Cheat Sheet for Web Developers is my most recent find, which is an excellent resource for those of us that code websites. There are tons of PDF’s to download ranging from XHTML markup to CSS shorthand cheat sheets. This is definitely worth a bookmark.

Snipplr is a public source code repository ranging from front-end code to back-end code as well. I love this site and always refer to it when I hit a snag is trying to figure out some code problems. It also works with Textmate, my editor of choice.

Handwritten Typographers isn’t exactly a resource, but rather an interesting look at the handwriting of some well known typographers. There are some great fonts there too, that I’m looking forward to using in the future.

Graphic Exchange is an amazing source for inspiration. Here you’ll find anything from print, web, interior design, etc. The list goes on, but there is much to see here, and very easy to blow a lot of time looking at the great graphic design work.

And last but not least, The Dieline is another source of inspiration for looking at great packaging design. As a designer on the web, it’s always important to look at great design on other mediums outside the web to get inspiration, and this is another resource for just that.

So those are the recent resources that I’ve found, and I’m always looking for more. What are some recent resources you’ve found?

Clients sometimes don’t understand the “behind the scenes” of designing. I know that I spend a big chunk of time before touching photoshop, not necessarily searching for inspiration, but just to get the creative juices flowing. Sometimes I can design without a particular spark of inspiration, and when I am on to something, inspiration comes in weird forms to keep the ball rolling.

I also think that it’s important not to force inspiration. There have been many times, even recently, that I would get stuck on a design problem, and sit there until I figure it out. Of course, in those times, I wouldn’t figure it out. My mistake, was that I sat there trying to force myself to get creative, and sometimes it just does not work that way. This is where it is time to get away from the computer and do other things or hobbies.

So, though, it’s important to try and maintain the inspiration when it happens, I also think that it’s important to know that sometimes the same way that you can gain inspiration, you can lose it to, and that is when it’s good to step away. Forcing it doesn’t always work.

I didn’t have any major goals for this site when I first started. I just told myself that I would write as well as I could, and write consistently, both which I think I have done a decent job on. So going into this new year, I don’t plan on changing much at all, except trying to become a better writer.

Most people like to do new years resolutions, however, I’ve never been big on the resolutions. I do, however, have a few things that I am looking forward to, and want, in this new year that I would like to briefly address:

A Redesign

As much as I like the current design of this site, I highly doubt that it will make it all the way through 2007. And since this is my design playground, I plan on doing at least one redesign. So when that happens, I will be going through my design process again, naming my inspiration, and so forth.

SXSW

I’ve never been to a conference before, so I am extremely geeked about having the chance to attend SXSW this year. I look forward to meeting some of my favorite bloggers and “celebrity” designers that I’ve looked up to since I began this whole design thing. And if you are going let me know!

Writing More In Depth

Like I already mentioned, I was pretty satisfied with my writing since I started this blog, however, I would like to maybe do some more in depth posts about design aspects and techniques. Writing some design critiques might be an interesting exercise as well. Never-the-less, I would like dig a little deeper into design and development more, to not only pick my brain, but the hopefully people that read here as well.

New Design

I am really interested in seeing some show stopping designs this year. I hope to see some people be the trend setters and come up with new ways to layout a page, or use new techniques to code. Maybe I could even do this!

More Apple!

I bought my first Apple machine in 2006, and ever since, I just can’t get enough. I hope Apple has an even better year than last and I will continue being a fanboy loyal customer! I especially look forward to using the new Leopard OS that will be releasing not too long from now.

Learn, Learn, Learn

You can never be the best you can be if you stop learning. I’d like to learn something new this year. My solid skill set contains photoshop, XHTML, and CSS. I’d like to go further and maybe learn more php, xml, or something along those lines. Of course one can only master so many traits, but knowing how things work at least is never bad.

So those are some things that I am looking forward to for 2007. Aside from the things above, I am expecting some huge things to happen, which I will discuss when they come up. So thanks for reading through 2006 and I hope you stick around for this brand new year.

What are you looking forward to for the big 007?

This design was my very first “professional” site for myself that I designed a little over a year ago. Now, of course I had done many designs before that, but they mostly weren’t for myself, nor were they a big representation of my skill set. But the one above was my first.

Now, inside of the portfolio of version 1 of my site, there are some sites that were started that never saw the light of day, some that are no longer used by the client, some who’s designs have changed, etc. So it’s obviously an old portfolio.

One of the more interesting things I found in the old portfolio is the very first site, that I was proud of, that I built for a class project. It was to showcase some of the photography that I’d done. Now, this was over two years ago, but the design was highly inspired from another designers’ site from his old portfolio, which I found out a year later!

I clearly remember wanting to use the same layout, so I did because it fit my project, and I wanted to learn how he did it. Now, I accomplished finishing the site, however didn’t make it quite as nice as the one that he had. No big deal to me (at the time) because I was learning from it.

I look back now and wish I would have credited him because normally that’s pretty frowned on. It’s funny now because he is one of the designers that I look up to and have learned tons from his writing. Of course I could be looked at negatively from this, but hey, I was quite the rookie that was eiger to learn. At least it wasn’t for a client or something!

Never-the-less, I don’t regret it now, because I learned alot, and when starting off in learning how to code and design, it’s useful to be able to have someone to look up to and learn from. Now that doesn’t mean that it’s good to steal code or anything, but at the time I just wanted to learn, so I picked apart code to learn what was doing what.

So the point of this post (I guess) is that it’s good to look back on past work and see how much you’ve progressed. I’ve learned so much from starting off that I feel like I could write a book, yet at the same time, I feel like I’m far from where I want to be. But seeing my old site was interesting to me, because for my first portfolio site, done over a year ago, I still like it. I actually wouldn’t mind if that was my site now!

