34 Places to Get Design Inspiration – Online and Off
Everyone who hasn’t encountered designer’s block, raise your hand. Just as I thought. Well then, chances are you could use some places to get inspiration for those days when the pixels aren’t aligned and your mouse finger isn’t clicking like it should. We’ve compiled a list, online and off to serve up everything from logos to icons to art to fashion to just inventive ideas to get your mind ticking.
So kick back and let your senses run wild as we bring you 15 websites packed full of inspiration, 10 must-have books and 9 things to do to get inspired.
This eZine is packed full of international design and art goodness. It’s a heavy download but well worth the effort.
A community gallery of great logo designs which is growing rapidly. Plenty to get you inspired!
Adobe’s Colour community built with some very slick Flash for a really nice user experience.
If you’re looking for web design that breaks the mould, then look no further than theFWA, a daily dose of Flashy goodness.
When you challenge a bunch of designers to use CSS as imaginatively as possible you get some pretty interesting design ideas…
There are a lot of great places to see photos online, flickr and istock spring to mind, but if you’re looking for quality over quantity, try JPGMagazine.
If you like your digital media mixed up to include showreels, design sites, CSS, Flash and everything in between, try Carole Guevin’s eloquent mix of taste and punch.
Some days I feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of galleries around, that’s why I love MostInspired, the gallery aggregator!
Browse palettes, chat to the community and read the excellent blog. ColourLovers is THE community for color
If you looked up “Useful” in the dictionary, you’d see a screenshot of SmashingMagazine there next to it. Not only do they showcase great designs, but if you’re a web designer you’ll find their CSS tips and tricks, layout guides and other articles will have you itching to try new things with your next design.
Whether you’re into fashion, illustration or just want to see something unusual, PagesOnline delivers. It’s blend of Flash, magazine style page flipping and funky design that has been clogging up by bandwidth for years now. And if that wasn’t enough, they’re based round the corner from FreelanceSwitch headquarters! How’s that!
TheBestDesigns shows exactly that, a great mix of fantastic websites, including notably a really cool designer directory so you can go and pinch other people’s ideas straight out of their portfolios!
Icons are so hot right now and IconBuffet not only sells and gives away icons, but is also home to one of the most eclectic communities around. If you haven’t tasted their wares yet, you must give it a whirl today!
Boasting a huge library of T-shirts, Threadless also employ a unique method of getting designs – user submission and voting. So whether you feel like feeding your T-shirt habit, or browsing through hundreds of clever designs for ideas, Threadless will leave you delighted.
DeviantArt makes regular community websites look absolutely miniscule, and though its 40 million piece library is crowded with duds, there are some real pearls of inspiration mixed in. My tip: Use the “Most Favourites” feature when searching.
Often the details make the design, and this book has all the little aesthetic details a designer could want.
Sometimes you just need to get out from behind that desk and get a bit of man made fun into your work.
Hundreds of colour palettes so you can get away from your default hues and your house style.
Each industry has it’s experts. You look at their work and you feel a deep sense of disgust that some people can be so talented. Then you try to emulate them.
All too often we designers get caught up in aesthetics. Some great advertising can inspire us to once again make communication our first priority.
One for the web designers! Who would have thunk it, but this is a nice little book to flip through when you’re looking for some web inspiration. You can read it on trains and you don’t need to wait for each site to load before you figure out whether you like it or not!
If you’ve ever been to France you’ll know that although you don’t often hear about it, their design is gorgeous. The work is either modern or looks like an artisan crafted it on his deathbed. We could all learn a little from the French (not least the thirty hour work week and six weeks per year paid holiday). Look at this book, drool, then inject a little French je ne sais quoi into your work.
My father always said to me – if you don’t know you’re art history you’re constantly reinventing the wheel. As usual, he was right. If you’re feeling stumped, grab this book (or even a book on art history), flip to a page and whatever you see there as your inspiration.
A visual smorgasbord to stir the creative juices and tickle the eyeballs.
We all know the Japanese rock design socks. This book has gorgeous packaging, print and web design that will broaden your cultural horizons and get you thinking in new and exciting ways.
Hearkening back to my father’s wise words about reinventing the wheel, a widely known cure for designer’s block is a stroll around an art gallery. Modern art gets my motor running with its bizarreness and taste for the flamboyant, but for others nothing replaces the masters.
