Where to Find Design Inspiration
Design inspiration comes from two places: a curated stream of other people’s work, and the physical world you walk through every day. The stream is easy to find and easy to overuse. The real world is harder to schedule but gives you ideas nobody else has. The best habit combines both, with a clear process for turning what you collect into something original.
This guide covers the galleries and reference libraries worth bookmarking, how to build a personal collection, where to look away from the screen, how to use AI tools without flattening your style, and how to borrow ideas without copying.
Start with a question, not a feed
Scrolling a gallery with no goal feels productive and rarely is. You end up with forty tabs and the vague sense that every site looks the same. Before you open anything, write one sentence: “I need a hero layout for a small bookshop,” or “I want a calmer way to show pricing.” A specific question turns browsing into research.
Then decide what kind of reference you need. Visual mood, layout structure, typography, color, and interaction patterns each live in different places, and mixing them up is why searches feel aimless.
Galleries and reference libraries worth bookmarking
The old “CSS gallery” era has matured into a few distinct kinds of tools. Pick by the question you are asking.
Siteinspire: for taste and layout
Siteinspire is a hand-picked showcase of websites, filterable by categories such as Typographic, Minimal, Grid Layout and Unusual Layout. It is strong when you want to see how other designers solve composition, and the category filters make it easy to study one idea at a time. It carries on the old CSS-gallery tradition with far more editorial care.
Awwwards: for ambition and interaction
Awwwards describes itself as recognizing the talent and effort of top developers, designers and agencies, and its winning-websites directory is a good place to scan current work. In practice it skews toward motion-heavy, experimental sites. Use it to see what is technically possible, then ask which parts would survive in a real client project with a real budget and real accessibility requirements. Our own roundup of interactive sites is a good companion for the same reason.
Mobbin: for app and product patterns
Mobbin is a library of screenshots from shipped apps and sites, searchable by flows and patterns. When your question is “how do real products handle onboarding, empty states or checkout,” it beats any showcase, because the screens come from products people actually use rather than from portfolio pieces.
Dribbble and Behance: for process and portfolios
Dribbble and Behance remain the places to see work in progress, brand systems and case studies. Dribbble describes itself as a place where designers gain inspiration, feedback, community and jobs. Use both to see how designers present their work, and treat what you see as mood, not as designs that function. A beautiful dashboard image says nothing about whether it works.
Landing pages and pattern pages
For marketing-page structure specifically, see our collection of landing page inspiration. Looking at many pages for one product category shows you which sections are convention (and therefore expected) and which are a chance to stand out.
Also worth a look
- Godly calls itself “the best design inspiration on the Internet”; a quick scan of recent web design.
- Muzli describes itself as all the design inspiration from the world in one place, a feed worth skimming over coffee.
- Pinterest is a broad visual search for style inspiration; it is most useful for mood and color rather than web layout.
Build your own collection
A gallery is someone else’s taste. A collection is yours, and over months it becomes your most valuable reference. Three tools are built for this.
- Savee describes itself as a place to save and share inspiration, with references curated by designers, saved in one click and sorted into boards.
- Cosmos describes itself as “your space for inspiration”: a place to collect images and references in one spot.
- Are.na is more like a notebook than a mood board. You save photos, notes, files and web pages into channels, and channels can sit alongside other people’s, so unrelated sources start to connect.
Whatever you use, follow a few rules that keep a collection useful:
- Save the reason, not just the image. Add a one-line note: “the tight caption-to-image spacing,” “the muted green.” Six months later the note is the part you need.
- Keep the source link. You may need to credit it, or check whether the idea still works in context.
- Sort by problem, not by site. Boards called “pricing tables” or “quiet navigation” get used. Boards called “cool stuff” do not.
- Prune. Once a quarter, delete anything you no longer care about. What survives shows you your real taste.
Look away from the screen
If every reference you use comes from a gallery, your work will resemble everyone else’s gallery work. The original version of this article, written for a conference talk, argued for leaving the desk, and that advice has aged better than most web advice.
