7 Creative Online Resources for Inspiration

by Matthew Fagnan in DONOVAN WORLD

2

Feb
2012

FILED UNDER

Being an avid dribbble.com user, I ran into a shot (dribbble’s term for a 300×300 pixel screenshot of a work in process) the other day where the discussion turned ugly after a user claimed that a simple shot of a pixelated logo had no inspirational value. (This is one of the main reasons dribbble was created in the first place.)

That led me to write this article. As Art Director at DONOVAN, I am often asked “how did you get that idea?” or “what is your creative process?”

Coming up with a definitive answer to that question is actually quite difficult. Frankly, inspiration for any creative execution can come from unlikely places. In this article, I will touch on the online resources that myself and many other creatives use as visual inspiration.

Every morning, I spend an hour satisfying my curiosity. This teaches me about what’s new in the online world of design, aids in the process of developing artwork for clients, and helps me to properly speculate on the cost for new jobs based on past examples/techniques.

Looking for new ways to get inspired? Read on.

Be Inspired.

Dribbble

Dribbble is an online design community based on a basketball theme. Shots are taken of works in progress, and users have the ability to rate, like, discuss or rebound with their own interpretation. Some of the perks dribbble has are the ability to filter the gallery based on colour, or follow specific designers to see what they have been up to. In order to fully interact with the site, you need to be drafted by a current member, but simply viewing shots is open to all visitors.

Pattern Tap

Want to know how other web designers handled a giant drop down menu, or a modal window? Pattern Tap is a user-submitted gallery of snippits from around the web. This is a great resource to have when you’re trying to visually explain a particular feature of a website for a prospective client.

Brand New

Want to stay on top of recent rebrands? Brand New is an excellent resource. It’s a simple idea: show old identity, compare to new identity, writers at Under Consideration give their opinion on the rebrand, users rate and discuss the rebrand. This is a great place to see what’s happening around the world in large rebranding projects. See the best and the worst.

Art of the Menu

Most print designers can relate to this, sit down for a nice dinner at the local watering hole, pick up the menu and begin critiquing it. Also from the team at UC, Art of the Menu is a specific gallery for restaurant menu design. Menu design really is an art form, and after browsing a few of the pages, you’ll see why.

Best Web Gallery

Web design galleries are a dime a dozen. But bestwebgallery.com has been my go-to gallery for years now. A good mix of style and industry. Also a great responsive design, making mobile browsing a joy.

Site Inspire

The sites featured are typically european in nature of design style. Looking for some inspiration on minimalist layouts? This is a good starting point.

Designspiration

Designspiration is exactly what the title says, design inspiration. The site is kept pretty open ended though. No specific medium, there is a mix of package, industrial, illustration, web, graphic, type design all in the same place. Looking for something in particular? Try the search. (ps. the size of the search input is awesome!)

Over the last three to four years, the documentation of process and galleries in the design workspace have exploded online. If you spend as much time as I do in front of a screen, inspiration often comes from online resources.

Check back later (or subscribe to the RSS feed/newsletter) when I touch on the forms of inspiration that many people never think of.

Matthew Fagnan is the Art Director at DONOVAN. Comments on this post or suggestions for future topics are welcome.