We find inspiration all over – in billboards we see on the way to the office, in nature on our weekend hikes, in the grocery store on unique packaging (ok, ok, booze bottles). But obviously the source of most of our inspiration is online – from Pinterest to Tumblr to traditional blogs, we crave creativity from every corner of the web. So, we had two of our designers round up some of their favorite sites to they go to to help get their creative juices flowing.
One – Made By Heart is an online zine, put together by the guys at Heart. We dig this site because it’s something that wouldn’t exist in a physically tangible format. The reader has to interact with each spread and watch it transform before their eyes. The visual style they’ve created really blurs the lines between publication design and art. Initially created with print in mind, the experience is brilliantly transformed by its online format.
Two – Vintage Cover Art is a Tumblr that is chocked full of nostalgia and retro book covers. Book covers were some of our first inspirations way-back-when, and we love the eclectic collection that’s been grouped together here. With inspiring color palettes, photo treatments, and intricate patterns and designs, it’s a great place to turn when we’re ideating for client projects.
Three – Confessions of a Design Geek is a great blog written by Katie Treggiden. She covers a wide berth of topics – from travel, to interviews with other creatives, to her “Photos of Numbers” Instagram challenges. We love bloggers who hold as many interests as we do. We crave blogs that challenge us to be creative on a deadline and Katie does just that. Now, to find some numbers to shoot…
Four – Visualgraphic is a digital design magazine that covers typography, packaging, and design in general. It was started in 2011 by graphic design students who were looking for inspiration (sounds very familiar…) Four years later, we’re constantly hitting refresh, reading their latest posts from all over the world to see what colors, shapes, and styles are being created by our like-minded peers.
Five – The Dieline is a better known curator and judge of packaging design. They provide a very wide scope to what is on shelves today, and give designers insight into what we’re up against when creating solutions for everyday packaging challenges. It’s a perfect place to brainstorm for those harder-to-satisfy clients that are always looking for better, different, bold designs.
Six – The Design Blog is curated by Ena Baćanović, a designer based in Croatia. TDB is bursting with practical yet forward thinking design and is constantly updated with new inspiration. The posts are great out-of-the-box solutions for pieces normally considered standard collateral design which gives us food for thought when trying to reinvent everyday materials to really shine and wow our clients (and their customers!)
Those are just six of the many sites we love and check often – let us know if you have others you follow, lust after, or just plain dig. We’re always looking to add to our Tumblr home page and bill our viewing time under “ideation”…
