Our Top 5 Websites as Sources of Inspiration!
Vive La Wifi!
The internet: the fabulous tool that has changed everything—quite literally—from the way we shop, to the way we interact with others. More and more commonly we hear the phrase: “just Google it!”. The internet has become such an inherent part of our every day lives that the term ‘Google’ has now been added to the dictionary as a commonly used verb.
The idea that anyone can be on their lunch break or their commute to work, be able to pick up their phone and have a whole plethora of information at their fingertips is phenomenal; 50 years ago this would have been completely unheard of.
I’m sure we are all guilty of wasting a vast amount of our time online, whether that’s watching cat videos on YouTube; debating whether the dress that broke the internet was either black and blue, or white and gold; or reading the latest edition of our favourite magazine. But when it comes to looking for design inspiration or something to get the creative juices flowing, the internet has become an invaluable tool in making art and design more accessible and instantaneous than ever before. The beauty and tactility of picking up a book or a magazine and flicking through the pages will never be lost, but the convenience of being able to do all this and more on one device is here to stay.
Below are some of the best pickings that the internet has to offer in terms of design inspiration, used by us here at Tinto and by our clients. Browsing these websites can really help to drive an idea forward and take it to the next stage in the design process, as well as giving you the potential to browse different design options and sources of inspiration.
As far as spending vast amounts of time on the internet goes, Pinterest surely takes the lead. This app is based around a search engine, allowing you to search for anything that inspires you.
On finding an image that you like, you can then ‘pin’ it to an imagery pin board, which saves the image on your account, allowing you to create countless visual mood boards for all of your design ideas.
Pinterest can be a huge timesaver when looking for a particularly striking image for any project, as the results are often more visually pleasing and of a higher calibre than the likes of Google Images. You can look at different colour schemes, different house types and architectural styles–the possibilities are endless. Regardless of your design project, you can be sure to find really fashion forward, current design aesthetics.
This website is great for our residential customers. It boasts a library full of millions of current interior design ideas from across the globe (really, millions) and is run by a search engine which allows you to filter image results by room and by style, as well as allowing you to browse products to furnish your space. Houzz also gives you the opportunity to search for different design aspects or material finishes, by colour and by brand.
You are most certainly spoilt for choice when it comes to design ideas on this website. The search criteria are endless, allowing you to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for; it’s amazing what you can do with four walls and a ceiling, and this site really shows how simple interior design choices can completely transform and breathe new life into a room.
This website and magazine features content across a variety of design mediums, from product design to fashion, allowing you to find inspiration in unexpected places. As designers, we all take inspiration from each other's mediums, with fashion in particular acting as a huge driving force when it comes to trendsetting and finding the new “in” thing for the upcoming season or the year.
This website pulls together news from design, architecture, fashion and art to offer a well-rounded design epicentre and aesthetic hub all on one website, allowing you to consider your design approach from a range of different mediums and not just the most obvious ones.
Design Milk is another article based website with a lot of thought provoking and inspiring content.
Again, it doesn’t just consider architecture but focuses on the latest innovative ideas in the design world in general, giving the reader numerous sources of inspiration. It provides various design options and ideas from featured topics such as interiors and travel, to name a few.
The presence of video content on Design Milk is useful when seeking visual inspiration and can sometimes remain an unexplored avenue. This website will remain a firm favourite with regard to design news and innovation, offering a design hub that isn’t solely visual.
This website provides sources of inspiration for both our residential and commercial clients, featuring written articles and video content from design projects around the globe.
The site itself is both easily navigable and responsive; split into sections for architecture, interiors, design and technology. It highlights some spectacular designs from around the world, providing feedback from both clients and designers to give valuable insight into the overall experience of the project and the photography of finished projects is just breathtaking.
Conclusion
These are some of the most useful design websites the internet currently has to offer, but this is merely just scratching the surface. There are so many sources of inspiration available at our disposal, it would be impossible to list them all!
The internet really has given us lots of opportunities and, for better or for worse, it is here to stay. In terms of design, it offers a vast inspirational scrapbook for us as designers and most importantly for our clients.
What are your most visited websites for design inspiration? Have we missed anything out? Let us know in the comments below!