This is a kooky one, but one of my favourites! Go to a charity store (the ones that sell second-hand things for $1 or $2) and find one thing to buy that you think is really visually interesting – it could be an old doll or the pattern on some fabric, a book or a record, whatever takes your fancy. Then upon your return back to the desk, base a design on it! This can be challenging but will force you to think outside the square.
Take your trusty digital camera and spend half an hour photographing interesting textures, objects and colours. You can do this indoors, but taking a walk might help clear your head and get you out of that office. Use your findings as inspiration or even components of your next design!
Keith Haring first showed his art on the streets of New York, so it’s no surprise that these days you can find many young artists expressing themselves in urban environments. If you live in a major city (and sometimes even smaller ones) you can find a wealth of talent and inspiration if you’re prepared to look. Take a walk around the city and see what you can find.
Designers are always talking during movie credits with things like “ooh I like that typeface”, “that’s a nice effect” and so on. That’s because opening credits, trailers and movies allow the lucky designers that work on them to go wild and crazy and fulfill their creative potential. Next time you’re blocked, go to the cinema. Before you go in, analyze the posters. Then enjoy the previews, viewing them from a purely aesthetic point of view of course. Finally, look at those credits. Do it without guilt because you are a freelancer! Come home with a clear head, new ideas and tax-deductible popcorn.
Much like our lucky friends in the movie industry, the music industry is oh so edgy and the design can be really inspiring. Remember that generally they get paid peanuts and don’t get treated very well (I speak from experience), and then go to the music store and get inspired! If you’re feeling lazy you can go through your own CD collection, unless you’re a Celine Dion and Backstreet Boys fan, in which case you should rethink.
If you’re involved with packaging and even if you aren’t, foreign food stores can really get the creative juices flowing. We have a huge Japanese supermarket in Sydney and the soft drink packaging alone could keep you inspired for months. Go to one and buy the most visually interesting thing you can find. Use the packaging as inspiration and then eat it if you’re feeling particularly adventurous!
There’s plenty of inspiration to be had on the streets of most cities but it can be rather inefficient viewing it all on foot. Since driving while getting inspiration is the cause of more road accidents than speeding, it’s probably best you do your inspiration gathering from the window seat of a bus. And if you live in a big city, this is a great excuse to get out and about and see all those areas you normally never visit. Watch out for interesting signage, posters and graphics along your way and revel in the sometimes awful and sometimes fantastic design ideas that others have had.
Antique stores have a wealth of old books and retro album art that are fantastic for getting a different perspective on your work. Most often their cheap too, so load up on them, head back to the computer and design like your grandpa.
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Thank you Cyan!
Good collection of the sites. Worth looking at to get different design ideas.
RajeshShakya.com
Awesome, awesome post.
Two books worth considering for your list:
Meggs’ History of Graphic Design and The Art of Looking Sideways. They’re both excellent books and chock full of knowledge, information, and inspiration.
Also, you might wanna update your Threadless screenshot. The one currently there says loudly, “Google Anal Prolapse”. Yeah. It’s hilarious so that might be on purpose, but, figured I’d point it out.
Anyway, thanks for another awesome post.
This is a great list! I especially like those offline ways to find inspiration. Inspiration is not far away, we just need to know where to look for it.
A great list of places to get inspiration. I would probably add a few more CSS galleries for those of us web designers. Like CSS Drive.
Fantastic list and good timing, I’m starting several new flash projects and was thinking about how to get energized this morning. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for sharing these resources! I’ve been looking for more inspiration and hadn’t seen most of these sites!
great list of sites!
Awesome stuff. Thanks for this!
You’re welcome guys! We tried to get a good variety of stuff in, since a lot of lists of inspiration tend to focus on the same few resources, but actually there are a lot of untapped places out there
I like to get together with other designers and developers to just chill out and plan stuff out we know will never do
Now and again, we get together at the local coffee shop(s) and we do a little tour throughout the day. Sometimes we meet up and other times it’s a chance meeting.
Great post, and thanks for selecting MostInspired.
Especially like the offline stuff. I always thought I got my best inspiration when not sitting in-front of the computer.
Great list!!
