I used to think it was cheating by starting off a new web project by looking at some design galleries for inspiration. Not to copy, but just to get my creativity started up. Now, I realise that almost all artists, in whatever field they specialise, need to see new things regularly to keep them inspired and thinking creatively. I have a little scrapbook I snip out cuttings from magazines, rave invites, photographs, postcards and so on that I often flip through. I also have a long list of online galleries I’ll go visit – which got me thinking about my toolkit: the sites I find invaluable when creating new blogs or websites. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things, so I’ll be back to add to it.
For inspiration
- Unmatched Style
- CSS Import
- CSS Reboot
- Liquid Designs
- CSS Vault
- Stylegala
- Web Standards Awards
- Netdiver
- Zen Garden
For fonts
For images
For colours
For lists
For filler text
For checking
What’s in your toolbox that I’m missing?
your thoughts
Pete...
I use some of the above and also…
For Inspiration I like to look at a couple of designers works I really admire…
http://www.joshuadavis.com
http://www.cubancouncil.com
http://www.bwgreyscale.com
…also some Fashion sites and magazines because they generally have some amazing designers esspecially for advertising and things…
http://www.deviantART.com
…there is a lot of wierd stuff, but some of the web design and vector illustration galleries have great stuff in them too.
http://www.macchinafotografica.net
…I love to look at her photographs, the composition and the colours are amazing and can sometimes give ideas.
Rachel
I find deviantart too weird – I’m sure there’s lots of good stuff hidden away but I get freaked out by some of it hehe.
Macchinafotografica has some amazing photos!
Thanks for those other links, will check them out
Anthony
For inspiration I’m loving Web Creme, CSS-Mania and Screenspire because they are all updated much more often with quality new designs than some of the other more established inspiration sites.
Rob Poitras
I agree that screenspire is a great site
:: La vida pirata 2.0 :: Bericht aus Bonn…und der Welt // von Karsten Kneese » links for 2006-01-04
[...] My toolkit — cre8d design blog Designinspirationen (tags: webdesign inspiration links) [...]
Charles Mihm
Thanks for your list. Here are a few more you might enjoy…
For inspiration : http://www.dark-i.com/ , http://www.cssbeauty.com/ , and http://cssliquid.com/
Basis of the site is done! at Cameron Incoll
[...] cre8d design – Rachel Cunliffe has just published a tutorial on installing WordPress 2.0 – a day too late for me :-/ – and runs a web studio which focuses on Blog Design. Rachel also has a neat toolkit which I’m sure I will find handy too. [...]
Stephan L.
fantastic collection!
Anthony
The guy who used to own Screenspire now posts screenshots here: http://tom.ma/screenblog/
casino-promotion
there are variations on this including adding some carnation milk (my mam) or using horror of horrors margarine. but I like it this way.