GOOD

An online magazine should be all about the content — it should be inviting and engaging, and allow the user to just wander through their pages and articles. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t look great: whether we like it or not, a beautiful website will always look more professional and credible. The design of the GOOD website puts the content forward, but doesn’t let you indifferent to the good design around it.

What I love

1. How clean the design feels, even with lots of content in it.
2. There are almost no decorative elements (not that it would be a bad thing) and the ones that there are are very subtle.
   
3. The neutral colour palette with some hints of strong flat colour spots.
   
4. The little comment boxes: the way they are positioned and coloured.
   
5. The unusual but cute “Share” icon.
   
6. The strong and distinct headings on the sidebar.
   
7. The clean type and clear hierarchy.
   

What I would change

I would change very little on this site:

1. I’m not sure about the rounded corners in the bottom of the articles boxes.
   
2. Some of the ads (top and bottom) don’t fit the theme perfectly. They could either be better placed within the article’s text or have the same width as the page.
   

Conclusion

GOOD is one of those sites that when you first visit you think “Hmm, it looks so good, let me read something. Ah!, this sounds interesting”, and I suppose that’s the type of reaction most websites would like to get from their visitors.

Even though it may look “empty” in some cases, you can see that the design was well thought and that there was a careful attention to detail.

Do you agree?

Flickr as a source of inspiration

On one of my recent posts, 25+ Unusual Flickr Groups For Inspiration, I mentioned how Flickr can be a powerful source of inspiration, specially for non-web related content.

I’m a strong believer that we shouldn’t rely merely on web galleries and books when we are looking for something inspiring, but sometimes we may need to see how other designers solved particular problems, or we’re just in the mood to look at beautiful sites in order to get in the zone.

These are some other Flickr sets and collections that I enjoy following and browsing in these situations:

[Design Solutions]

Web Design Inspiration

Design Patterns

Beyond Flickr

There are some other websites that I also like to visit and are useful for web-related inspiration:

Pattern Tap Collections

CSS Remix

Design Bombs

Unmatched Style

Konigi

Design Meltdown

Where do you go for web design inspiration?

Update: Smashing Magazine just published an article on this topic (note to self: don’t schedule articles, just publish them once they’re finished)! It has a very good and comprehensive list of resources, you should check it out.

Ecoki, The Eco-Lifestyle Community

As I said, my favourite aspect of this website is the warmth of the whole theme, and how that feeling comes across in all the different details that appear throughout the pages. I really like how they managed to create a very clean and simple design, but at the same time, add little bits and pieces so that it doesn’t feel cold.

What I love

1. The clean and clear navigation, and search areas: the links and the search box are where people would expect them to be, you can’t go wrong with that.
   
2. The small details that add to the warmth.
   
3. The clear hierarchy of the type.
   
4. How the ads are integrated with the theme.
   
5. The useful breadcrumbs that point to where the user is on the site.
   
6. The use of icons, but not exaggerated.
   
7. The way the information of an article is displayed at the top.
   

What I would change

1. The title of the featured article looks like the caption of the photo: it took me a few seconds to realize where I had to click to go to that post.
   
2. The footer looks disappointing. I understand that the actual footer is what comes before the Friends & Recommendations links, but that is the final part of the website and it doesn’t look like a powerful ending.
   
3. The Friends & Recommendation links aren’t very clear—where will I go if I click here? (I only know if I hover over the link long enough to see the alt tag description.)
4. The way that tags are displayed is not consistent:
   

Conclusion

Although I pointed some things that I think could be improved on this website, I think these are minor issues and it’s really a great design: it’s engaging, easy to navigate, fun and familiar.

Do you agree? What is your favourite website design today?

Flickr groups

Flickr is an invaluable source of inspiration: I try to save some time almost every day to just wonder through the thousands of beautiful photos and designs uploaded by truly amazing artists.

One of the good things about Flickr is the infinity of subjects that it covers, and that is especially evident when browsing groups. Some Flickr groups are precious collections of powerful visual pieces that we have access to at any time and for free (it’s cheaper than buying books on the subjects!).

So how can you draw inspiration from these groups and apply it to web design? In a million different ways:

• Look at different ways of organizing information
• Take inspiration from the colour pallets
• Figure out what doesn’t work and how you could translate some improvements to the web
• Find solutions for other problems that can have a parallel on a website design, …

Unusual Inspirational Flickr Groups

Vintage Cookbooks

Photo by Be the HBIC

994 members, 5,251 photos (to this date)

Pictures of vintage cookbook covers and page illustrations, from wacky to wonderful. Pamphlets, menus and old cooking advertisements and ephemera are also welcome!!