You forgot: http://www.fcukstar.com
For cool motiongraphics: http://feed.stashmedia.tv/
I would also add these to the list:
Veer – awesome stock photos
http://www.veer.com
Designfruit – Jason Gaylor’s creations
http://www.designfruit.com/
Web Creme – top websites which you can sort by color scheme
http://www.webcreme.com
I keep a folder in Firefox called “Interesting” that I have these and more that I can browse through for inspiration.
There is a believe that one should not look at others works for inspiration. I guess it is only partially true. It all depend on how you look.
Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
great list, just what the doctor ordered!
++recommend!
these are great resources, netdiver.net has been my fave forever.
Great list, my favorite; cssZengarden
Wow – great list! For writers like me, photo sites can be very inspiring. They’re great for kickstarting a creative idea or overcoming writer’s block.
very useful list…
The recent broo-ha-ha over at jpgMag:
http://powazek.com/posts/534
might make you reconsider patronizing them.
Great list – but you missed one of the biggest inspiration sites out there http://www.screenalicio.us with more than 8600 screenshots!
WOW, beautiful collection fellas. I have been longing for a place like this to find all my inspiration. Please don’t ever take this page down. Thanks a ton!
Great list! It’s good to see some new sites in addition to the classics like CSS Zen Garden.
Thanks.
Great resources mate!
Deviantart is definitely at the top of my ‘inspirational’-list, but I’ll be sure to check out these sites next time I need some inspiration.. thanks!
This is great was feeling a little in need of some inspiration.
Tomorrow I will go to an Oriental Supermarket!
Thanks Cyan.
Graffiti Art is also a cool book to look through. Communication Arts helps too.
Boycott JPG Magazine, they kickout their founders.
Great resources! Thanks!
Great stuff man. thanks for the list..
great researched list. You must include http://www.thecoolhunter.net
awesome list! bookmarked~
Lovely!!!
Smashing Magazine is simply amazing. Every post they publish is so good I can’t resist bookmarking it. Love Netdiver as well. Great List! Bookmarked!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful resources! They are really helpful!
Cyan, I’m amazed at your ability to crank out these fun and interesting blog posts.
I recently bought the book “Tres Logos” and recommend it – especially for logo design inspiration. It’s part of the “logos” series: Los Logos, Dos Logos, and now Tres Logos.
Thanks for another fun post =)
This has to be the best post yet on FS!!!! No more “designers” block for me
Thankyou for the inclusion. We have received many, many new subscribers from the post. As we are around the corner lets meet sometime soon.
nice post
Good collection of the sites. Worth looking at to get different design ideas… this really help to a lot of designers out there..
Yeah definitely one of the best posts so far.
I never thought of some of those places to go when you have the block. I also find rest and do something else can be the best thing to do.
Thanks for the great post
Great list! I’ve got to mention the design/style section on Freshpilot News though, aggregates a bunch of design related sources into one quick stop for inspiration:
http://www.freshpilot.com/news/?section=design
This is cool ! Some of them are in my favs.
Thanks for the list, Im checking out Artzmania right now
It feels like I just opened the window and got some fresh air! thanks for posting these!
Wow, pikachu is amzing. I’m checking it out now. thanks.
I like this CSS gallery, I think it is best:
http://www.welldonesites.com
[...]Top 34 Places to Get Design Inspiration – Online and Off[...]
I’ve been keeping track of inspiring websites on Flickr for over a year now, and the photo set has quite a following these days. Check it out at:
http://flickr.com/photos/splat/sets/981332/
I try and post a handful of inspiring things everyday at http://www.wearesharks.com. I dont’ ever lack for inspiration.
Thanks for the link up! Glad to be of service.
I would add talking to a weird friend too. That usually helps me.
GREAT looking list, wow. I’d add this site (your site) to the list as well, first time visitor and I love what I see so far, going to check out the archives….
And I would add taking photography courses or reading tips about photography composition. It helps you to become creative.
Thanks for this great list.
By the way, we’re actually working 35 hours a week in France, and some people are still claiming this is too much
This is a great list, I use some of the online sources for inspiration already, but most are completely new to me. I personally like to unplug occasionally and head outside with my camera, after 200 or so shots I go home and see what I’ve come up with. Like Lau said, it helps get the creative juices flowing.
Very very nice selection!