- Bookshops and newsstands. Book covers, magazine layouts and packaging solve typography and hierarchy problems under real constraints. Photograph the ones that make you stop.
- Shops and signage. Window displays, price labels, wayfinding and menus are information design at street scale. Notice what you read first, and why.
- Galleries and museums. Not for copying styles, but for training your eye on composition, scale and restraint.
- Nature and materials. Leaves, shells, fabrics, paper stock and concrete are a free supply of texture, pattern and color relationships. Our guide to reusable background patterns shows how a small repeating motif can carry a whole design.
- History. Typography has centuries of precedent. A short read on the history of Western typography will improve your type choices more than another week of gallery browsing.
Carry a phone and photograph what you notice, then drop the photos into your collection with a note. You do not need to hunt for inspiration. You need a habit of noticing, and a place to put what you noticed.
Change the environment, not only the reference
Where you work affects what you produce. A different room, a café, a library or a walk can break a stuck session, partly because new surroundings supply small unplanned stimuli. Try a change when you are stuck rather than pushing harder. Short breaks away from the screen also help for the ordinary reason that eyes and posture need them.
Feedback works the same way. Showing a rough layout to a non-designer often surfaces a reaction a designer would never voice, such as “I thought that was a button.” Ask people what they notice first and what they think the page is for, and do not ask whether they like it.
Using AI tools without losing your voice
Image and layout generators are useful at the start of a project, when quantity of options matters more than polish. They are good at breaking the blank page, and weak at knowing your client, your constraints and your audience. Two concrete uses:
- Moodboard variants, then trace the sources. Describe the feeling of a project (“quiet editorial bookshop, warm paper, one sharp accent”) and generate ten variants. Throw eight away. For the two that survive, find what they resemble using a reverse image search such as Google Lens, then look at the real references in your Savee or Are.na collection. You end up with sourced references instead of unattributed averages.
- Constraint-swapping prompts. Take a layout you like and ask a text model for five ways to explain the same content differently (a timeline, a comparison, a map). Sketch the best two by hand.
Some cautions keep this honest:
- Generated output averages what already exists. If you ship it unchanged, your work will look like everyone else’s prompts.
- Check licensing and terms. The rules for commercial use of generated images differ by tool and may change. Read the current terms of the tool you use before you put output in client work.
- Use it for exploration, not for the final call. Judgement about hierarchy, accessibility and brand stays with you.
How to borrow ideas without copying
Everyone gets too close to a favorite reference at some point. Two techniques from the original talk still hold up, and they work with any source.
Zoom in on the detail
Do not copy the whole thing. Pick one detail and build from it. If a seashell inspires you, do not draw a seashell. Study the spiral, the ridges, the way color shifts across the surface, and use that single quality: a growth ratio for spacing, a gradient for a background, a repeated edge for a divider. Each time you zoom in, you are further from the source and closer to something of your own.
Mix unrelated sources
Combine a layout idea from an editorial site, a color relationship from a photograph and a type pairing from an old book cover. Any one of them is borrowed. The combination is new. The further apart the sources, the less likely it is to resemble any of them.
A quick originality check
Before you ship, put your design next to the references that influenced it and ask three questions, where a “yes” is always the bad answer:
- If someone saw both, would they assume one came from the other?
- Is every visible detail traceable to a reference, with nothing that came from your own brief?
- Is there a choice you could only justify by pointing at a reference?
If any answer is yes, go back and zoom in further.
A weekly routine that works
- Spend twenty minutes once a week in one gallery, answering a question you wrote down first.
- Save at most five items, each with a note about why.
- Photograph two things offline, from packaging, signage, nature or print.
- Once a month, review the collection and pull out one detail to try in a real project.
- Revisit old favorites after a few months. Styles that still look good have usually earned a place in your toolkit.
