There are many times when we all stumble across creative block, struggling to figure out what to draw, design or make next. No matter what our creative field, we all need regular inspiration to help us on our way.
The Internet is the perfect playground to go out and explore, discover and be inspired by an endless range of artwork, illustration, photography, fashion or crafts. But finding those niche blogs that really give you a dose of inspiration can be difficult.
That’s why I’ve painstakingly put together the following list of 70 of the best blogs for creative inspiration, so you never need to go elsewhere or waste hours of your precious time scouring through the search engines. I’ve split the list into various creative fields for easy reference. Please note, this has since been updated – as of 27 November 2014.
Graphic Design
1. Aisle One: An inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism. I love the simplicity of this blog and the things they share are very inspiring.
2. Grain Edit: A modern graphic design blog showcasing some vintage aspects of design, along with some splashes of illustration. Love it! And nicely designed too with a clean, non-fussy layout.
3. Abduzeedo: A successful and well-known popular blog about design, including plenty of inspiration and tutorials to support other creatives.
4. MIRADOR: Mirador is the image hunting work of Say What Studio, graphic design duo based in Paris, France. They curate the most inspirational works out there and share them through this collection of projects.
5. I Love Typography: Just want to pour over fonts and drool at typography? Check out this popular blog showing off all the latest typefaces.
6. Logo Design Love: Stuck on a logo? Want some inspiration to help you out? Check out this blog, showing lots of different logos from around the globe.
7. Design Work Life: Design Work Life is a daily blog published by Seamless Creative, whose purpose is to share a love of design through daily design-centric inspiration.
8. Graphic Exchange: Fabien Barral is a happy graphic designer whose innovative and unique designs attract clients from around the world. In 2008 he joined forces with his wife Frédérique to create “Harmonie intérieure”, a business and brand that pushes poster and wall sticker design beyond the limits we expect from a commercial undertaking. Fabien also runs the “graphic-exchange” blog, a popular online venue for graphic designers.
9. The Design Blog: Founded, designed and curated by Ena Baćanović – a designer based in Zagreb – Croatia, The Design Blog brings you carefully picked high quality inspiration, featuring works of designers and design studios from all over the world.
10. Collate: A beautiful, elegant blog that allows the content to do the talking. Only the highest quality graphic design makes it onto its web pages. A must!
Illustration
1. Drawn: Still one of the biggest and best blogs to go to for illustration inspiration, Drawn is all the daily dose you’ll need to be inspired by a whole range of different artwork.
2. Pikaland: Quirky, cute and fun – this blog has been going for quite some time and offers everything an illustrator needs, including interesting artwork to drool over and opportunities to collaborate and get involved.
3. Ape on the Moon: Alex Mathers and Philip Dennis are the people behind Ape on the Moon. A hugely popular source of inspiration for illustrators worldwide.
4. IllustrationFriday: Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation.
5. Brown Paper Bag: An interesting blog that celebrates beautiful illustration in creative and clever ways, apparently.
6. Booooooom: This Canadian illustration blog is extremely playful, showcasing surreal and unusual illustration work that exudes creativity and provokes thought. Always worth checking for some indie art and illustration.
7. IllustrationMundo: A well-known website that supports the illustration community with its own inspirational blog showcasing various works.
8. Books By Its Cover: Love book cover illustration? This gorgeous, clean designed blog was created as a way to share a variety of art related publications.
9. Illustration Age: Illustration Age regularly feature new, inspiring, and sometimes groundbreaking artwork from professional Illustrators all over the world.
10. Signature Illustration: A showcase of art and illustration with the odd tutorial thrown in for good measure.
Advertising
1. AdGoodness: A blog about advertising and graphic design by designer Frederik Samuel.
2. AdFreak: AdWeek’s very own blog about advertising, sharing advertising from around the world.
3. AdPulp: A blog by technologist Shawn Hartley, creative director David Burn and copywriter Dan Goldgeier on a mission to make better communications.
4. AdRants: This site shares advertising and marketing news while following the latest advertising trends.
5. The Ad Buzz: Advertising trends, interviews with leading ad people and tours around advertising agencies.
6. Scott Goodson: An intelligent blog about movement marketing and cultural movement advertising by Scott Goodson, founder of the world’s first cultural movement agency, StrawberryFrog.
7. AdeeVee: Just want to browse through interesting adverts? This blog’s for you.
8. Ads of the World: A decent blog showcasing all the latest advertising campaigns, which you can rate and talk about in the website’s forum.
9. Adland: A website that gossips and rants about the advertising industry while collecting ads of all media for your reference.
10. Adverbox: Another great advertising blog to browse through for inspiration. I love the layout and you can even get involved to rate different campaigns.
Photography
1. The Big Picture: Inspiring news stories in pictures, created by the picture editors at The Boston Globe in the US.
2. Guardian In Pictures: The Guardian’s own popular ‘news in pictures’ section. And if you download the iPad app you’ll be able to follow ‘pro tips’, learning how to take similar shots.
3. 50mm: An inspiring blog by photographer Sean Wood… just as you’d hope and expect – great shots that dominate the web page and allow easy browsing.
