Alex Sailer
Category: Creative
08.15.2012
When looking for inspiration, where do you start? From print to web design, there are many creative avenues to explore when you’re just starting a project. Here at NJI we like to get the creative juices flowing by browsing our favorite design blogs for the newest looks and tools. Luckily, there are tons of high quality sites out there with great resources, creative inspiration, riveting articles, skill sharpening tutorials and supportive assets that help you grow as a designer. With that said, there are so may design blogs out there, finding a useful and inspirational one can be overwhelming. To make things easier, we have narrowed it down to our top five favorite sites for design inspiration:
1. Awwwards – This site is all about promoting the best of the best when it comes to web design and development. Top-notch designers, bloggers and agencies evaluate a website and then score it on a scale of 1 to 10 based on its design, creativity, usability, and content.
2. Behance “Served” Sites – This is a series of inspiration galleries curated by the fine people at Behance.net (a website where any designer or artist can upload their portfolio). There are a total of 18 sites, each with its own theme. All of the work is taken from the portfolios of talented designers who post on Behance.net.
3. From Up North – From Up North is a blog that delivers high quality inspiration for graphic design, web design, illustration, photography, advertising, typography, packaging, and the list goes on. The examples are typically taken from well-established designers and agencies.
4. Dribbble – This community site lets designers share what they are working on, as well as their design process, with the rest of the world. Here you can find screen shots of current projects, brought to you by all sorts of creative types: graphic designers, illustrators, typographers, web designers, etc.
5. Abduzeedo – Abduzeedo is a blog about design written for designers. Here you will find daily posts about what’s new in typography, photography, illustration, branding, and even architecture. What sets them apart from the rest is a great assortment of tutorials, written by the experts on their own design staff.
As you can see, our top five picks include sites that are curated by designers themselves and engage the community. It’s always great to get a variety of opinions that span styles and media. Finding inspiration isn’t always easy. But, there is a lot of great information on the web and many designers willing to share their work if you take the time to look. So, where do you find inspiration?