When you want to turn an idea straight into code, our photo gallery layout snippet is a quick starting point for showing your own collection on a page.
Frequently asked questions
Is browsing galleries bad for creativity?
Not by itself. It becomes a problem when you browse without a question and copy the first pattern you like. Browse with a goal, save notes, and mix in offline sources.
How many references are enough?
For a single design problem, five to ten well-chosen references is plenty. More than that usually means you are procrastinating.
What do I do when nothing inspires me?
Change the input. Go somewhere physical, read about a topic unrelated to design, or make something small with strict constraints, such as two colors and one typeface. Constraints often work better than a wider search.
Great, GREAT article. I can’t express how much I agree with this. Outside influences are the key to original design. One of my main tools for design is the camera on my phone. If I see anything from a pattern on some wallpaper, the colours of a car, a pillow, can of beans. Whatever, I snap it.
Inspiration is everywhere we go, you just have to open your eyes to it.
I always take my iPhone with me when i go outside – the camera is even fast enough (startup and take photos) when you are in a train, car or taxi – really useful!
I know exactly how difficult it is to gain the inspiration for design or writing, when it seems there is nothing around to inspire you. It is refreshing to see how other people gain their ideas from other places. I love the images of zooming into patterns to create something new. Have you ever thought of just doodling? This can create other patterns that can often make interesting backgrounds.
I work at the coffee house too… I can strongly recommend.
Very nice article. I just love this one
Great post! I often find it hard as working in an office, I don’t feel I have those opportunities doing 9 – 5 so I always try and pick things up going back and fourth from work but I’d love to have a flexibility to go out and sit wherever I like and soak it up.
Your post is poetry. It’s not jus for design, it’s for living.
First: Great Post.
I’m feeling the same way like you regarding working at home. It is often so boring to sit always in the same room with the same things around you. It does so good to your creativity, when you are out of your office. You can pick up inspiration on every street corner.
Best Regards
Toby
Fabulous. I get bogged down at home as well, and find it incredibly difficult to be creative at times. Good to know everyone struggles with this… I’m sitting at Starbucks right now, and I immediately shifted my eyes around the room looking for inspiration! Great!
That’s the beauty of being a freelancer isn’t it? Having the time, freedom, flexibility and control to be able to do whatever we need to find that inspiration. Thanks for sharing your FOWD presentation.
Excellent post. This is something we all struggle with from time to time. I find the best place to work is a dynamic environment. The frequent changes welcome more inspiration. I like Rittenhouse park, near where I live. Tons of interesting people and its bordered by many beautiful buildings. The wifi reception is not so great though.
I personally would not try to go to Starbucks for a place to work, I happen to be a very distracted person… BOOK STORES are a great source for ideas!
Good post.
great post! I totally hear you on working somewhere like Starbucks or a bookstore- I find working from home completely distracting and working in an office completely uninspiring (although necessary at times!) And I love the ideas you gave on finding inspiration from all sorts of random places/things. Good work. :)
Now this article got me thinking on buying myself a laptop! hahaha. Very inspirational article Nick. I’ve been looking for this kind of article for a long time now. I’m originally a programmer but I’ve decided to study and learn web design as well. I love your advice on how to avoid copying a design.
Again thank you so much for this one.
wow! I love the post. Thanks for sharing coz I really don’t pay attention to my surrounding in applying to my field. I’ve never thought about this kind of idea. hehehe :D I only inspire design from anime.
Hi :)
Working in coffees has been quite a nightmare for me. In Switzerland we don’t have yet many bars with stable wi-fi connexions so I often lost hours walking from coffee to coffee to find the right one.
Then, you have to get the few places in the bar that have electricity near your table to connect the laptop, which isn’t always easy.
Also, in Switzerland, smoke isn’t prohibited yet in coffees…
And mostly, the people chattering around made my concentration hard to find :) Though I appreciate being able to navigate for fun in coffees, working is pretty hard for me in those conditions!
