best graphics for video game design

The Best Stream Graphics & Overlays

Graphics are an important part of your channel as they set the tone of your brand. It's important that you take time to figure out how you want to present yourself and your channel to your audience.

We know not everyone is an expert within design, which is why we've compiled this list of graphics resources. You should definitely be able to find a design that speaks to you, and that you want to represent your brand.

Some of the resources are free, some you'll have to pay. You shouldn't scoff at the idea of paying for premium graphics. $30 for a full stream package can not only make you take your channel more serious (since you've now invested more money into your stream), people will definitely notice the improvement in stream quality and brand consistency. This signals to viewers that you're a streamer that takes their craft seriously.

Our picks in resources are the best out there. You'll be able to find something that floats your boat.

OWN3D TV

Free + Premium

OWN3D.tv is an all-in-one marketplace for streamers, as well as an educational platform for those just kicking off their streaming careers. They offer a mix of free streaming elements, as well as Basic and Premium packages that provide an advanced setup of themes, overlays and websites. OWN3D acts more like a traditional marketplace, with full packages and one-off assets available for purchase, but the major difference that makes them stand out is their free courses. Meant for new streamers, these courses and tutorials are meant to help growing streamers get ahead and know how to use themes, notifications and any other asset before purchasing.

If you do decide to purchase an asset you can go for a one off item or choose a package. The Premium Packages typically go for $80.99 and the Basic Packages for $49.99. More often than not, OWN3D has a site-wide sale on almost, if not all, products.

OWN3D Pro

OWN3D Pro is a new product from OWN3D. For $10/month you get access to ALL premium OWN3D graphics, as well as access to a custom chatbot, donation software, and copyright-free music. It integrates with OBS, making your life easier to get your stream looking polished and professional.

Other Products

As mentioned before, if you don't need a full theme of assets, OWN3D also provides a vast library of single or groups of graphics and animations, including:

Webcam Overlays
Talking Overlays
Offline Banners
Twitch Profile Banners & Pictures
YouTube Banners
Desktop Wallpapers
Alerts
Alert Sounds
Panels
Stinger Transitions
Sub Emotes
Sub Badges
Bit Badges
Avatars
Websites

These assets will range from just a few bucks to closer to the cost of packages depending on the amount being purchased, popularity and a handful of other factors.

Visuals by Impulse

Free + Premium

Visuals by Impulse provides a mix of free and premium overlays, alerts, packages and more for Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube users.

The real benefit of using Visuals by Impulse is the diverse array of options available. You can go the personalized route, buy pre-made templates, test out free options or just purchase one off assets to build out your visuals on your own. Their library is also constantly rotating in new premium and free products to check out, meaning that even if nothing looks like a great fit at the moment, in just a few weeks you'll have brand new options to choose from.

As an added benefit, the team at Visuals by Impulse also puts out a regular blog about their new assets, streaming best practices and design features. They also stream the custom design process live on Twitch which is a great opportunity to learn more about what goes into visual streaming design and potentially teach you how to create future assets on your own.

VBI now has a few tools that help streamers build their own panels and stinger transitions.

Twitch Overlay

Free + Premium

Twitch Overlay offers streamers 150+ stream templates including overlays, alerts, panels, starting screens and more. It's a great solution for streamers on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Gaming.

All Twitch Overlay designs are compatible with OBS, Streamlabs and StreamElements.

As you browse through the website you'll notice how well it's organized for you to search and find the things you're most interested in. Need animated panels? Want designs with a dark theme? Narrow down the design options to fit your interests and you'll find something in no time.

Full-stream packages are affordable, ranging between $20-$30. If you only need an overlay template, or panels, then you can browse through their options and purchase designs from $2 to $15. Overall, everything on the site is super affordable and they have an extensive collection of free designs, too.

Nerd or Die

Free + Premium

Originally starting as a tutorial website and YouTube channel, Nerd or Die has evolved into a brand that creates products, custom designs, free resources, and tutorials for anyone looking to enter into the live streaming world. Their goal is to make stuff they're proud of, and it shows.

