70 of the best blogs for creative inspiration
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 and - like I always say - if I've missed anything, please just add a comment below to make this list the best on the web.
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. David Airey: A successful and well-known graphic designer who has his own popular blog of inspiration.
4. The Hickensian: A blog by Jon Hicks, one half of the creative partnership known as Hicksdesign. A top bloke who blogs about a whole range of inspiring subjects. Check it out!
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. Swiss Legacy: Love visual inspiration rather than scouring through lots of boring text? Swiss Legacy is for you. It's a blog by Art Director Xavier Encinas and it's all about typography, graphic design and inspirational matters.
8. Things To Look At: Oddly, this blog contains 'things to look at'. It'a a decent blog worth a visit if you're after some inspiration during your lunchbreak.
9. Graphic Design Blog: A pretty cool blog on... you guessed it - graphic design.
10. Truly Ace: A blog by Truly Ace - a West Midlands based graphic design firm. They share inspiring posts about anything and everything to do with design. Check them out!
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. Cartoon Brew: Enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while browsing through this fantastic website, mainly showcasing cartoons.
6. 100 Years of Illustration: A decent blog showing illustration and artwork over the past century. Very inspiring.
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. Illustrophile: Illustrophile is an illustration blog for everyone that has an interest in illustration and commercial art.
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. I believe in Advertising: 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. Fish Spa: A photography blog with huge images to browse through. Great for a dose of inspiration first thing in the morning.
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. David Kleinert Photography: Daily fauna, flora and landscape images from Australia.
7. Joe McNally: The thoughts, notions, and ideas here come from thirty years in the field as a shooter... Follow famous photographer Joe McNally and his blog.
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. Shutter Sisters: This is one of my favourite blogs with a range of beautiful photography shot by a bunch of talented, female photographers. Check it out!
Fashion
1. Fashion Toast: Rumi Neely is a fashion blogger popular for her style and photography. She is the creator of popular blog, Fashion Toast. She began her site in 2007 and it has since become one of the biggest fashion blogs out there. Love it!
2. Style Bubble: One of the most famous fashion blogs, run by Susie Bubble. Her outfits are out of this world. A real dose of inspiration.
3. Ripped Knees: Ana Kinsella is the person behind Ripped Knees. She shares her love of fashion along with her many quirky outfits.
4. Because I'm Addicted: A blog by a 20 something running wild in LA and sharing her love of fashion.
5. Avant Style: Sian is 20 and from Dublin. Avant Style is her outlet for her undying love of fashion.
6. Monoxious: A blog run by two friends who love fashion. 'Nuff said.
7. Nerd Boyfriend: An interesting blog on.. well nerdy clothing. But interesting nonetheless.
8. She's in Vogue: The blog of a curly - haired girl who likes painting, fifties' skirts, good food, post-modernism and a good parka. Oh and a cat-eyed shade.
9. Stitches, Fabric and Soul: A great visual photo/fashion blog of inspiration with a simple layout including lots of snaps of street style across the globe.
10. What will I wear today?: A really nice e-zine type blog, started by a 'gaggle of girls' who love fashion and wanted to share their passion on the web.
Interior Design
1. Design Sponge: 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. Lobster and Swan: A blog about photography and vintage-styled finds by Hastings designer Jeska who loves to share posts about her home style.
4. Chez Larsson: Crafts and interior design from a Stockholm family home - a gorgeous blog.
5. Delight by Design: Founded in the summer of 2008 as a creative outlet and journal for musings on how to inject style into dwellings, closets and occasions.
6. Oliveaux: An inspiration board of beautiful interior design and styling, written by an Australian from Brisbane.
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. Young House Love: Want some inspiration from a young couple renovating their own home? This blog shares their journey and includes interiors advice and tips along with moodboards a-plenty.
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. A Field Journal: A beautiful compilation of things old fashioned, timeless, simple and lovely.
4. Sweet Paul: Sweet Paul is a food and prop stylist and crafter who lives in New York. Follow his blog to be inspired by all things handmade and crafty.
5. Craft:: Daily crafting inspiration along with craft news and events.
6. UKHandmade: Follow the UKHandmade Blog for a huge dose of inspiration from textiles and stationery to jewellery and vintage - everything you need is right here.
7. Inside a Black Apple: A blog by Emily Winfield - very inspiring and crafty.
8. Vintage Indie: Vintage Indie started out as a love for all things vintage, vintage inspired and antique related. Being a mother and an entrepreneur herself, founding editor Gabreial Wyatt has a passion to support independent small businesses and artists.
9. The Farm Chicks: A blog by Serena, who is a mum of four, author, entrepreneur, & Country Living Magazine contributing editor.
10. Sweet Days and Roses: Janey Butler, wedding planner and stylist, is the person behind this gorgeous blog that contains her own craft projects. Simply gorgeous!
Featured image by Alex Mathers - a talented illustrator from London.