I feel pretty inspired at home, in my comfort zone. I know I can get myelf a threat, coffee or nap at anytime.
I also often invite friends to work with me, which is the most inspiring to me. Having my friends working around is relaxing and reassuring :)
In Paris, they have natural parks with wi-fi. This is something I would definitely love to try!
Thanks for your article!
I am definitely a journal person, and I enjoy decorating my own journals because store-bought ones are so generic. Recently, when trying to come up with a new design for an already existing website, I turned to a journal I had created in the past. I am using it as my inspiration for a scrapbook-like design, using the same colors and similar objects randomly placed on the pages (such as movie or concert tickets, scraps of artwork, etc).
I like turning to more classic forms of design and art for inspiration, and I’m hoping to further hone my eye for that kind of inspiration. This was a great read, and was definitely helpful. Thanks for sharing your keynotes with us!
This post may really inspire me to get back to my roots. When I was in school I had that sort of routine. I went to Starbucks or Barnes and Nobles whenever I had designing to do. Nowadays I work for a company, so I’m always designing in an office. It’s so hard to come up with new ideas and it’s definitely not as fun. And it’s also definitely hard to be creative and not copy things because I’m constantly having to try and find inspiration online because I’m confined to the same four walls everyday. I’ve definitely been to the Best Web Gallery more than once.
I think another good place is a college campus. I’m well removed from college but have Stanford University close by and will occasionally set up shop there. Very inspiring. Maybe check and see if you have a University near by.
Yes, i agree with you!!! Need always change working place, because home is boring for working and new ideas!
Maybe need change home sometimes ;) ????
Nick,
What I like best about your site is that you keep it real. None of your comments or ideas are outrageous or unobtainable. That’s why I keep coming here for inspiration. Just the open look and feel to your site gives me ideas.
I found museums and landmarks provide me with ideas. I bring a digital camera and take photos of details that I find or see. It helps me become a better photographer as well!
Keep them coming and thanks for sharing!
Great post! I created one similar awhile back as a guest blog on SpeckyBoy.com, although you’ve added some interesting details and ideas from what I had laid out. I really love the zooming in idea to focus on the details. I plan to try that out soon.
Yeah great idea, but I live in Italy, there’s no free wireless, not even a nice spot where to sit and do your job. :S I think I’d need a trip in north europe at least.. :P
Nice article, as always
You are a wonderful illustrator. Thank you for sharing you thoughts and insights into your process.
Que bien está este artículo, pero lamentablemente en mi país aún es inseguro cargar mi laptop en lugares públicos je je, pero tomaré en cuenta estos tips.
ps. Eres un gran diseñador xD
Wow, I also do the same thing when I looking for inspiration. I just adding one more spot, go see your neighbourhood, backyard, or nature surround you and you will found a lot of little things that can insipre you
hey, i thought the best place to work was at home…
you’re great..
Great article! You gave me more that i bargained for! :)
Acctually my boyfriend and I havee decided to move to the countryside. We both work in creative areas. He’s grown up in the Big City and he’s affraid, that he will get no inspiration living in the Country…
Do you know of any brilliant dfesigners that live in the country (small cities – I’m talking Denmark so: VERY small cities!)
Do you have any idea to how to keep being inspired in nature-sorrounding all day long…?
Brilliant stuff as usual Nick. I think going to a coffee shop to work is a brilliant idea. But I do really enjoy working at home, but it´s sometimes hard to find inspirration there that is true. While browsing the css galleries is great there is a real danger of becoming a copy cat. I ran into trouble in this area a few days ago, I´m almost set on never looking at other web sites again, only use the environment and other sources of inspiration. But I have to keep up with the trends maybe, I dont know though. Might be best to start your own trend. :)
Thanks again.
