Websites All Designers Should Check Out

 

As a designer, it’s important to keep growing and keep on top of trends. I know from experience it’s hard to know where to start looking! I’ve compiled a list of websites, all of which I can personally vouch for as being great resources for people who are either new to design or are looking to improve their skills.

 

Inspiration and Resources

 

Speckyboy
With great inspiration, tutorials and frequent freebies, Speckyboy is an all rounder for your design needs.

UsTwo
Ustwo are actually a working design studio, who keep a regular blog with interesting articles. More importantly though, Ustwo are the creators of the Pixel Perfect Precision Handbook which is a must read for any designer.

Creative Boom
Creative boom is a great source of inspiration for anything creative. Well worth checking out for your inspiration fix.

Abduzeedo
Abduzeedo is another well-established website crammed full of inspiration, tutorials and freebies for designers, a great collection of the very best in design.

Medium
Medium is a slightly different site, as the articles are user submitted, allowing people to talk about what matters. While the website is quite varied in topics, the design collection always provides some interesting articles.

Creative Bloq
Creative Bloq, the people who bring you Computer Arts magazine are another shining example of a website who provide the very best in design tips and inspiration.

Subtle Patterns
Subtle patterns offer a wide variety of patterns and textures perfect for backgrounds for your designs – All free of charge!

Flickr Creative Commons
Flickr creative commons is a part of Flickr dedicated to providing you with free to use images and is a great alternative to stock images for a students or not-for-profit work for example. Make sure to check the licence though as some images require attributions, or are only available for personal use.

 

Tutorials/Tips

 

Lynda
Lynda.com is a paid training website with an amazing selection of courses for creative media professionals or students! You can try it out with a free trial.

David Airey
David Airey is a graphic designer who also runs a blog helping other designers. His advice comes with experience of the industry and is well worth reading.

The Secret Handshake
This website is aimed completely at young designers, with insight, answers and solutions from various contributors from the design industry who have already walked the same path and want to share their tips for success.

 

Connecting and Sharing

 

Graphic design forums
Uk version
International version
The Graphic design forums are a perfect place to ask questions about work, pay, portfolios, programs, inspiration and whatever else you could think of. There’s always someone ready to help.

Twitter
If you’re on Twitter already, you’ll already know just how many different people and groups can be found, but did you know there are loads of people using Twitter to connect with likeminded creatives to share resources and inspiration? Twitter isn’t just about following trends and #hashtagging celebrities! Honestly try it out.
And while you’re at it, follow me on @arronbarnett. You know you want to…

 

Well, that’s it for now, a list of all of the websites I look to for everything creative. But there’s so much more out there. If there’s anything you think I’ve missed that people should know about, leave a comment and let me know!

 

If you liked this, you might like my article Best Places To Find Free Images Online. Or take a look at my Blog page for more design advice.