Tales of a Designer

Recently Found Resources & Inspiration

I’ve been very busy this summer, both in doing Tridea work, travelling, and trying to get away from the computer a bit and enjoy the good weather while we have it. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been offline, in fact I’ve found some pretty nice resources and sources of inspiration lately that I’d like to share.

Cheat Sheet for Web Developers is my most recent find, which is an excellent resource for those of us that code websites. There are tons of PDF’s to download ranging from XHTML markup to CSS shorthand cheat sheets. This is definitely worth a bookmark.

Snipplr is a public source code repository ranging from front-end code to back-end code as well. I love this site and always refer to it when I hit a snag is trying to figure out some code problems. It also works with Textmate, my editor of choice.

Handwritten Typographers isn’t exactly a resource, but rather an interesting look at the handwriting of some well known typographers. There are some great fonts there too, that I’m looking forward to using in the future.

Graphic Exchange is an amazing source for inspiration. Here you’ll find anything from print, web, interior design, etc. The list goes on, but there is much to see here, and very easy to blow a lot of time looking at the great graphic design work.

And last but not least, The Dieline is another source of inspiration for looking at great packaging design. As a designer on the web, it’s always important to look at great design on other mediums outside the web to get inspiration, and this is another resource for just that.

So those are the recent resources that I’ve found, and I’m always looking for more. What are some recent resources you’ve found?

Inspiration Comes and Goes

Being down here at SXSW, inspiration is just flying around everywhere, and it is truly inspiring being able to see of your web heroes on stage talking about a passion that they share. So, anyhow, Jason Santa Maria and Rob Weychert did a panel on design inspiration, and they really talked in depth about how to maintain inspiration, and it really made me realize, that inspiration comes and goes.

Clients sometimes don’t understand the “behind the scenes” of designing. I know that I spend a big chunk of time before touching photoshop, not necessarily searching for inspiration, but just to get the creative juices flowing. Sometimes I can design without a particular spark of inspiration, and when I am on to something, inspiration comes in weird forms to keep the ball rolling.

I also think that it’s important not to force inspiration. There have been many times, even recently, that I would get stuck on a design problem, and sit there until I figure it out. Of course, in those times, I wouldn’t figure it out. My mistake, was that I sat there trying to force myself to get creative, and sometimes it just does not work that way. This is where it is time to get away from the computer and do other things or hobbies.

So, though, it’s important to try and maintain the inspiration when it happens, I also think that it’s important to know that sometimes the same way that you can gain inspiration, you can lose it to, and that is when it’s good to step away. Forcing it doesn’t always work.

Getting the 007 Started

A new year is already amongst us, and after a nice long holiday break from work, and blogging, 2007 is already here. 2006 went very well for me, in getting a great job, starting this blog, and even getting into 9rules. So both I, and this blog, have had a good 2006! Keep reading →