Design inspiration can occur anywhere, but most designers prefer to have their daily dose of inspiration for that next big thing. Many websites fit this need, but the top ones inspire you to create something out of the box. Let’s take a look at some of the best on the internet.
A visual social network for enthusiasts, researchers, marketers, designers and artists, Pinterest is used for the most common searches to the most surreal and rare design ideas. With personalised pinboards and plenty of abstract and detailed searches, Pinterest is the primary choice for agencies, copywriters, fashion designers, visual design artists and photographers, all over the globe.
- CSS Nectar
The most exemplary showcase for web designers and developers, CSS Nectar, adheres to the best vetting practices for the quality and standards of the work on display, making it an incomparable choice for design ideas where the stakes are high, and the ideas must be excellent.
- SiteInspire
Featuring over 7000 websites for bold and beautiful designs that digital agencies, designers and developers can get inspiration from, this site is an excellent source for interactive designs. Still, it doesn’t encourage excessively loud and gimmicky work, thereby making it classy and elegant.
- Behance
One of the most popular and the most established design inspiration platforms on the web, Behance is the top choice for artists to promote their work (from photography, painting, digital art, advertising and copywriting, architecture, product design) and get work opportunities. It’s known for the exceptional talent on display, arguably the best of the best, the choicest of work.
- One Page Love
An outstanding resource for single-page templates and websites, One Page Love is an online gallery of website templates, rare and high-quality artwork, landing pages, current design trends, tools, tutorials and agency portfolio showcase, with new and stunning curation.
- Awwwards
A display of award-winning work from all over the world from an extensive range of categories that display the greatest design work from across the world, including a professional directory. The number of countries all over the world on display is remarkably impressive on the website.
- Template Monster
The largest collection of e-commerce, WordPress inspiration and themes with HTML templates, this site is preferred for the sheer size of templates it offers for exploring, more than 25k.
- Web Design Inspiration
It calls itself the platform where entrepreneurs, agencies and web designers can get inspired for their next big project.
- Best Website Gallery
Established in 2008, this is yet another reliable resource for masterfully curated web design creations with colorful portfolios and a treasure trove of high calibre designs handpicked by one single man, the creator David Hellman. The collection of over 2000 personally picked websites is dazzlingly inspiring.
- Design Inspiration
A community-sourced repository of ideas allows you to curate your own space for design inspiration while offering ideas under various searchable categories like modern, retro, color search, palette search, etc.
- From Up North
Curated galleries for stunning UI design samples, it’s a great site to explore inspirational projects on Graphic Design, Typography, Photography, Motion Graphics, Print Design and more.
- Abduzeedo
An inspiration site for design enthusiasts across various styles, along with cutting edge project ideas on AR/VR, Illustration, Branding, and eclectic art. Their media and design showcase includes multiple formats and the width and the breadth of design disciplines.
- Commerce Cream
A site that curates the best commerce experiences to create design, development and product ideas from Shopify. Since it’s expertly curated, it displays the best online stores. Also, it lets you find the agencies and merchants behind the projects, from which can even emerge fruitful creative collaborations across categories. It’s especially great for e-commerce idea generation.
- Land-book
A handy source for exploring portfolios, canvasses, landings, templates and a rich library of artistic, modern and diverse design ideas, Land-book focuses mainly on landing pages from agencies, individual portfolios and e-commerce stores. New ideas for DIY projects or more professional pursuits can be found here as their collection is diverse.
- Dribble
A stunningly designed site with easy access to categories like Web and product design, typography, print, illustration, branding and animation, it claims to showcase a collection of the world’s best design professionals. It also works as a good platform for skill sharing and prompts for brainstorming ideas when conceptualising out of the box design ideas.
- A List Apart
A slightly more cerebral approach towards design, development and web content creation, A List Apart is a webzine for inspirational editorials and visuals for a designer who needs a more contemplative and intellectual approach to design ideas and principles. Yet it can be hugely inspiring for a niche audience.
- Brutalist Websites
A website dedicated to the sole concept of Brutalism, “Rugged, unconcerned with comfort, and reactionary”, as opposed to frivolous, dreamy, pretentious and lighthearted design concepts. It’s worth exploring for its blend of shock and awe display of work with thought-provoking pieces of art and design, shockingly original in style, subtext, and aesthetics.
- Admire The Web
A tribute to minimalism and cleanliness in design, the website is famous for the trendiest and the coolest designs from around the web. Mostly elegant, sometimes vibrant and breathtaking visuals are the site USP.
- Pttrns
As the name suggests, it’s a platform with a sizable collection of design resources, interface patterns and general inspiration. It’s a niche website in the space.
- CalltoIdea
It’s a platform created to be the best next-generation interactive designing tool worth exploring for its extensive selection of design components.
- The Great Discontent
A media platform to support a community of today’s creative artists in the form of interviews in digital and print, short features, film-based projects, podcasts, and events.
As a best practice to not jump on the very first idea that pops into your mind and dig deeper by referencing it against some of the curated galleries such as above to refine your idea further.