Inspirational resources to make your UI/UX design better today

Every UI/UX designer has ever felt stuck or uninspired while working on a particularly important project. A successful UI/UX design process requires complex skills such as prototyping, visual architecture, communication, and basic psychology. But it is equally important to observe and learn from the work of other design teams to expand your creative horizons and make better design decisions.

If you are looking for design inspiration for your next project or would like to unwind after a busy day, a list of resources below will get your creative juices flowing. Add them to bookmarks, get inspired, and stay on top of the most recent design ideas and trends.

1. Behance

The world’s largest and busiest creative network, Behance is a must-visit resource for every visual design professional. As a member of the Adobe Enterprise family, it offers an enormous variety of works in every creative field, including illustration, photography, graphic design, and of course, UI/UX design. In the Best of Behance section, you can find a never-ending list of curated projects. Behance allows you to sort projects not only by creative area but also by design tools used, color, or location, and these advanced features will let you locate just about anything. If you wish to explore the design portfolios of other creators and enhance your design skills, be sure to visit this platform.

2. Awwwards

Awwwards is a platform where everyone can share their web design and win the award for the best submission. A creative community of online specialists reviews each submission based on four criteria: design, usability, inventiveness, and content, and the scoring system is quite transparent. Because the best professionals in visual design try their best to receive the award, on this website you can find the finest examples of web design produced today. This resource will be equally helpful for UI/UX design, app design, and graphic design professionals alike.

3. Dribble

Dribbble is another widely popular platform where individual designers and design teams can showcase their work. Yet, unlike many other websites, it’s not open to everyone: you need to receive an invitation code from the other designer. Dribbble has a large selection of designs of the highest quality, so every digital artist or user experience will find a great source of inspiration here. This design network showcases all types of design, from print to product design and branding. Designers can take workshops and courses and share their design portfolios with the world.

4. Designspiration

Designspiration is a fantastic resource where you can browse curated design collections to discover new ideas for your projects. These collections are divided by categories, for example, UI/UX design, flat design, responsive design, and many more. Here, you can find works in photography, music, film, architecture, and technology, save the pins you like, and organize them into collections. Moreover, Designspiration allows you to create a customized feed and get the most relevant design ideas and updates.

5. Pinterest

Pinterest is one of the best image and video platforms popular not only among designers. People come here to find fresh ideas for home decorating, recipes, style inspiration, education, art, and even design quotes. You can browse a feed customized to your interests and organize your ideas in mood boards. Designers can benefit from this platform even more: simply type a “design inspiration” request to get inspiring and educational videos, photos, and articles. Type in “flat design” to find amazing examples of this type of design. Pinterest has a large and growing community, so tons of content in visual design and other areas are added regularly, making this site a perfect place to get your daily dose of design inspiration.

6. Abduzeedo

Abduzeedo is a blog about design and inspiration covering such areas as editorial design, web design, 3D, illustration, and NFT. If you are feeling stuck in the middle of the design process, visit this site to get inspired by the excellent work of other creators and familiarize yourself with the most recent trends. Moreover, the owner of this blog has created a design guide called “Abduzeedo Inspiration Guide for Designers”. This guide is a great source of information for everyone wishing to learn about design elements, master illustration, or absorb new design ideas.

7. SiteInspire

As it goes from the name, SiteInspire is a go-to resource for the finest examples of web design. Founded by Daniel Howells of Howells Studio, it lets you browse inspiring designs by style, type, subject, and platform. With such an intricate system of tags, you can narrow your search and browse the exact types of design you want, and different combinations may lead you to intriguing outcomes.

8. Land-book

Land-book is a curated website design gallery for creatives that showcases the best landing page examples from various industries. You can also sort the available designs by type (flat design, animation, or brutalism) and type (mobile app design, agency, or infographic). Sign up for the website to like and save designs for future reference and inspiration. Even though this resource is designed for web developers in the first place, it is equally helpful if you are working on a responsive design or looking for inspiration to create a better user experience.

9. Commerce Cream

Commerce Cream is a collection of the most outstanding e-commerce websites built on Shopify. Although this is not exactly a UX magazine, this site is a hidden gem for every UI/UX designer. Here, you can find a variety of design styles, including bold, creative, modern, and simple designs. Commerce Cream also features design teams and agencies that created designs published on the site, so you can familiarize yourself with design portfolios from top agencies.

10. The Great Discontent

Sometimes it takes more than knowledge of design elements, color theory, design process, and best practices to succeed as a designer. You might need to hear the vivid and emotional life stories of other designers – how they overcame challenges, what inspired them, and what eventually brought them success. The Great Disconnect is the ultimate place to find such stories. Here, you can get a motivational boost, bookmark some great design quotes, and get inspired to keep going if things are especially tough. Explore the power of storytelling, the art of saying “no” and the ways in which great designers nurtured their creativity.

11. Brutalist Websites

Brutalist web design is characterized by an unpolished, raw, and even experimental appearance and a punk-minded approach to user experience. It heavily uses colors, shades, and gradients, and font choice has a major visual impact. So, if you are tired of attractive and polished commercial designs, the Brutalist Websites resource can inspire you for a fresh and out-of-the-box design decision.

Brutalist designs do not look comfortable or easy: here, you can encounter broken grids, enormous headlines, or weird cursor effects, as well as scroll effects attacking your senses.

12. Template Monster

Template Monster is a theme shop offering an impressive range of themes in different design styles and pre-designed templates. Here, you can explore thousands of designs divided into categories, and these designs have a solid architecture and rely on the best practices since experienced professionals working on them. Template Monster is especially helpful for those looking for inspiration to work in a new industry since the best practices and approaches to design might vary. By investigating professionally-looking themes, you can organize your design process differently and make an effective design decision.

13. Made-In-Webflow

Made-In-Webflow is a perfect resource for building a customized website using a template or from scratch, or finding lost design inspiration. Webflow allows you to create a site without writing a single line of code – simply drag and drop design elements to give your website the desired look and to build an attractive user interface. An extensive library can keep you busy for weeks, so start exploring!

14. Calltoidea

Calltoidea has a variety of webpage elements necessary for building a user-friendly design. Here, you can browse testimonials, registration forms, 404 pages, counters, stats, and many more. Include the suggested elements in your responsive design, or use them as an inspiration for building your own.

Conclusion

Designing a user-friendly interface requires technical skills and proficiency in specific design software, but the ideation is just as important. When you feel stuck, use the resources listed above to rejuvenate your creativity and channel it into the project that will help you grow professionally. Creating excellent graphic design goes hand in hand with constant learning, exploring new things, and pushing your boundaries. For more information about why you should take web design seriously read our article “Why does Web Design matter?” Stay inspired and good luck!