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Pinterest is one of the most popular websites, not only for designers but for all people looking for inspiration in their daily lives. I have used the website for lifestyle inspiration, but mainly I spend my time looking for design inspiration. For designers, Pinterest is a research source in the project process. A large part of graphic design is staying current on popular trends, and Pinterest is a place to see what others are doing.
While I love to spend hours on the site, I do have some issues with Pinterest. The main problem is that I often end up seeing the same work time and time again. There is a lack of variation in search results, and if I see the same work, then others are too.
Additionally, posts do not often credit the artist. Anyone can post anything, and sometimes credit can get lost. To avoid this “Pinterest Problem,” here are some great other sites filled with graphic design inspiration:
1.Bēhance
Bēhance is incredibly popular in the design and art community. If you are unfamiliar with the site, then you are most likely not working in a creative space, or you are just beginning to. Bēhance is owned by Adobe and is one of the largest creative networks.
Unlike Pinterest, it is only for creative work, and the artist posts their own work. It is an excellent way for designers to gain recognition in their field. They have everything from web design inspiration to photography inspiration. The site allows for multiple graphics within each post so creators can show their entire project. They also have tutorials to help growing designers. One of my favorite parts of the site is that designers will share free mockups and fonts to download. Not all are for commercial use, so make sure you check before using or taking anything.
One of the negatives of Bēhance is that you need to have an Adobe ID to gain full access to the site. Bēhance, itself, is free, but all the Adobe apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., are not. You will definitely want to download them (if you didn’t already) after seeing all the amazing work on Bēhance.
2.Dribbble
Dribbble is a very similar site to Bēhance as it is a community strictly made up of designers and artists. They have created a great space to view content from typography to animation to product design. They also offer other features like job boards and learning workshops. Dribbble has many options to filter their search, which is great if the viewer is looking for specific inspiration sources. And like Bēhance, Dribble is great about crediting the creator of all the work they post.
All the work they post is top tier because the creator has to be invited by Dribbble to post. On the other hand, the invitation-only feature can negatively impact emerging designers who want to share their work.
3. Instagram
Do not underestimate Instagram as a creative source! I love finding inspiration here and I am constantly learning about new artists and designers this way. Designers will almost always post their work with appropriate hashtags, making them easier to find.
Like Pinterest, you can save posts you like to different boards. The more you save, the more curated your Explore page will be. There are also many pages dedicated to design inspiration. So why not follow a few design pages to mix in with the rest of your daily feed? It is a great way to stay up to date on different trends and artists.
It is not the best site for sharing your work if you are looking to grow quickly and share with large groups of people that aren’t your followers. But if you are trying to make a career out of being a creative, having an Instagram page for your work is almost essential.
4. Creative Boom
Creative Boom is a UK site that fosters creativity amongst designers, illustrators, photographers, animators, and more. Their site contains an online magazine, a podcast, and a newsletter that you can subscribe to. Creative Boom is more niche than the others, but I like it because they highlight amazing projects, interview upcoming artists, and share necessary information and tools for aspiring artists and designers. They are very selective about their content as it is mainly article-based.
I do not recommend this site if you are looking for fast inspiration or anything for a specific project. However, I think it is great to look through in your free time to see what amazing work is being created and what other artists are talking about.
The next time that you are looking for design inspiration try out one of these awesome sites instead of the usual Pinterest. There is always new content to see and emerging artists to discover. I also encourage you to share your work; you never know who you will inspire!