Nerd or Die has some of the best graphics available for streamers on all platforms. And they have a mix of free and premium products, all of which will make your stream look sleek and professional.

Here's a list of some of their products:

Alerts
Overlays
Panels
Sound effects
Full stream packages

Most of their products are compatible with:

OBS
StreamElements
Streamlabs

And did we mention that Nerd or Die creates custom event lists, chat boxes and stream widgets that are compatible with Streamlabs and StreamElements?!

How about free resources. Yes, Nerd or Die offers a few free resources that are just as amazing as their products. They include:

Twitch Panel Maker (free)
Stream Deck Icons (name your price)
Alert Maker (name your price)
Social Media Popup (name your price)
And more

Nerd or Die is at the top of our list for graphics. Their site is designed extremely well, and each product has a detailed analysis of what's included and how to set it up to ensure you get the most out of your purchase.

If in doubt, check out NoD.

Gaming Visuals

Free + Premium

Gaming Visuals offers premium graphics for streamers that are compatible with Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Gaming.

What sets Gaming Visuals apart? Custom graphics.

The designers at Gaming Visuals loves to bring a brand vision to life. Whether you're a veteran or just getting started, they will help you stand out from the crowd. There's a 4-step process they walk you through to ensure your creative vision is brought to life.

Share your idea. You should receive a response within 24 hours with an exact price and delivery time.
Gaming Visuals works their magic. You'll go over any specifics with the team and you'll be able to track the progress of the designs, see previews, and communicate directly with the team.
Deliver and setup. Once the designs are approved, you can download and start using them. All designs are optimized for OBS Studio and SLOBS.
Ongoing love and support. After your design is finalized you'll be a part of the Gaming Visual family forever, which includes freebies, potential partnerships and more.

If you don't want a custom design, no worries. Gaming Visuals has an online store where you can buy free and premium emotes, badges, panels, overlays and other designs.

Tactical Lion

Free + Premium

Tactical Lion specializes in creating customized artwork for all of your streaming and social platforms, as well as a range of pre-made templates for quick purchase and use. Each custom package focuses on a specific streaming or social channel, with assets included that makes the most sense for someone just starting out on that channel. Looking for more? They give you the option to tack on additional designs, animations or to have them install the designs for you to make it as easy as possible.

Tactical Lion's artwork is designed to work on every platform to give you flexibility. They've also partnered with Streamlabs and StreamElements, giving streams a one-click install on various stream packages.

Additionally, Tactical Lion has a brief assortment of free panels and icons available, as well as regular blog releases and guides that go through basic tutorials, best practices and much more in the world of streaming. The pricing and limited free templates makes this a reasonable option for streamers just branching out and needing a lot of personalized assets to get started.

Streamplay Graphics

Free + Premium

One of the more affordable marketplace options available today, Streamplay provides a range of streaming packages and single use items, animations and audio cues that range from just $2.99 - $24.99 for full packages.

You can expect to find:

Stream Packages
Overlays
Offline Banners
Webcam Overlays
Panels
Alerts
Scene Transitions
Animated Alerts
Intermission and Starting Soon Graphics
Animated Graphics

In addition to all of the paid options, Streamplay also provides a small assortment of free Twitch Overlays and Webcam Overlays to get you started. They also provide an editing service for both free and premium graphics in case you don't know your way around Photoshop or don't have time to change things around yourself.

StreamElements

Free

Compatible with **Twitch**, **YouTube**, **Facebook**

StreamElements takes an innovative approach to overlays, and stores all your graphics and assets in the cloud, reducing pre-stream setup time to a few seconds. This also enables launching your overlay from every device, and backs up all your overlay graphic assets.

How does it work?

StreamElements has its own Overlay editor that offers unrivaled management of your overlays and ease of use with one source loading. In the Overlay editor you can create, edit, duplicate and customize your overlays effortlessly.

All your overlays are stored in your StreamElements account, with each overlay having a unique URL to be placed in your streaming software (OBS project/Xsplit) and containing your whole setup.

