Part of our all-team monthly review is a closing 'care to share' section. An opportunity for a me&you'er to share insight with the rest of the team. The topics have varied from Nick talking about his coding course to Kate on LinkedIn marketing. Paul our Creative Director (finally) gave away all his top resources for inspiration, ideation and creation education. Below we list them along with a short 'why' from Paul....
General Inspiration
I'm always on the lookout for inspiration, it doesn't have to be related to a particular job or specific to one of our services - it just needs to look good. Looking through a selection of nice-looking things not only gets the creative cogs turning but it also keeps us up-to-date with current trends.
https://www.designspiration.net
Branding
These sites focus on branding and Identity design. Both have a good range of examples showcasing a wide range of brand application. Under considerations 'Brand New' has a forum feel, inviting designers to comment and review brand updates. I especially like the overview text or quotes that are sometimes provided by the design agency who completed the projected. Their reasoning (design fluff) and the comments on this below the post can be quite entertaining!
https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Freebies
When we need to make our proposals or pitch work look epic we source or create visual mockups. These mockups allow us to bring our ideas to life. Our clients aren't always visual people so this really helps when choosing between our presented concepts.
Packaging Inspiration
I'm a sucker for pretty packaging and will often be swayed into buying the more expensive option just because the packaging looks or even feels nice. When designing packaging it's important we understand the target market for the product in question. Is it luxury or aimed at a more affordable price point? We will build a folder of competitor products giving us a visual sounding board to critique our designs against. The below sites are all great for keeping up-to-date with market trends.
http://www.packagingoftheworld.com
https://packageinspiration.com
http://www.ohbeautifulbeer.com (just because I like craft beer)
Fonts
It seems like there're trillions of fonts now and as designers, we have our favourites and not so favourites (Comic Sans). These sites make our jobs a little easier. There are some great examples of fonts in use, recommendations and a wide selection of open source fonts for both digital and print projects.
https://www.typewolf.com/recommendations
General Blogs
If you're looking for some industry news or just fancy a read while slurping your 5th coffee of the morning then these sites are a good starting point.
UX & UI Blogs
Looking for some advice or just trying to work out what the difference is between the two then these sites will help.
https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/
Adobe XD
We use adobe XD for all our digital design work. It enables us to work quickly and efficiently when designing prototypes and also sharing with our clients. The below links offer great tips and resources to help us with a design process.
and finally...
On the grid is a travel guide created by designers for people looking for the more interesting and vibrant neighbourhoods in the city they're visiting.
I hope you find these sites both useful and in some ways entertaining.
Paul