Inspiration

webcreme.com

If you haven’t heard of Wecreme yet, you should really check it out. Whenever I’m in need of a little web design inspiration I stop by webcreme.com and see their findings. Webcreme searches the web for aesthetically pleasing and CSS/XHTML valid websites and posts a couple per week.  Their archive goes back 359 pages, so there’s plenty of inspiration to keep you satisfied.

To satisfy your font addiction…

Abstract Fonts

I’m always looking for new and interesting fonts to include in my projects. While it’s true that you need to keep in mind the “timelessness” of a font when designing a logo or other company branding, it’s nice to have a wide selection of options to choose from. My favorite site to satisfy my font addiction is Abstract Fonts.

Abstract Fonts has the motherload of free true type fonts available for download on the web. There’s no fancy website design to distract from the fonts – just the font in plaid old black laid out on a white background so you can get the real feel for it.  Ok, so there are ads on the left and right sides of the page, but at least you don’t have to login to download the font – just click and “save-as”.

Where’s that logo?

Brandsoftheworld.com provides downloadable vector logos.

Ever been working on a project, but you’re missing a necessary logo? First off – make sure you have permission to use that logo on the artwork you’re creating. Then, check out Brands of the World, a handy little site that supplies graphic and web designers with vector – yea, that’s right – vector logos. What more could you ask for?

Do a simple search for the company logo that you need and up pops a list of potential matches. Be aware that some of the logos have actually been submitted by designers and not by the companies themselves, so you should read the fine print and check to make sure the logo you download is the correct one.

Brands of the World is easy to use, provides logos in the most desired format, and saves designers tons of time.

Everything and the kitchen sink.

web resources depot

Pretty much anything you could want or need for web design has been talked about at the Web Resources Depot. The site covers everything from database managent to navigation systems and RSS feeds and provides links to free downloads and tutorials on how to create/install them on your own site. I love this site because not only is it a source of inspiration when I can’t figure out how I want my navigation to perform, but it also provides links to necessary resources – like free high-quality textures.

Pick a color, any color!

Ever need a little help when choosing a complimentary color scheme? Maybe you’ll get a one color logo and need to pick 2 more colors to go with it for the web design, but you’re just not getting anywhere. That’s when COLOURlovers comes in – it’s a color and design community for creative inspiration. Visitors create profiles and then are able to vote on colors and color schemes, tag them, find photos containing those colors on istockphoto and so much more. You cna even create your own color scheme, name it, and see how much the world loves it.

COLOURlovers is a great resource for selecting the perfect color scheme

The great thing about COLOURlovers is for every color scheme the HEX and RGB values are provided which makes our jobs as designers a lot easier. You can search for all blue hues, by #ffcc00, or just browse the lastest additions. Colors not doing it for you? COLOURlovers has patterns and photos to match the colors too!