Mental block affects creatives of every type. There’s writer’s block and artistic block, and both have the same result – the inability to think of something to work on and proceed. Web designers, graphic artists, and creative professionals are not immune to this – it’s a human condition. The worst part is getting stuck when you’re about to begin a project or are in the middle of one.
So how do you get “unstuck” if you’re a web designer? There are many suggestions – meditate, take a break, get some sleep, exercise, have a change of environment, etc. If you can, try to seek the help of an expert or get a mentor. If you like to do it on your own, then seek inspiration. In this article, we’ll look at some of the best web design inspiration sites to sustain your creative streak and keep you motivated.
This piece is part of our developing article series on web design intended to give you useful information and resources on core and related web design topics.
Best Web Design Inspiration Sites to Sustain Your Creative Streak
What to Look for in Web Design Inspiration Sites?
You’re looking to get out of your creative rut and there are many reasons why you are feeling lethargic. Maybe you’re trying to be a perfectionist or simply full of negativism or always have this lingering feeling of failure.
Whatever the reason, you need to have a creative spark to keep you impassioned. For many, visiting web design galleries and online portfolios often does the trick. So, what should you look for in these sites?
Variety
The more sample designs the better. It widens your options and stirs your mind to think – is this design better than the others, is this a more solid design direction than the other one? Your grey matters are stirred to make choices and come up with the most optimal decision.
Design Elements
Maybe you’re lost as to what colors to use, what patterns to apply, or what design component to include. These are subtle design details that may impact the overall aesthetics of your website and yet you are unsure of what path to take. Observing the website project of other designers – how they put simple but effective design touches – could nudge you from your stupor.
Expert Advice
Some of these inspiration sites feature helpful articles – tutorials, tips, and guides – usually written by design gurus and seasoned professionals. Their advice and insights are invaluable knowledge resources to deepen your understanding of web design.
Best Web Design Inspiration Sites
Many of these inspiration sites are communities with a gallery of works by members. Normally, browsing through the galleries is free but there’s no reason not to join the best web design communities if you want to enjoy the full benefits offered and get the privilege to access member-only areas.
1. Awwwards
Awwwards is a competition body for professional web design and development. It is based in Spain and first started giving awards in 2009. If you have a unique website design and are ready to have it judged by design experts, then this is a great way to be known especially if you make it to any of the following recognitions – Honorable Mention, Site of the Day/Month/Year, Developer Award, Developer Site of the Year, and Designer/Agency of the Year, among others. On the Awwwards website, you’ll find all of the submissions and winners, making it a great source of inspiration when it comes to the best of the best in website design.
2. CSSDesignAwards
CSSDesignAwards is another leading web design and development competition platform that accepts submissions from web designers, UX/UI practitioners, freelancers, and design agencies. The organization was founded in 2009 and the awards were launched the following year. Your website can be considered for Website of the Day, Month, or Year. There’s also a Designer of the Year for Solo, Studio, or Agency. The CSSDesignAwards website will expose you to some of the most stunning websites from nominees and winners, all reflective of the competition body’s tagline “Be Inspired. Be Inspiring.”
3. Admire The Web
Admire The Web is a relatively new site that exists for one purpose – to showcase the best website designs out there. They carefully curate these designs and display them on their site with tags and categories so you can easily find what you’re looking for. You can click on a particular preview/thumbnail design and it will show up on a new page in its entirety allowing you to closely examine it. Click the design again and you’ll be taken to the actual website. Some two dozen designs are added monthly to the growing database, giving you a chance to admire and be inspired by the works of other web designers.
4. Behance
Behance most likely can claim the title of the largest design resource in the world. It was started in 2005 as a social media platform to showcase and discover the works of creatives. Behance was bought by Adobe Corp. in 2012 and got even bigger, becoming a hub for designers. Members get to have a profile and gallery page, a great way to get exposure and be contacted by potential clients and employers. Browsing through the site will already prep you for creative ideas seeing so many interesting and standout web design projects. This is a go-to site for any aspiring web designer. Behance currently has over 24 million members.
5. Dribbble
Dribbble had its beginnings in 2009 originally as an invite-only site where creatives and digital designers can show and share their works. It eventually opened up its membership and added site features and offerings. Dribbble also increased its global reach via in-person designer meetups. By 2016, the community reached a membership of nearly half a million. The site garners over 4 million visitors per month from 195 countries. Like Behance, Dribbble has a member profile and projects page so you can view their works. A quick scroll of the homepage showcasing various websites by different designers is enough to reignite your interest in web design.
6. Template Monster
Template Monster is a marketplace for digital products founded in 2002. It counts over 2,000 designers and authors who have created more than 120,000 digital products for around 5 million clients. Among its products are WordPress templates and themes, presentations, graphics, plugins, 3D, video templates, and stock audio and music. The site carries thousands of these templates and you will have your hands full viewing the web design works. Authors continuously submit new works to the ever-growing collection and the site displays on its homepage the hottest designs of the week. Of course, aside from viewing the designs, you can buy those that you fancy since this is a digital hub for buyers and sellers.
7. Land-book
Land-book is all about helping you explore the many ways you can design a landing page and a website. Businesses and marketers know the significance of landing pages and why they need to be well-designed. Land-book recognizes this which is why they made the site for designers, product owners, developers, startups, freelancers and anyone looking to appreciate and admire finely crafted websites and professionally made landing pages. And you can browse dozens of them in the Land-book collection organized by Website subject (ex. blog, portfolio, store), by Components (features, pricing, stats), or by Template style.
8. Made in Webflow
Made in Webflow is the website showcase gallery of Webflow, the popular codeless web development platform with over three million users. The site was expressly made to let you discover and be inspired by the stunning websites made by Webflow’s user community. Clicking a preview website in the gallery will lead you to a large version of the site, and another click will take you to the live website. Webflow allows you to design websites with interaction animation and multimedia experiences, so this is an exciting venue to see rich websites up close with great UI/UX designs made with Webflow tools.
9. Abduzeedo
Abduzeedo was originally a personal blog of Brazilian web/graphic designer Fabio Sasso who is now based in San Francisco, California. It has become quite popular and is now fondly known as ABDZ, a design resource site where you can submit and showcase your web design project to expand your reach and increase exposure. The site features different types of web designs including those for branding, editorial, UX/UI as well as those that utilize 3D, graphics, and illustrations. There are a lot of website designs that you can browse through and address your artistic drudgery. There are even tutorials shared by designers to let you know the creative process involved in a particular web design.
10. One Page Love
Need ideas for building a landing page? One Page Love will give you website inspiration, UI references, and templates to jumpstart your project. A landing page requires simply a one-page design, but it plays an important role in marketing and conversion. It’s crucial, therefore, to have a well-designed and optimized landing page, and One Page Love rises to the occasion to provide design knowledge and inspiration. You can browse its gallery containing thousands of landing pages and website examples neatly organized by builder (ex. Webflow, Wix, Squarespace), platform (Elementor, Bootstrap, etc.), and category/subject.
WDI: Inspiration + Information
This is no self-promotion but do consider our humble site – Web Design Inspiration – as a wellspring for your web design ideas. That is why we have the word “Inspiration” in our name because when this site was founded in 2007, it was intended to motivate users and boost their creativity by showcasing innovative and outstanding website designs.
But as you noticed, aside from the inspirational intention we also have the informational thrust, providing our readers with knowledge articles on anything and everything related to web design. In short, when you visit WDI expect a gallery of site designs and a blog section. You get inspiration plus information in one convenient place.
