Every designer has been there. Reaching a creative destination that leads to nowhere. It's somewhat similar to a "writer's block". Longing for the creative juices to flow, but being in a barren land devoid of inspiration.
When all artistic flair has dried up, it's often a good use of time to find inspiration from other designers or creatives. Here are a ten top sites that may help the ideas flood in.
Designspiration (created by Shelby White) is a website that puts photography, fashion, architecture, typography and interior design, all in one place. Being able to see what other creatives are capable of and what they're doing will inspire you to create.
The site has a boxed layout for each post with vertical scrolling, allowing easy navigation throughout the whole site.
A great feature of this site is it is easy to work with - searching through the site is made easy by typing "@[Insert word]" or "#[Insert html color codes]" if you're searching for certain colour scheme inspiration.
Dezeen magazine is a design and architecture magazine, which started off as a blog in 2006 by Marcus Fairs and is now also co-founded by Rupinder Bhogal.
If you're looking for inspiration or simply catching up on what's new in the world of architecture, interiors, or design, this site is great for it.
The website has a collective of stories on what is happening in the design industry. With new content almost everyday, inspiration is bound to appear from somewhere.
The site has enabled vertical scrolling for each page and link buttons loading onto the next page. The site is most commendable for having the latest design and interior projects as well as the industry gossip. What really appeals is the right sidebar including editor's picks, the latest news, and their latest Instagram post (@dezeen).
There's something about colors that help us induce different emotions. Through seeing an array of colors, inspiration can be found.
Whether you need color inspiration or just want to enhance your color scheming skills, this site does that plus more. It allows you to understand the color rule with six principles: analogous, monochromatic, triad, complementary, compound and shades.
The site is pretty easy to use. Giving us that classic color wheel, which any level of creative can recognize from Paint, this website allows you to create a color scheme (one that abides by the color wheel rule) by dragging individual points to desired color. Once you've picked your base color, by moving adjacent points around the color wheel, a relative color scheme is created.
Staying on the color side of inspiration, Pantone is the epitome of color knowledge and design.
Pantone colors are universal and are used by a large number of designers. If a color is to be communicated through a project, Pantone lingo is used.
The site not only has colors and their associated names but also updates on color trends, color meanings and new discoveries. The site layout is mostly composed of categorized links (i.e. Shop, Colour intelligence, about, etc). What is really useful is the colour-meaning portion of the site. Pantone writes articles regarding how we see color and what we translate the color as. For example the color blue is associated with words such as tranquil and trust.
Architechtural trends can filter down into all areas of design, and to find that top level inspiration, check out ArchDaily. The website is co-founded by David Bassulto and David Assael. It is a source for the latest architectural news, inspiration, and knowledge.
The site is fairly easy to go through, and divided into subcategories (i.e. Projects, News, Events, etc.) The site allows vertical scrolling for each page and link buttons loading onto the next page. The interviews with other designers talking about their journey through the architectural field are motivational and make you aspire and reach their vision.
Houzz is more specifically interior design inspiration, but there's plenty of take out for every area of creativity. Their content ranges from house décor for certain holidays (Christmas, thanksgiving, etc.) to the best homes around the world. They also include tips on being space efficient and color schemes.
This website is categorized per post and can be easily explored by vertical scrolling. It allows simple navigation as every post is tagged and categorized. Need inspiration for kitchens? Click the kitchen tag. How about inspiration from the a specific city? Click the metro area tag.
The Design Files is Australian based with a fabulous Instagram account (@thedesignfiles). Their site is also great for inspiration but for a quicker search, go through their Instagram profile to get the creative juices flowing.
Their Instagram account works as expected - layout in grid form and there is just enough information in the captions that you will hardly need to look at the actual post on their site.
Pinterest is the most convenient of them all as it is both a website and a mobile application. Pinterest is basically an archive for all things creative. From nail art to design illustrations, this site is definitely one of the sites to turn to when looking for quick inspiration.
The site also is categorized using tags, allowing an easier search experience. The layout is in boxed forms for each post, and what sets this site apart from the others is you can create an album and add the posts/photos you like within the app.
Behance is another great site for inspiration, especially in illustration designs. This site is an "online portfolio" for creatives. Most of the content is from independent designers and illustrators uploading their projects and designs.
The site works similar to Pinterest, layout-wise, although this site is more specifically for designer-use. As opposed to the mass of Pinterest users, where there can be a few misleading posts in regards to work originality, Behance users seem to reference their work more often. A particular highlight is the "creatives to follow" series where each week, new creatives are recommended and their portfolios are shown in a few thumbnails.
Booooooom is a site for all sorts of creatives. Photography, illustration, music and animation inspiration, it's all on one site.
Its strength is the constant promotion of the uprising or independent creatives. This is done through their "spotlight" posts.
The site is easy to work with as there are categories for whichever inspiration you are looking for, e.g. music, art, photography, etc. The site is sub-categorized in chronological posts. Booooooom also has vertical scrolling enabled, with the latest posts on top of the page.
Ok, so this is a bit self-indulgent, but Beyond The Pen Tool is a fantastic resource, packed with design inspiration. Whether you're a manager looking to launch a project, a designer stuck for ideas, or even exterior painters needing new perspectives, this site offers a wealth of creative fuel to help bring your vision to life.
The articles focus on everything from design tips, to business branding advice, and just-for-fun Photoshop contests. The beautiful image round-ups are super useful and are full of ideas to give you a creative spark.
So, there you have it, ten (sure, 11) websites to find design inspiration. After checking out one, a few, or all of these, your creativity drive should be boosted. Never give in to the "creative's block" (can we call it that, right?) Be inspired. Start creating.
Want more?
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The 7 Steps of a Professional Design Process
Written by Danielle Tarroza on Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Danielle is an aspiring writer with a penchant for design. She has completed a Biomedicine degree and is a self-confessed fashion eclectic. Her creative and stylist skills are matched by passion for coffee! Follow her on Twitter: @__daniellegrace