Pick up a book. When I first started design, I didn’t read a ton of books. I did all of my reading on the web, however, as of lately, I’ve come across some good books. The latest being, The Business Side of Creativity. Now granted, this book isn’t teaching me how to design, but it does help me learn how to run a design business, and gives me different perspectives of how I want to approach projects and such. The book is aimed at people who want to go full-time freelance. I have not yet finished the book, but I want to do a review of it when I do finish. Otherwise, there are tons of books out there to keep you learning, and I will post links when I get more good ones.

Look at other genres. Obviously the web isn’t the only place to find design, and most of my inspiration comes from other areas of design, like product, print, and architecture design. I recently subscribed to How Design magazine, and I just can’t get enough of it. Since I didn’t have that formal design training, I feel like I have to try that much harder to pay attention to design in genres outside of the web. I also like looking at different types of print ads, to see how designers communicate various types of messages.

Try a new style. I’ve always been a fan of simple design. I would consider my own style to be very simplistic as well. A good challenge would be to try using another design style that you aren’t used to doing. Of course this depends on the project. A style that I’ve always appreciated, but have yet to try, is the ever-so-famous Wicked Worn look. Sometimes you can become most creative when are trying new things outside of your typical comfort zone.

Ask questions. One thing that I’ve always done, if I was curious about something, is ask tons of questions. I’ve even emailed some big name designers (Cameron Moll, Andy Rutledge, Khoi Vinh) with questions, and have responded with things that have been extremely helpful. What amazed me was that these big names, though with busy lives I’m sure, had time to respond to a fan. Not only is it inspiring, but you’re getting a direct answer from a long time professional and industry role model. Who better to get advice from than someone who has “been there, done that.”

Always be learning. This basically reiterates the previous ones, and almost seems obvious, but keep learning. You can’t be the best designer you can be without continuous learning. I sometimes think that when I hit a creative block, part of the reason may be because I haven’t forced myself to learn something. Again, I could be stating the obvious, but you would be amazed at the new ideas that arise when you learn a new development or photoshop technique.

So there you have it. Those are some ways that I think always help to perfect your craft. Often, when I keep doing these things, they help to avoid the unfriendly creative block. What way do you think help better yourself as a designer/developer?

Creative block is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to me as a designer. Not only because it gets hard for me to crank out ideas, but it makes be question my skills as a designer. I imagine that I’m not the only one who thinks like this. It’s almost stressful that I start to question myself as a designer because I hit this creative block a few days ago, and can’t seem to slip out.

So how do I get out of this rut? For the past few days I’ve been scouring the web for fresh inspiration, and I’ve come to realize, that the web is just not where I’m going to find it. Being in the middle of this whole “web 2.0″ era, everything is starting to look the same. I try checking out different sites in my feeds, people who they link to, and even one or two CSS galleries. And still, nothing.

In Cameron Moll’s “Nine skills that separate good and great designers“, he mentions that great designers find inspiration from their whole environment, rather than just their genre. Normally, everything inspires me, however as of lately, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t made time to get away from my computer. So it’s obvious now that I need to get the hell away from my computer and maybe head to a bookstore or something. Because I won’t gut out of this creative block unless I get away from my computer.

Surf, Surf, and More Surf

I am on the web basically, from the time I wake up, until maybe 10 minutes before I go to bed. Maybe squeeze in a meal or two, in front of the computer of course. At least half of my designs have come from being inspired in one way or another by something on the web, whether it’s another design, or an article explaining a new technique that I have never used. I would actually find it hard to not be inspired by something out there on the web. There are just too many different resources out there to not be able to grab an idea from one of them. It gets my blood flowing when I have someone ask me where to find ideas or how-to’s. That is usually my cue to unload a massive amount of links, knowing that it would take hours upon hours to sift through them all. So for me, there will always be something to spark an idea out there on the web, and it’s my job to find it.

Print, Anyone?

I don’t design for print, although at times I wish I did, because I love seeing it. Some of the best design work I’ve seen has been in print. It just seems like a more flexible platform to design for than the web. I’m sure there are standards and guidelines to follow in print, as there is for the web, but I wouldn’t know. Often when I buy magazines, I tend to look at the advertising more than the actual content of the magazine. Designers make that magazine look the way that it does, so why would that not interest me? Magazines such as Communication Arts or How Design are great ways to go.

Try Another View

Possibly through a lens. Photography might be one of my top ways of finding inspiration. In fact, it is the reason why I became a designer. I had my digital camera, and loved taking scenic pictures. Once I had these cool looking shots, I wanted to way for these pictures to be seen (at least by my friends). In comes web design. That’s how it all started for me as a designer, and that is one thing that I will never forget, so I often go back to how I got here in the first place, to help find inspiration and ideas. A site that I recently found is Chromasia. Some of the most breath-taking photography I have ever seen has been on that site, so I try to visit frequently when looking for new ideas.

Gallerize It

I try to keep this as limited as possible, but CSS galleries can be useful sometimes. The reason I try to keep this limited is because I feel like these galleries are focusing a little too much on design, rather than a solution as a whole. In my opinion, they can tend to give off the wrong idea for someone who is new and naive to design. At the same time, you can find some diamonds in the rough as well. When I do decide to glance at galleries, you can find me poking around at CSS Mania, CSS Beauty, or the ever-so-popular Zen Garden, where you can’t help but to appreciate the skills of some of those graphic designers.

I am interested in knowing where other designers find their inspiration, so feel free to share. My small methods for finding ideas have worked out pretty solid so far, so as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I think it’s fair to say that I will keep that quote in mind during my inspiration process, although tune-ups never hurt either!

Where will your next spark come from?