Well i wont hid it i really liked the way you wrote this article. i always do this i even be inspired by people faces, stuff on the desk, maybe socks drawer :)
keep going
nice stuff and guideline
menu design gallery showcase:
csshook.com/menudesign/
Thanks
Really nice this post!!! I needed a post like this! ;)
Heh, I like the concept ;-)
I often work “outside” with my MacBook Pro on events: I either work on my laptop or meet customers elswhere than an office…
It’s always nice to see how other people work and find inspiration. Speaking from someone stuck in an office for most of every day it is nice to see some of my fellow designers are out and about. It isn’t a must I don’t think as I can get plenty of inspiration online and in my free time but working in a public place is definitely a nice idea if you can get the opportunity. Of course – the greatest inspiration in the world can be found right here on SM :)
Thanks – keep the posts coming SM
I just moved into a new 2 bedroom apartment because I needed my own office. Working out of the living room was becoming quite distracting. However, I now understand that the television and the view from the balcony were not necessarily all bad. Having no distractions at all is almost as bad as having too many distractions. I think I’ll take my laptop and work from the pool today!
“Next time you are outside, try to pay more attention to you environment …”
I will.
We need changes, our mind needs changes, changes are good. Regards.
Thanks for this post and even for the last sentence: Enjoy your life and design more beautiful things! I’d liked to print this phrase in some T-shirts. At least, I’d like to do some posters about it.
Thanks again. Great post. Great blog.
Hi,
Good thing you have shared… 10/10
Everyone’s so inspired including me. There will be a time soon, you will find all the designers in coffee shops, malls, etc working on their lappies. and it will be a virtual office!! Lol. And I can imagine staff chucking all the designers out of their shops.
But meanwhile we can save up electricity, internet cost, space costs, etc. Thanks to The Beautiful malls, coffee shops. AND A BIG THANKS TO YOU FOR GUIDING US TOWARDS THE PATH OF ENDLESS CREATIVITY!!
Bless you!
wonderful! you are indeed enjoying your work. you are a master at your work it seems. my problem: i don’t have much of a creative side. but would like to dwell into it if i’m able to inspire myself. thanks for this article. need to visit a mall now! :D
wow man, I LOVED This Article. rich of advices, i am freelancer and i am working from home all of the time,
lol
you were right about it , it is a killer.
regards
This is a great post, I completely agree that one will never get a great, fresh idea if its the wall and computer monitor that’s all they’re facing, Really loved the Look into the Details bit…
Thank you for your sharing. I very agree that in the nature we could found much of the beautiful. But most of time I can’t find the time to go out and the places where I went always a lot of people.
This is just what I do!
I’ll point my friends who say I’m crazy, for not doing most of my work at home, here!
This is such a great post. I found it really helpful for beginners who are having a hard time doing a design. True, that artists are having this problem generating some designs because they sometimes found their designs dull and redundant.
I would like to share this community of really talented artist if you allow me. It is called, The Expressionist. Here’s their site
Thank you so much once again Mr NL :) keep the helpful post comming
More power!
Great post, much more detail than mine from over a year ago. One place I love to go is the library – especially into some of the older books sections.
I do like the nature idea – I am lucky to live close to the mountains, and while it is difficult, if not impossible to get any Internet there, it makes for some great take aways.
I just love when you say “My Office = Starbucks” I wish I could say that someday too :p
Woow! Really great articles! Thanks a lot :)
U guys successfuly read my mind..I’m just looking for some new place to find some inspirations besides that bunch of web/css galleries..hahaha..
well, actually i want to link this articles to my facebook, so my friends will easily find this cool article but there is no fb icon in your ‘add to’ section..could u put that small icon for me? ^o^
Great article – I see a lot of designers who are so influenced by the interent it all gets regurgitated over and over again. I get a lot of inspiration from confectionery, lingerie and vintage fabrics and papers and collect old magazines from the 60’s. The local charity store has lots of great stuff too.
Thanks again for making the community richer.
I tried the starbucks thing (although it wasn’t really starbucks since we don’t have starbucks over in my city – Florianópolis – Brazil) and it worked really well. Thank you for the advice!!