Thanks for this selection, very usefull
Some good old favs and new inspirations. Thxs for the list, especially two new books on my wishlist…
Sorry dude but french people work 35 hours a week and we get 4 week of vacation. Like evry other place it still depend much on your boss and lot of people are doing extra.
Sorry to kill your dream…
always a source for inspiration: http://www.digital-artist.de.vu
book:
http://www.die-gestalten.de/books/detail?id=402881820693dcee010693dda752044d
website:
http://www.anddesign.de/main/arbeitsproben.php?cid=65&pid=92&entry=a2
book:
http://www.amazon.de/Design-Die-Prinzipien-erfolgreiche-Gestaltung/dp/3830712952
hey guys you forgot http://www.mojizu.com!!!!!!
Here’s a unique one. My wife loves to scrapbook and I find myself, on occasion, in the craft store with her buying scrapbooking paper. There are some incredible designs in there. Scan them into photoshop and tweak ‘em or just use ‘em as inspiration.
Also The Web Developer’s Handbook ought to keep you busy for
hoursdays.Great tips and a couple of great websites in that list. Thanks!
jlkjlkjlk
Updated throughout the day:
http://www.serifpublishing.com
‘Fantastic accumulation of inspirational resources’ and addtional link suggestions through comments. Most of these I have never seen, can not wait to check them out.
How did you find all these? (secret)
I check often for new links and information, had even Googled for email updates on design.
Thank you, for all your work, now I have them taged through del-iciou-us also, through your site.
Keep up the Amazing research, and resoucing for designers.
Thanks
Prisumlight
Ecellent listing of all the best designs.
@commy
Thanks for that tip! Great and easy to use site to get some new design ideas.
Check out http://www.moreinspiration.com.
Very few innovations are completely new, most innovations are combinations of several existing concepts or applying what has been used somewhere else in a new product. MoreInspiration makes innovation easy by showing you what others have done so it can put your creativity in overdrive.
Great collection . cheers!
Some cool websites here and mostly well built ones too, as far as web standards go. Lots of inspiration to be found – thanks.
Lots of CSS goodness. Thanks!
For those of you at work, where the IT people rule: Deviantart is a great place but will get blocked rapidly but the politically correct minded. It seems that they all fall prey to the misunderstanding of the term deviant. *sigh* Used to visit that place all the time…
Found this via StumbleUpon. Thumbs Up’d and bookmarked.
Sometimes we need new sources to get some inspiration, and I found some new here
I already know some of them but, surely, I’ll visit the others…
Thank you for this post!
thanks lotz
We work with digital ilustration, grafic design, image retouch and 3d ilustrations.
visit our web site…
Nice list. Thanks.
i love it….inspirational
I’m at a loss for words….many, many, many thanks for inspiring a brain-drained primary school teacher looking for great poster designs for the school’s talent competition.
Cool finds, I was only familiar with a couple of those sources.
You’re missing the most obvious of sites…it’s actually called Design Inspiration!!!!
http://www.diinterviews.com
Here ’s another one… Sugar Frosted Goodness!
http://www.sugarfrostedgoodness.com
Very awesome list.
Don’t missDesign You Trust !!!
Very interesting.I will try this.
You should also check ComputerLove.
And with a bit of self promotion, closely related to the post title, here’s one more:http://www.aSourceOfInspiration.com.
Very COOL!!!
Wow some pretty inspiring sites there – thanks for the list!
Alex
http://www.peopleperhour.com
Forgot to mention, CSSZenGarden is one of my favourites! Anyone else a fan of this site?
Alex
PeoplePerHour.com – Find Freelance Services
Great links in both this article and in the article and in the second part of the article. You can tell that you worked very hard on it. I just wrote an article that lists 180+ resources online for design inspiration and I liked your articles so much that I added your links to my article so my users can get even more ideas from your article.
Thanks.
Rachel
AllGraphicDesign.com
design:related is all about the inspirations and (a lot) more
Look out for us in the new year!
Forgot to mention: http://www.visualsoftheworld.com
It’s the longest inspirational website in the world, users can submit their own artwork.
The other goal is to get into the Guinness Book of Records! Current lenght is 300 meter already.
You can link your own website to your submission.
Enjoy its ever long lasting flavor!
those are some pretty nifty sites. i’m off to see a couple of the ones i thought were interesting.
