various projects. These assets are typically distributed as design files, code frameworks, or icon libraries. According to available data, the primary categories of freebies include:
- Material Design Icons: Collections of vector icons adhering to the 24x24 grid system specified by Google’s Material Design principles.
- Material Design UI Kits: Comprehensive sets of user interface components, often including templates for screens such as onboarding, sign-in, home, and profile pages.
- Material Design Templates & Frameworks: Pre-designed layouts and code frameworks, such as Bootstrap templates, that provide a structural foundation for websites and applications.
- Material Design Backgrounds: Visual assets intended for use as backgrounds in digital designs.
- Material Design UI Components & Codes: Specific, reusable elements and code snippets for implementation in development projects.
- Other Freebies: A miscellaneous category that may include specialized assets like hand gesture sets.
These resources are designed to help users build applications that align with the latest Material Design guidelines while streamlining the design workflow.
Material Design Icons
Iconography is a central element of the Material Design language. Several free icon sets are available, offering varying styles and customization options. These sets are often built as components for specific design software, allowing for easy integration and modification.
- Comprehensive Vector Icon Collection: A collection of over 2000 free Material Design component-based vector icons is available for the Figma application. This library features five distinct styles: Filled, Outlined, Sharp, Rounded, and Two-tone. The icons are built as Figma components, offering customizable properties within the Design panel. To enhance usability, the collection includes searchable tags for quick access.
- Open Source Icon Library: An open-source icon library follows Google Material Design principles, with every icon created using a 24x24 grid. This provides a consistent and standardized look for system and product icons.
- Platform-Specific Icon Sets:
- Sketch: A set of Material Design icons in an outlined style is available for the Sketch app, alongside a set of filled Material Design icons.
- SVG: A collection of over 400 Material Design SVG line icons is available for scalable vector use.
- Specialized Icon Templates: An icon template specifically for product and system icons within the Material Design framework helps ensure consistency across a project.
- Hand Gestures: A unique set of free Material Design-inspired hand gestures is also available, which can be useful for tutorials, onboarding screens, or interactive elements.
Material Design UI Kits
UI kits provide a library of pre-designed components that allow designers to assemble interfaces rapidly. The available kits vary in format, complexity, and the specific design software they support.
- Component-Based Mobile UI Kit (PSD): A free Material Design UI kit in PSD format is designed to help quickly bring mobile project ideas to life. It is component-based and offers over 40 templates and 30 icons across 7 categories. It is compatible with Adobe CS6 and above.
- Material Design React UI Kit (Mockplus): This free kit provides 16 essential mobile app design pages, including About, Onboarding, Sign In, Home, Profile, and Settings. It is formatted for Mockplus.
- General UI Kits (PSD):
- One kit includes a small set of basic pieces consistent with Material Design guidelines, featuring photos from the TV show Mad Men.
- Another kit contains many usable elements such as a profile page, music player, statistics, graph, buttons, navigation menu, and sign-in page. It is designed for creating websites and mobile apps and provides free UI templates and elements for use in webpage or mobile application interface design.
- A third kit is described as the most complete to date, including every building block from previous versions. It requires the installation of Roboto and Roboto Slab fonts and recommends starting with a "Quick Start" file, using Shift+Drag to move UI elements from the Building Block file.
- Sketch UI Kits:
- Android Material Design UI Kit by Ivan Bjelajac: Designed for Sketch, this library contains a large number of mobile app UI elements and has been downloaded over 30,000 times.
- Google Material Design Layouts: This Sketch resource contains light and dark symbols for status bars, app bars, bottom toolbars, cards, dropdown menus, search fields, dividers, side navigation, dialogs, and floating action buttons.
- Other Sketch Kits: Additional free kits listed include the Material Design UI Kit Boilerplate, Covalent Material Design Template, Material Design Wireframe Kit, Google Inbox Material Design kit, Nest Material Design UI Kit, Android Lollipop Material Design UI kit, Mobile Material Screens, and others by designers such as Kyle Ledbetter and Benjamin Schmidt.
- Bootstrap UI Kits: Several Material Design-inspired kits are available for the Bootstrap framework.
- Material Kit: A free Bootstrap UI kit with a fresh design inspired by Google's Material Design. It includes restyled Bootstrap elements and three fully-coded example pages. It is distributed as an SD element and HTML/CSS/JS implementation.
- Material Design for Bootstrap (MDB): Described as a framework for building responsive, mobile-first websites and apps, MDB allows users to take advantage of features from the newest Bootstrap 4.
Material Design Templates and Frameworks
For users who require a complete structural foundation, various templates and frameworks are available. These are often based on popular web development frameworks like Bootstrap.
- Bootstrap Templates: A review updated on December 31, 2024, highlights a selection of free and premium Material Design Bootstrap templates. These templates allow developers to design complete websites with an enhanced, elegant user interface. The concept of Material Design is explained as creating a three-dimensional feel with X, Y, and Z axes, making interactions like button presses more relaxed.
- Listed Templates and Kits: Source [4] provides a specific list of free UI templates and icon sets. In addition to the UI kits mentioned above, this list includes:
- Material Design Inspired Bootstrap UI Kit by Vitaly Chernega (PSD)
- Android L Kit by Rasmus Nielsen (PSD)
- Android L Toolbox by Deividas Graužinis (PSD)
- Android Material Design Template by Donart Bytes Selimi (PSD)
- Instagram in Material Design Templates by Zach Buechler (PSD)
Material Design UI Components and Codes
Beyond full kits, individual components and code libraries are available for developers and designers who need specific elements.
- Material Design UI Components & Codes: This category includes code-based assets for direct implementation. The previously mentioned Material Kit and Material Design for Bootstrap (MDB) are primary examples, provided as HTML/CSS/JS implementations.
- Specific Code and Component Lists: Source [2] lists "Material Design UI Components & Codes" as a distinct category, indicating a focus on assets that can be directly integrated into a codebase.
Other Freebies
A catch-all category for miscellaneous assets includes unique items that support specific design needs.
- Hand Gestures: As noted in the icon section, a set of free Material Design-inspired hand gestures is available. These can serve as a distinct visual element for user interface design, particularly for instructional or interactive content.
Accessing and Using Material Design Freebies
The free resources described are hosted across various design-focused websites and platforms. Users can typically access these assets by visiting the respective sites that aggregate or host these freebies. The files are provided in multiple formats to accommodate different software preferences:
- Design File Formats: PSD (Photoshop), Sketch, Mockplus, Adobe XD, and JPG.
- Code and Vector Formats: HTML/CSS/JS, SD element, and SVG.
- Icon Formats: CSH (Photoshop Custom Shape), PNG, and Sketch files.
When using these resources, it is important to note any specific requirements, such as the need to install particular fonts (e.g., Roboto and Roboto Slab for one PSD kit) or to use a specific starting file within a kit's structure.
Conclusion
The availability of free Material Design resources provides significant value for designers and developers. These assets, ranging from comprehensive UI kits and icon libraries to specific templates and code frameworks, enable the creation of modern, consistent, and user-friendly digital interfaces. By leveraging resources formatted for popular design software like Sketch and Figma, as well as code frameworks like Bootstrap, individuals can efficiently implement Google's Material Design principles. The diversity of available freebies ensures that there are tools suitable for a wide array of projects, whether for mobile applications or responsive websites.