Awesome post!!!!!
It really inspired me to get more inspiration from the world outside my computer screen… It is so easy to get trapped into running around the same idea’s in your head, and that results in boring work!!!
so thanks for helping to make my work more interesting :)
p.s. love your website, think your a genius!!
I get inspiration sometimes from junk mail… I have a folder where I collect random stuff I’ve picked up over the years, sometimes when I’m in need of inspiration I’ll dump out the folder and go from there.
I love my laptop and I do the same as you when I work from home sometimes I just have to leave to get some work done. I don’t like the coffee at Starbucks but sometime I go there to get some work done or a Tim Horton’s too. Also I find it helps me that I’ve got my office arranged that the window is right behind my screen and I can watch everything going on on my street.
The best inspiration I have ever gotten for web design has come from things that have absolutely no relation to the medium. Nature, traditional print design principals and 40-70’s advertising. Great post, thanks.
Great post. These tips should be really handy. I totally know what you mean about how working at home can hamper creativity. Luckily, there’s a great design agency pretty close by my house that lets me work there when I need to.
awesome article, great tips&tricks, really inspirational and valuable website!!
I found your “wall” few days ago surfing and seeking for some CSS tips.
I can tell right now – I’m going to stop buy regularly, greetings from Poland :)
Only trouble for getting web design inspiration is getting outdoors in Glasgow! It’s pretty much raining all the time here. On the plus side we have tons of arts related shops and a fantastic art college. If only there were time to do all of it…
Right now I live in Boulder and there are so many great coffee shops and tea shops here, all bristling with creative energy. I typically make a round of 2 or 3 places per day. Plus, there is a spice shop called Savory which imports the most amazing spices from all over the world. I wander through and smell the amazing aromas of 5 different types of cinnamon or 8 different paprikas, and soon my creative mind is reset and ready for some more web design.
Nice. As a new to web designing and graphic design, i really had a hard time coming up with a great concept for my design concept. I hope I could read more on improving designs for beginners like me.
Thank you very much.. I came across this post when I was really feeling stuck in my design.. It was right time to read it. I sometimes overwhelmed. My design starts getting all the same.. Thank you very much your great tips..
I really enjoy your website, tutorials and inspiration. I have been designing for over 15 years now and started freelancing 3 years ago. I started renting office space last July just to get out of the house. Your coffee shop solution is an interesting one I will have to try. How do you find the time to do your work and also share all this great content? What does a typical day look like for you? YOU are an inspiration. Thanks!
Love you website and work! Thanks for making the internet a better place!
Hi, I want to share my inspiration tips too. I find many idea in movies, all kind of movies. Another place where I find inspiration is my friends! Yes most of my ideas come from a share of opinions and concept. Talk about your work, share and don’t forget to listen. Of course, like in everything keep what you like, don’t about the rest, but keep it in mind as it can always serve you in an other project. I hope this help!
Thanks, I needed that.
It’s nice too see what other web designers get inspired from.
Looking at web galleries can get overwhelming.
This summer’s number one expense…laptop to go outside the house with.
ahaha, love the “My Office = Starbucks” section.. thanks for the article, sometimes I really need to read this kind of things to reactivate my brain ;)
Nice post, nice website, I too find it difficult to find inspiration, i try to look for inspiration on other websites, however at the moment I’ve been looking at books. I do agree with your post, but some web designers are in offices, do you have suggestions of getting inspiration within a workplace?
Hehe, I should probably take in account some of these as I find myself often in the likes of home designing or programming. Certainly great tips, will keep these in mind when thinking about working.
thanks for posting such a great article…it reminded me to pay attention to the smaller details, and to try and identify what specific elements of things are the ones that draw me to something…
something I read once said that a good way to train your mind to be able to critique your own work, as well as others, is to practice using all the proper words associated with design/art elements (balance, contrast, proximity, etc, etc). That way your brain will get used to breaking an image into it’s component parts, and you will become better at identifying what exact detail you either like or dislike instead of just thinking ‘hmmmm, something just isn’t quite right…..’
anyway, thanks again for sharing your ideas and helping to inspire.