Manuscripta mediaevalia

Photo by petrus.agricola

165 members, 1,186 items (to this date)

Postage Stamps!

Photo by little_miss_busy

556 members, 5,521 items (to this date)

Postage stamps from all over. I like collecting stamp but I do not have a large collection. HEre is a group to share those beautiful stamps you or someone you know have to many without wearing the stamp book.

Character Doodles

Photo by tesura

675 members, 8,205 items (to this date)

Doodles are necessary for art to survive. They serve almost as waste removers, churning out the bizzare, raw ideas that pop into our heads and planting them on paper. Doodles act a way to see what the person was thinking at the time, what they were feeling and how they got their ideas for bigger pieces of art. So if you can think of nothing better to do when you are sitting at a desk at school or at work then filling a sheet with wild characters and patterns or whatever else you think of, then be cool and join this group.

Oodles of Doodles

Photo by Question Josh

389 members, 4,374 items (to this date)

Did you know doodles are healing? Did you know doodles can help you work through ‘baggage’ cluttering your subconcious mind? I got the idea for this group from www.sacreddoodles.com.
Post your doodles here. I don’t want ‘professional and polished’ I want ‘honest and spontaneous’.
Let’s make this a family safe place so all ages can use it. In other words, if you wouldn’t want your grandmother or a child to see it, please post it elsewhere.

Mail Art

Photo by libbyquilter

811 members, 5,769 items (to this date)

The envelope is the musuem. Share photos or scans of art sent through the postal service.

Handmade Envelopes

Photo by monaw2008

270 members, 571 items (to this date)

Handmade envelopes, including those made for practical purposes or as art, using paper, fabric, or other materials. If it’s an envelope and you made it yourself, it goes here!

Vintage Wallpaper

Photo by letslookupandsmile

255 members, 609 items (to this date)

Share vintage wallpaper here! It can be scanned from your own remnant rolls or even photographed on walls just about anywhere. Anywhere you can capture the image of vintage wallpaper, we’d love to see! Reproduction wallpaper accepted into the group as well at this time.

Fruits – Japanese street fashion

Photo by colodio

1,672 members, 1,138 items

The group for lovers of Harajuku street fashion – made famous by the book Fruits. Please post only photos of street fashion in Japan rather than catwalk fashion, vaguely Japanese girls in normal clothes or (especially) just underwear!

Japanese Fabric

Photo by Holland Fabric House

570 members, 4,204 items (to this date)

A place to upload your Japanese fabric photos. I place for us to see what is available. A place to be inspired.

You can share…..
Swap pics.
WIP pics.
Crafting pics.
Fabric swatch pics.

Enjoy…

LOMO street photography

Photo by tikktakk

309 members, 546 items (to this date)

Shootin’ everyday life on streets, only lca alowed.

The Art of Tattooing…

Photo by tattoo elvis

1,419 members, 5,664 photos (to this date)

Showing off you best work as a Tattoo Artist,Tattooed Person ,or just a fan of epidermal Art . Human bill boards of emotions, thoughts and memory’s. Expressing one self though the art of Tattooing.

Azulejos de Portugal

Photo by www.euromkii.com

321 members, 2,924 items (to this date)

A photographic tour of Portuguese tiles (aka azulejos), which adorn the inside and outside of many of our buildings.

Child’s Art

Photo by Timothée R.

487 members, 4,199 items (to this date)

i’ve always been intrigued with children’s drawings/paintings. from scribbles with ink to saturated colorful fingerpaintings. children are artists in the truest form. they are so utterly free, no constraints!
i have countless scribbles and drawings of my daughters to look at. she never stops. i love it and want to share. the abstract part of it is particularily interesting.
so please if you have a child’s art to share please do. share what you see or what the artist has said about each piece. it’s always interesting to know the age of the artist but not necessary. let’s say (as a guide line) 12 and under. sounds good, they’re still young enough to eat free at most places. hee hee

Pretty Sketchy

Photo by mearso

517 members, 110 items (to this date)

Sketchbooks are not about being a good artist, they’re about being a good thinker. In the spirit of awareness, I’ve set up a Flickr group for this very purpose. Post one, and only one, spread/page from your sketchbook. It’s always fun to see how everyone else’s mind works.

stencils

Photo by CainAndToddBenson

1,424 members, 30,869 photos (to this date)

it is a group for stencils you see in public.

Mid-Century, Modern Interiors

Photo by UNIFORM Studio

3,095 members, 8,382 items (to this date)

Furnishings and interiors — both mid-century modern and current designs inspired by the clean mid-century aesthetic.

