When you’re looking for drawing references, or interesting elements to add to an illustration project, vintage illustrations can be a great place to turn. Older imagery is more likely to be in the public domain, and you can often discover patterns and elements that aren’t as commonplace nowadays.

An image bank of visuals that inspire you is a fantastic tool, sparking ideas for original drawings, patterns, prints, logos, and anything you want to make—one such resource worth exploring is The Heritage Library.

Heritage Type is a website that focuses mostly on fonts and typography, offering products for all kinds of design projects. Whether it’s packaging, a book cover, a website, or a greeting card, there are tons of font styles and families to download, usually in paid bundles.

However, they also have a library of free downloads for you to explore. The Heritage Library, as it is called, is a compendium of “beautiful illustrations from the past which are 100% free to use.” Below we’ve selected a few favorites that represent the broad range available, and explained a bit more about how you can use these images.

There are two general kinds of illustration you’ll find throughout the extensive collection. First, there is naturalist imagery including insects, flowers, fruit, and animals of all shapes and sizes. Some include black-and-white lineart only, while some are detailed in pencils or richly painted in watercolor. Some images are bold, while others have a soft, faded look, perfect if you want your work to have a delicate feel.

Then, there is illustration from daily life: people participating in activities such as cycling and sailing, and fashion illustrations—including figures by famous twenieth-century illustrator George Barbier. Barbier's pieces feature elegant female figures in 1920s clothing pieces. Similarly, major American illustrator Edward Penfield's work shows male and female figures in fashionable coats and outerwear.

Another famous name you’ll find among the bundles is Alphonse Mucha, known for his Art Nouveau images that featured on posters, books, adverts, and more.

The Heritage Library team curated the content to feature imagery that is in the public domain and usable under Creative Commons. A Creative Commons license (CC0) means you can use the images for personal and commercial use. This means it should be free of copyright issues, and you can copy and modify it as you wish. That said, they advise double-checking the usage rights of individual images if you want to use them in a commercial setting, especially as these can vary from country to country.

When you download a bundle from their website, you’ll receive a PDF license from Heritage Library along with the images as PNGs. Some bundles also include the images as vectors. Then, you’re free to implement them in your projects—your imagination is the only limit!

Ready to give your designs some vintage flair? Delve into the complete Heritage Library here.

What would you use this free imagery for? Let us know in the comments below.

If this material has inspired you to connect with nature through illustration, why not sign up for graphic designer and watercolor artist Inga Buividavice's course on Artistic Floral Watercolor? In it, she shares how to sketch leaves and blooms to create an original meadow illustration.

- Vintage Design Ideas: 100,000 Free Fashion Illustrations- 435 Free Bird Watercolors from the 19th Century- What is Botanical Illustration?- 6 Inspiring Floral Artists You Must Follow on Instagram- Botanical Watercolor: Illustrate the Anatomy of Flowers, course by Luli Reis