I personally love reading my History of Graphic Design text book for inspiration. There’s about 2 pages of web design in the whole book but I find so much more valuable inspiration from the classic designers. Good design transcends the media it’s created in. It also forces me to look for obscure elements that might not easily lend themselves to website design.
Great job, i loved it. I’ll be looking things in a different way next time I’m out. :)
Thanks for posting.
Keep up the good work.
Very very cool post, it gives me reassurance that competent designers can get “designers block” every now and then, I cant tell you the amount of time I’ve needed to look at my surroundings and other things to get inspiration and though to myself “Man I must be a crap designer!”
This page shall be recommended to all of my designer friends, Cheers!
Thanks! awesome post but What about to smoke some weed?
Starbucks? How about a local coffee shop instead. They’re not nearly as bland, tend to be much more creative, and you support the local business scene instead of the global corporate scene.
Great post but you wont see me dead in a starbucks. Money hungry slave drivers, I suffer for the employees whenever I see them. I do agree on the bookshop though, wall to wall inspiration and ideas!
I find most of my inspiration in the bathroom. I think most of my best work came from the toilet…Seriously.
Great post thank you. Very helpful man.
adorei o post muito interessante e construtivo faço a maior parte de tudo isso menos pela seção de estar saindo toda hora atrás de inspiração mas contudo que comentou aqui será muito bem usado agradeço pela atenção valeu
As a budding designer, I think looking at other designers, agency work and artists helps a lot. One of my favourite designers is Identity Withheld . I also love the surrealist and collage movement. My aim isn’t to copy or take away key elements of their work at all. I’m just interested in their use of colour and how they use type etc. Sometimes, that inspires me to be bolder in my designs and to push the boundaries a bit more. Also, seeing a kick ass design fuels me to make one of my own and to step my game up.
This is one of the best post I have seen ever. This will open the eyes of a lot of people like me. As a designer I used the same technique but not with so much detail. I have to add Thanks for share this with the world.
Great post & awesome tips.
One of the things I tend to do when I come across a mental blank is that I just leave it be. In the past I used to push myself to come up with some ideas, not wanting to fail I guess or let myself down. But I have learnt the hard way that creativity comes and goes. Otherwise you will end up with a design that looks very forced and jeopardises the design’s integrity.
So my tip is, if it doesn’t come to you now; it will eventually… when the time is right.
awesome post, its true i thought as my self who sometime met bore situation and i prefer to smoke some weed and get liquor if stuck of idea,and your ideas are great to find inspiration very very two thumbs up…thx
Super post. I find the best place for inspiration is simply away from my screen. I’d recommend anyone to just get away and do something completely random – see an exhibition, sit in the park, appreciate some architecture or visit a landmark. Spend some quality time with one’s own thoughts and relax. When you get back to your keyboard you’ll be brimming with new and exciting ideas. Works everytime!
I think that this is one of the best web sites to enjoy the design into the life, or the life into design ;) good job and greetings from Spain
Liked the article alot, inspiring yourself is sometimes the hardest part of the job.
I find that it isn’t things that inspire me, it’s people, what they say and the perpectives they have can sometimes be the best inspiration.
Getting inspired when you are not working on a project can be very difficult. You see thousands of objects everyday and you don’t really pay much attention to them. When you start on a new project, you’re back to square one. My suggestion is: Whenever you have a new project, take you’re camera and go out, especially in the places indicated in this great article, and don’t LOOK for inspiration, let it come to you… when you see something that can be useful for your current project, take pictures. Then go home, put all the pictures you took around your screen, and start working!
Thank you for advicing to how to get inspiration.i have same several ideas with you.
Follow me in addition,According to felling of each other to get it..,ideas derived from new thinking,knowgled,practice,experience,constanly refresh yourself…..