Very good collection of the sites.
Worth looking at to get different design inspirations.
Those are some great sites from some very talented designers. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.ImaNicePerson.com
Great list, my favorite; cssZengarden
Thank you for the great list of designs. My favourite probably would have to be LogoPond, there is something about that design I like.
- Dwayne Charrington.
http://www.dwaynecharrington.com/
Cyan, this list is awesome! Some of the web designs are a real inspiration and you can tell they are made by professional designers, thank you very much for sharing!
The list is awesome, I was personally thinking about making a website to sell clothing online and this blog has inspired me even more.
I love the logo website mentioned, I will check it out even more till I find a unique style to get ideas from. Good job on this blog! =)
Yeah…this is absolutely a useful list…
Keep up the great work!
Ovi Dogar
http://www.AbsoluteCovers.com
Great collection and very inspiring site.
A well thought out and useful list, thanks very much.
Awesome, thanks so much! Here’s another website for design inspiration:
http://www.cssdivine.com
Great list. Smashing and Kuler are favorites of mine.
Great list of sites. They have amazing work displayed. Look forward to more great designs.
Great list, thanks.
http://www.ffffound.com
The first and last place for inspiration for me.
But how do you become a member?
h
Thanks for the great list!
Great collection and very inspiring site.
Thanks for creating such a great site!
This is great. I will bookmark this website right now.
Hello,
i love the Picture called “9 Things to do” – Visit an Art Gallery!!
I followed the link to istockphoto.com, but i can’t find it!
If anybody could help me out…please send me a link to the picture to jstiels@mail.com!
Would be great!
Thanks…
Check out typearttype.com, it’s a place to find typographical inspiration.
Thank you poster…
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It’s very useful,thanks a lot!
Thanks for sharing this information. Nice article and well illustrated…
Thanks for the inspirational design list
Another useful inspiration is CSS Conversion
CSS Conversion is a project providing web designers a gallery of well designed CSS-based websites from all around the world.
I sent my URL going to “Submit a Site” link in the menu. I always get back for inspiration because they just add the best of the best.
Adrian
Another useful inspiration is CSS Conversion
CSS Conversion is a project providing web designers a gallery of well designed CSS-based websites from all around the world.
I sent my URL going to “Submit a Site” link in the menu. I always get back for inspiration because they just add the best of the best.
http://www.cssconversion.com
Adrian
awesome post – looking through the list I am totally inspired to get on with the nagging project that has been looming for some time now!!… I’d also add sitting in a city center, listening to an ipod whilst letting life drift past at its own inevitable pace!!
Thanks for sharing! A great list of sites!
Very nice and useful list. Thanks!
A very cool list…. do you know more? We are in need of inspiratie… as always!
really a good source of inspiration…. thanks a lot….
Hello – I’d like to add http://siteinspire.net to this list – a brand new web design showcase site.
Thanks,
Dan.
A great list indeed!.. anymore would be much appreciated!
Thank you for this list!
Here’s another one for those who design a lot of forms and landing pages:
http://www.iamalandingpagedesigner.com/
Great Collection, very a lot!
A great list indeed!.. anymore would be much appreciated!
Check http://InspireMix.com – My personal favourite!
Smashing Magazine is simply amazing. Every post they publish is so good I can’t resist bookmarking it. Love Netdiver as well. Great List! Bookmarked!
Nice roundup. I would add my own design inspiration gallery that covers most of design fields and gathers on a daily basis the best designs (logos, business cards, webdesign, digital and traditional art…) around the web.
Nice list. The “FWA.com” site did not function properly in Firefox (on a mac with Flash installed and updated). I couldn’t view any larger previews or visit any of the artist links. Either unnecessarily confusing or some sort of browser issue. Any thoughts?
awesome post – looking through the list I am totally inspired to get on with the nagging project that has been looming for some time now!!… I’d also add sitting in a city center, listening to an ipod whilst letting life drift past at its own inevitable pace!!
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Hey great article. I just wrote something similar, but more on the topic of how to get your team creative going… you can see my article here:
http://iwasacreative.com/design_inspiration/10-ways-to-inspire-creative-in-your-team/
Really good list, thank you!
tnks for all
really a good source of inspiration…. thanks a lot….
Nice List … great efforts