Inspiration Hunting

The web is full of designs and patterns, both good and bad, new and old. At times it all starts to blur together and the sites start resembling one another. Periodically I like to see what else is out there, to see what interesting ideas have yet to become the web trend of the month.

The following is a small list of sites I try to visit at least once a week. As a front end developer I might be looking for something different for inspiration compared to a designer or UX specialist. The following sites will offer not only design and development ideas but also challenge the way we view content on the web, for better or for worse.

Site Inspire : Well organized collection so you can easily browse for specific subjects or styles that you are looking for. Mostly leans toward a clean, modern design aesthetic.

One Page Love : Single page sites only, great source for scroll animations and concise organization of content.

Httpster : Similar to Site Inspire, it is organized into types and styles, but I find that the selection is a bit more colorful and playful.

Dribbble : If you are not already familiar with Dribbble, it is a very popular design community where designers share small parts of their work which is then open to feedback from the other members. It is not specifically for web design, in fact it can be sparse at times, but you can easily keyword search for what you are interested in.

Bēhance : Similar to Dribbble, but Bēhance is open to the general public so you might find some more interesting and ‘outside of the box’ ideas here.

Codepen : Looking for something a bit more interactive? CodePen is a community of front end developers sharing things ranging from small ideas to full sites. Similar to Dribbble and Bēhance, but instead of just images, these examples are working code made in HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Not only can you see the code, but you can fork it and learn how it was made without leaving the browser.

Hopefully some of these sites will not only knock some cobwebs off, but inspire you in your next project.