Hope my artice is useful to all of you,thank you for reading.
Thanks Thanks What’s the problem here? Google could bury the meager profit number from even the biggest media conglomerates.
Thank =)=)=) you http://www.cennet.gen.tr webdesignerwall Thanks
oh my god i will cry i am baby i have never seen this
Oh no!! the coffee place, you’re one of those coffee place people, and you’re trying to drag everyone down with you…..
Really great insight. Especially where you talk about how to re-see inspirational pieces so that you don’t copy. And I agree, I think we buy too much into the idea that work happens in one place, a studio, an office, or any set workplace. It truly is good to go outside and be in the world. I also find inspiration in science magazines and National Geographic.
I agree with you, inpirations are outside :D
Hey I love this website! Everything is so useful! Can you write about how you got started to become a web developer? What school did you go to, which courses did you take etc?
please could i print one of your images ona tee not for sale but may want to later
so true. design doesn’t start in front of my desk, it’s right out there! sometimes i find myself starring at people or collecting cool stuff from the floor in trains. :) that’s what i love about design, it’s just everywhere.
i really was impressed by the 2 designs with peacock and Pheonix.This is art!
As iphone 4 white 3GS has something of non-update to the iPhone range, but there are finally decent alternatives in the smartphone market, with the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S leading the Android fight right to Apple’s door.
People die for iphone 4 white is understandable, isn’t it? The reason is quite simple, We all want to be differnt!
GIVE ME A JOB!! Some thing’s happen ahead of times. like before you find a job you go through a process, I am learning about family history, so I start buying beads, looking a quilts- going to the flee market and storing up on tobacco pipes.
That’s when I’m not stuck using an oversized-INHALER scuba looking oxygen tank, and talking through my Tracie who’s under the bridge to terabethia.
let me help you partner
http://cattleeathay.blogspot.com/
Hello, I have searched the internet for inspirations and ideas, and so i have come across your website. I am currently studying at college and i would just love to say how creative you are and how much it has inspired me to be more motivated in my college work. As you have showed some of your methods to your work, this has inspired me more to explore more of my surrounds, i live in a small town with only so much to adventure. but today reading your website you have in a way encouraged me to know my career pathway, thank you :)
many many thanks…
how stupid I am by wasting my time and my power (always work late at night)..
this short tips make me feel fresh again…
hmm how stupid I am…
anyway thanks a lot… it really shorten my time
(sorry for english, its not my native language, even I’m not using google translate :) )
I’m so surprise! This is exactly my creative process and maybe is just how Graphic Designers think but I founded so curious. I have never known someone describing my exact same places and ways to get inspiration from. I feel like I must be doing something right then!
Great article and tutorials I found on this blog. I do some what you explained here. But still I found it useful. Here further I will improve my observation skills to come out with new designs like you.
Great article. You have given me a new way to look at things for inspiration. Thanks so much for sharing. I can see ways that I can add more creativity to what I do.
this is relly helpfull.. keren banget bang.. (indonesian language).
Hey not to go off topic but can anyone give me overview of. New York Car Insurance Reform 295 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10007 (646) 351-0824 They can be down the block with me. I was wondering if they were a good insurance agency. I need to find coverage, it is regulations you know, but I have to have a good price price plus I want friendly service.
I often leave my home and engage with others to get some fresh ideas for my work at home site. I definitely can relate when you stated that working at home is killing your creativity.
This is amazing! Thanks for the insightful tips on finding inspiration. The example pictures are great. You’ve inspired me to take pictures at stores and places I go to for design ideas.
Thanks for a very informative blog. What else could I get that type of info written in such an ideal way? I’ve a mission that I’m just now working on, and I have been at the look out for such information.
Great tips and inspiration to keep things fresh, especially with avoiding copying! I also agree that from home kills creativity. I’m so used to doing anything BUT work from home, so the disciplinary aspect is difficult.