Original and fresh website designs are a must-have for any brand. Designers are creative, but sometimes they need a little website design inspiration, and some ideas to let their creativity flow. There are so many decisions to make. Color, fonts, shapes… these are elements that help in the creation of a good product. Designers usually struggle with this choice-making, and inspiration plays a big role in the whole designing process, that is why In this post you'll find the top inspiration sources for website design.
The best sources of website design inspiration
Pinterest is a simple tool that can help designers and non-designers with inspiration. Its intuitive and social media layout lets any user easily find what they want. It has an incredible amount of ideas that are easy to find thanks to its easy search system where you just type in some keywords and the most popular templates will pop up. It's a free application, ideal for freelance designers. However, Pinterest content is uploaded by random people, not designers or experts that know a lot about that field. This means that many templates in this app aren’t truly professional. Another con is that Pinterest isn't design exclusive, this means that you can find a lot of content that won't help your inspiration search at all.
CSSnectar
CSSnectar offers its users different website designs. These designs are voted on by the community in thee categories. One is design, where the basic layout and visual elements are judged by their attractiveness and simplicity, this will help you find good ideas for different designs. The second category is creativity, where users vote on how much creative effort they can appreciate in each design. Lastly, the designs are also judged by their coding. This option lets us see far beyond sight. Understanding website coding is fundamental for a good final product. This tool has a handy search function that helps users filter all the website design inspiration ideas by country, color, or feature. It's a great tool for beginner designers that want to have a deeper look into website design. The negative aspect of CSSnectar is the lack of minimalist and simple designs, if you are looking for one of these, this tool is not for you.
BWG
Best Website Gallery offers a wide collection of website design products that might have a big inspirational effect. Because of their (almost) 15 years of existence, BWG developers have been able to gather an enormous amount of design, resulting in one of the biggest collections you can find. This tool also offers website design-related articles that can also be useful for some inspiration. BWG has a good search tool that allows users to filter the results by CMS or framework. This is a unique option that might facilitate and speed up the whole creation process. The only (minor) disadvantage we can find for this tool is its own website design. It seems a little ironic, but BWGs layout isn't really attractive and it seems a bit old-fashioned. However, the inspiration is still there
The Best Designs
It's fair to say that The Best Designs has the best layout in terms of simplicity. Intuitive and easy-to-use, this tool offers a various collection of website design examples. Designers find this tool as a trustful inspiration source. This site is straightforward, you get in there, take what you want, and leave… just like a supermarket. It also offers a “design of the day” option where you can find fresh and trendy designs every day. Just as BWG, it's only con it's their own design.
Awwwards
Awwwards might be a key to the success of website designers. Starting off, the layout is just perfect, perfectly designed to facilitate the UX and help us find what we want. Their search tool is the most effective, you can filter the results in many categories. It's one of the most complete tools. I believe it's the most ueful for website design inspiration, at least for professional designers. The only thing I couldn't find in Awwwards are cons, the site is just ideal for inspiration
Designspiration
Designspiration can be thought of as a design version of Pinterest. It's a visual platform where users can find images, inspo, and articles related to design. Its easy and intuitive layout allows users to navigate with no problems at all. The site offers a big amount of clear well-designed websites that might be helpful with your inspiration process.
Bonus tips: blogs
Design blogs might be the most underrated website design inspiration source. There are many sites with original and unique ideas that aren't exploited as they should. The Design Project not only offers a highly efficient subscription design service but also has a blog option where you can find the most varied amount of articles related to design. Many of these talk about website design and might be a good inspiration source.
Webdesigner Depot offers a gigantic collection of tips, news, articles, and website design inspiration. It's constantly updated, with fresh and unique content from experts and experienced authors. The best designers usually navigate this blog for some inspiration. It also offers a lot of information about coding, SEO, and more concepts related to website design. This blog is also a great option for non-designers that are interested in website design. It has a tidy and intuitive layout that allows users to properly browse through this site.
Final thoughts
Inspiration is key in creative industries. The website design must be original and fresh, that's why we look for website design inspiration on different sites. In this post we talked about the best sites, pointing out their pros and cons. We also recommended design blogs. These are good inspiration sources where you can gather unique ideas to have the best and most original website design. Remember that every good designer needs some inspiration. Constantly reading articles and looking at other designs is the best way of learning.