4. iGnant: A creative blog with an inspiring photography section to browse through. They tend to share a lot of ‘not safe for work’ type stuff, but it’s a great site nevertheless.
5. They Shoot Film: They Shoot Film is a photo collective started by two photographers, Patrice Esser (on sabbatical) and Garrick Fujii. They are based in San Francisco and Los Angeles respectively.
6. One Big Photo: OneBigPhoto is your daily dose of high quality photos.
7. Ain’t Bad Magazine: Aint-Bad Magazine is a quarterly publication that promotes new photographic art. Founded in Savannah, Georgia by five emerging photographers, the magazine seeks fresh photography and text in support of a progressive community of artists from around the world for our printed publication, web-based forum, and periodic exhibitions and events.
8. I Heart Faces: An inspiring blog with weekly photo challenges, tutorials, tips & lots of fun! They welcome all levels of photographers, bloggers and moms with cameras.
9. Flickr Blog: The companion blog to Flickr, showcasing a huge range of photography from across the globe.
10. PetaPixel: Established in May of 2009, PetaPixel is a leading blog covering the wonderful world of photography. Check it out!
Art
1. Juxtapoz: A beautiful website featuring emerging artists and illustrators, along with the occasional erotic artworks. A must.
2. Contemporary Daily Art: One of the most famous art blogs, offering a real dose of inspiration to art lovers worldwide.
3. Supersonic Art: A new contemporary art blog curated by Zach Tutor, also with a substantial following on Tumblr.
4. Arrested Motion: Online magazine providing exclusive worldwide coverage of the low brow, urban and contemporary art scene on the daily.
5. We Heart: We Heart explores the intersections between arts and culture, and lifestyle, living and travel. Great one to add to your reading list.
6. Beautiful/Decay: A former printed publication that now has an online home, sharing the same exciting content that made Beautiful/Decay a widely loved and revered creative bible.
7. My Modern Met: My Modern Met is where art enthusiasts and trend-spotters connect over creative ideas, established in 2008.
8. Colossal: Launched in 2010, Colossal is a Webby-nominated blog that explores art and other aspects of visual culture. And it’s bloomin’ lovely.
9. It’s Nice That: Goes without saying really. It’s Nice That is one of the best blogs on the web, championing creativity across the art and design world.
10. Fubiz: Another creative blog sharing inspiring creative work from across the globe, and its arts section is worth a look.
Interior Design
1. WebDesignBurn: A stunning blog showcasing inspiring house tours and before and after DIY projects. This is one of my favourite blogs of interior design inspiration.
2. Apartment Therapy: An American blog that covers just about anything and everything to do with interior design – an online bible for interior designers.
3. Bodie and Fou: A blog by Karine Candice Köng, a French stylist and blogger.
4. Chez Larsson: Crafts and interior design from a Stockholm family home – a gorgeous blog.
5. Dezeen: The ultimate industry go-to blog for interior design inspiration, Dezeen gets the respect of interior designers everywhere.
6. The Selby: Todd Selby is a photographer, director, author and illustrator. His project, The Selby, offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail.
7. The Fabric of my Life: A London interior stylist shares interesting images for inspiration.
8. Desire to Inspire: This is interior design heaven and up there with the very best blogs for inspiration. A must-read.
9. Decor8: One of my favourite interior design blogs, written by an American living in Germany.
10. Habitually Chic: Since its inception in 2007, interior designer Heather Clawson and her famous blog Habitually Chic have been featured in Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Domino, Lonny, Fast Company, and Amica magazines.
DIY & Crafts
1. Oh so Beautiful Paper: Sharing a love of stationery, paper, invitations and cards, this blog is beautifully laid out and hugely inspirational.
2. Making it Lovely: A gorgeous blog following the journey of Nicole Balch who takes finds and transforms them for her home but also crafts and makes her own things.
3. Weekday Carnival: Finnish blogger and designer Riikka Kantinkoski leans on the minimalist side. Think white interiors with her designed prints balanced with metal, wood and concrete-heavy home accents. Less is probably more.
4. Lovely Indeed: Chelsea’s blog Lovely Indeed began shortly after her husband proposed. She needed a way to organise her thoughts and wedding plans, and so started blogging. Today, Lovely Indeed is all kinds of DIY loveliness.
5. Almost Makes Perfect: Regular crafting and making inspiration from a blogger called Molly.
6. Honestly WTF: There is so much fashion and décor DIY goodness to discover at Honestly WTF.
7. Aunt Peaches: A blog by Peaches – very inspiring and crafty, with 250K daily page views and a loyal, active crafting community.
8. Paper & Stitch: Brittni Mehlhoff’s blog is a full-time project, offering more than your average DIY websites. All the photography is beautiful.
9. Little Green Notebook: Jenny is a design blogger and decorator in New York City. She started her blog, Little Green Notebook, and her interior design business, Jenny Komenda Interiors, in 2007. Follow her updates to discover flea market finds and DIY home projects.
10. A Beautiful Mess: Not just a blog about style, this is a delicious feast for the eyes with craft projects throughout. Any creative will love.
