Many people get inspiration from different places. Some get it from nature, God, and some from human creation. I myself, get inspiration from all forms of beauty. It can be the way the clouds in today’s sky billow up, or from the way an experienced grandmother knits the dinosaur into her 20 year old grandson’s sweater. The very existence of life in this world is cause for inspiration, and the fact that these instances of life can create is mind blowing.
I find that if I’m confined to work in an office while trying to create something that inspires warm feelings inside people, I frequent the internet. This is my window to the outside, in a sea of gray. I frequent many website and the ones I visit most are listed below. Hopefully you’ll find them as inspiring as I do.
Flickr is a very good resource which gives me lots of inspiration and also keeps me up to date with what other designers or photographers are up to. Since Flickr is comprised of millions of people there are many different lifestyles represented online, which are neatly categorized into groups and tags, depending on the user preferences. A basic account is free, with the choice to upgrade to a pro account. A pro account is really only viable to someone who uploads pictures or videos constantly, and wants to track the amount of people who visit their page.
Another good resource for inspiration is a design and web development webzine named Smashing Magazine. I have only recently started reading Smashing Magazine and I find myself returning daily to the site to read their new articles, and many of their archived tutorial articles. As a matter of fact my Google homepage has a Smashing Magazine widget in it to keep me up to date with their articles, and I have my browser homepage set to Smashing Magazine.
When I get tired of looking for inspiration which only requires virtual action, I look toward two DIY sites which provide me with physical inspiration. The first is Design *Sponge, a design blog. I found it while searching for design trends. It doesn’t have too many up to date articles about design trends, but their articles about readers’ before and after DIY projects are truly inspiring and humbling. The next DIY site that I love to geek out with is a site about DIY projects, but geared mainly toward geeks and nerds who try to beat the system by making their own versions of products you might see at a store. The title of the site is Instructables. It’s not a blog, but is a massive DIY community where everyone posts directions, schematics, and instructions on how to construct a home power grid to help get you off the grid.
These are the few windows that I use to view the outside from my cubicle, and if you search the internet for what inspires you, I’m sure you’ll find a website devoted to it. This is the beauty of the internet and why I like it so much.
Happy surfing.