Particularly interested in your images of rooms featuring pieces by Bertoia, Braakman, Deam, Eames, Ekselius, Heywood-Wakefield, Jacobsen, Juhl, Kagen, Kjaerholm, Knoll, Loewy, McCobb, Noguchi, Nelson, Paulin, Pucci, Risom, Saarinen, Schultz, Van der Rohe, Vignelli, Vodder, Wegner, Wormley, etc.

1950′s Interior Design and Residential architecture

Photo by SharkeyinColo

1,283 members, 3,263 items (to this date)

This is for those of us folks who are remodeling (restoring?) 1950′s homes. Welcome are current 50′s homes, (interior and exterior) and the good and bad of ALL 50′s design (not just mid-century modern).

Vintage decorating

Photo by solsticehome

1,064 members, 7,390 items (to this date)

Do you love decorating with pieces of the past? Do you enjoy using family heirlooms or vintage finds from antique stores or flea markets to add charm to your home? Show us the ways you incorporate vintage treasures into your home decorating!

home dressing and useful art

Photo by lanaost

1,747 members, 14,756 items (to this date)

Home dressing, it’s a group for all of the beautiful things and handmade works who dressing the house ,even… food ,bags, clothings at home ,before and after upgrading,small corners at home, patios, old vintage collections at home and all those littel things who makes the house ,a cozy home.

Gorgeous Cupcakes

Photo by Cik Kiah

1,276 members, 11,161 items (to this date)

Gorgeous cupcakes that are unique, stylish & a cut above the rest! Post pictures of your gorgeous cupcakes! (but please not too many of the same cupcakes – we don’t want to overload the site). Enjoy!

Not enough cupcakes?

• World of MUFFINS & CUPCAKES
• The Well Dressed Cupcake

More Groups

These groups may not be as unusual as sources of inspiration, but they are still a good step away from a web design gallery:

Art Nouveau

Photo by oana-emilia

1,011 members, 5,417 photos (to this date)

Bienvenue! This group is for Art Nouveau in all of its forms, both architectural, artistic, domestic and portable. You may include both your own Art Nouveau photographs and those of others illustrating Art Nouveau.

Folk Typography

Photo by otherthings

1,107 members, 601 items (to this date)

Folk Typography, aka “outsider typography”. Surprising, original letterforms created by people who are not designers, typographers, calligraphers, or graffiti artists– in other words, people outside of all traditional schools of typographic influence. The unschooled world is full of unwitting innovations. Let’s find them and celebrate them!

Found Type

Photo by Pundit Pureanand

2,317 members, 17,056 items (to this date)

This is a collection of typography found in everyday life. signs, signage, hand-lettered signs, anything that inspires you.

Signpaintr

Photo by holgalicious

560 members, 3,691 items (to this date)

Signpaintr is dedicated to the lost art of sign painting and hand-drawn lettering.

Pictures posted here celebrate the lovingly-crafted typography of yesterday’s (and today’s) hand-painted signs and lettering.

An emphasis is placed on skilled design and quality craftsmanship. And no computer or machine-made typography allowed!

Further reading

For more design-related groups you can checkout Vandelay Design’s blog post with a list of 99 Flickr Groups for Design Inspiration.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this list, and can find some new ways of being inspired on Flickr.

These are only a few of my favourite groups. What are your favourite groups?

I thought it could be a good idea to make a special mention of the ones that strike me the most, so here’s the first one.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

This may not be the most original website you’ve seen, but I chose it mainly because of its simplicity. When everybody is trying to move from the (supposedly) Web2.0 look to a more naturalistic trend, this website captures exactly the opposite and gives us a clean and uncluttered design to look at.

What I love:

1. The hierarchy of the elements. You know what’s a title, what’s a subtitle and what’s the main text in just a glimpse.
   
2. It’s beautiful, clean, simple and pure: like religion should be.
   
3. The powerful imagery: am I the only one that thinks these images of Jesus Christ are a bit frightening?
   
4. The fact that there are almost no decorative elements but you don’t feel the need for them.
   
5. The type in the text pages: I just love the big lead, the indentation of the paragraphs and I’m a sucker for drop caps.
   

What I would change

1. Some details that just don’t seem right, like the padding in the links.
   
2. The jump in the text on hover, there should be a rule against this.
   

Conclusion

As I said previously, what I love on this website is its simplicity and how they were able to combine a simple but effective hierarchy with a good use of imagery. I’d like to see more websites that can make this type of design work, and with even better results.