Themes

Before you use the editor, you get to choose your theme from their gallery. If you don't want a universal theme, you can pick and choose your own overlays, alerts, panels, etc. But having a uniform theme will definitely help with branding, and is a much safer choice when creating (or updating) your profile.

And all of this is free. You pick your theme, and then you customize it with the overlay editor.

Out of the box, you immediately get the following with StreamElements:

Overlays (in-game, stream started, stream ended, be right back, and just chatting)
Chatbot
Alerts
HypeCup
KappaGen
Widgets
Analytics

You can plug and play your own custom graphics/overlays onto StreamElements. Nerd or Die, for example, creates themes specifically for StreamElements. Although you may have to pay, you can use a custom theme to really hone your brand identity.

Import

If you prefer other chatbots for specific commands, or tips, you can import the following tools:

StreamLabs (alertbox, tips)
NightBot (commands, timers)
Ankhbot (points, quotes, commands)
DeepBot (points, commands)
Moobot (commands, timers)
TipeeStream (alertbox, tips)

As you can see, StreamElements has a lot more to offer than just graphics. Their platform is an all-in-one streaming solution for anyone on Twitch, YouTube, etc.

And it's not just for beginners. Some of the biggest streamers out there use StreamElements and love it. It's hard not to.

Streamlabs

Free + Premium

Streamlabs is another all-in-one solution for streamers, like StreamElements. The service is free to use, but they also offer Prime, a subscription based membership that gives you additional features.

Prime costs $149/year or $19/month. What are the benefits of Prime?

Themes. You can choose from thousands ofprofessionally designed themes to get you started. You can customize your own theme, or pick from thousands of pre-made options. Either way, your stream will look amazing.
Apps. Every app is free with Prime, and they have over 40 - all designed to grow your channel. You can't use them unless you have Prime.
Custom Website. Streamlabs will hook you up with a custom domain and website, leveling you up from casual streamer to professional content creator. You can customize your site however you wish.
Merch Store. You have the option to create fully custom, dropshipped merchandise including clothing, headwear, stickers, home goods and more. There are tons of benefits to the custom merch store, but most importantly it allows you to diversify your income.
Gold Status. You'll get tons of oppotunities to win amazing prizes and level up your stream with each new All-Star status. This includes PC giveaways, VIP giveaways, game codes, an exclusive gold t-shirt, and more.
Mobile App. Get your own private server hosted on the Streamlabs Cloud. This ensures if your mobile IRL stream gets disconnected, you won't go offline and lose all your viewers.
Cloudbot. You get to rename your bot and brand it however you wish. It takes customization to a new level.

You get a lot more, but you get the gist.

Although you don't need Prime, most of the themes, apps, widgets, etc require a Prime subscription in order to you to use them.

You may scoff at the idea of paying a yearly (or monthly) subscription, but you won't have to worry about anything else for your stream. You'll have access to anything you need. This includes:

Alerts
Chat boxes
Events lists
Goals
Stream labels
Viewer count
Tip jar
Spin wheel
Media sharing
Donation tickers
Sponsor banner
Lots more

Streamlabs is very similar to StreamElements. They offer a lot of the same features and are a great choice for streamers to quickly get their stream setup while looking professional.

FAQs

How to make a Twitch overlay with Photoshop?

Creating your own overlay can be difficult if you're not familiar with Photoshop or other image editing software. Nevertheless, above you'll see how to create your own animated facecam overlay.

The tutorial uses Photoshop and After Effects. If you have questions, go to the video and leave a comment.

How to get Twitch chat overlay in game?

Restream Chat is an application that allows you to overlay your Twitch chat on top of the game you're streaming. The tutorial above will walk you through each step of the process.

How to make a Twitch overlay without Photoshop?

Dale will show you how to make a Twitch overlay without Photoshop. To make this overlay, you'll need the open source software, GIMP.

How to add overlay to Twitch on PS4 or Xbox?

In this tutorial you'll learn how to get overlays on your Xbox stream without a capture card. They'll walk you through to setup your audio with the Astro A40s and a mix amp. This should also work for Playstation.

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