There’s definitely a lot of creative resources out there, but this one is specific to one purpose: When you need a concept or theme. This is the part 1 when you have accepted a project and have done your research on the client, what they want, what their competition is like, and you need a game plan. It’s time to immerse yourself and see great works and inspiration from other creatives out there, just to get the brain juices flowing.

What I find helpful is not to only look into the same industry of who you are designing for. If you’re designing for a clinic or hospital, I would look at holistic spas, yoga, chiropractors, surgeons and other related industries, as well as an unrelated industry of fashion and interiors. I often ask clients what brands they like to wear, or use, so I can get a better understanding of how they like their aesthetics. It could start from an industry, a colour, a pattern, anything!

1. Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

Hands down probably the first place all creatives go to these days. Especially when it comes to interiors and fashion and beautiful food. Pinterest is great for creating moodboards as well, and already has plenty of colour scheme ideas. It’s easy to get lost in here, and distracted with other pretty things!

2. Behance

Image from Behance

Once you have the dreamy ideas and inspirational images, it’s time to look for some solid work done by the best artists on Behance. I tend to follow local designers too, so I can see what the local trends are like and moving towards.

3. Abduzeedo

Image from Abduzeedo

While Behance has a wide selection of everything, I also like to go to sites that curate beautiful work like Abduzeedo. I’ve been following them for years, and I must say, what a brilliant web layout they have at the moment!

4. Lost at E minor

Image from Lost at E minor

Lost at E Minor is great for concepts. It curates the most quirky and brilliant things creatives do. Subscribe to their newsletter and be wowed by artist work and creative news around the world. You will see stuff that make you go, “Now why didn’t I think of that?”

5. Trendland

Image from Trendland

As I’m into clean design, Trendland offers me a very luxury and high end look at design, photography, interiors and travel. Their graphic design section highlights iconic and avant-garde designs.

6. Design Inspiration

Image from Design Inspiration

I like Design Inspiration when I’m looking for specific examples, as they showcase designs categorized by colours or media, which is great if you are searching specifically for business card examples, or posters.

7. Share Some Candy

Image from Share Some Candy

I have to admit I only occasionally visit Share Some Candy, but when I do there’s always something interesting to see that is colourful or random that really stands out. Sometimes we need that kind of inspiration to break out of designing the same old structure or style.

Hope you find these helpful, have fun brainstorming your great ideas!