February 14, 2010
Web design collections
When designing a new site, I tend to follow a pretty traditional design process: gather requirements and assess user needs, develop wireframes, layer on the visual design, etc. The problem with static wireframes is that they don’t do a good job of demonstrating behaviors and dynamic UI elements. Mocking up in HTML aside, I find it’s invaluable to have live examples for clients to react to. Explaining to a client how a modal login window works is a lot more difficult than just going to the Expression Engine site (for example) and showing them.
Over the years, I’ve bookmarked a handful of go-to design collections. I though I’d share:
- siteInspire
Collection of well designed sites organized by style (grunge, minimal, retro, etc.), type (blog, education, conference, etc.) or theme. Good stuff.
- unmatched style
Collection of new and redesigned sites from a range of “genres.” Includes too many designer portfolios and the rating system is a bit of a mystery, but the gallery is frequently updated and it’s useful for staying on top of trends.
- Pattern Tap
Library of granular design elements — 404 pages, login forms, breadcrumbs, etc. Handy if you’re looking for inspiration for a particular UI element.
- Smashing Magazine
Smashing Mag articles can be a bit hit or miss and there are too many lists. Still, it’s a great resource for keeping up with trends. I always find something worth bookmarking.
- Design Meltdown 2010
Design Meltdown has been realigned as sort of a portal for 2010. In the past, this has been a good resource for examples of specific design elements (minimal sites, one pagers, photo backgrounds, etc.) Worth keeping an eye on.
- eduStyle
Collection of higher-ed websites. Handy for designers in education and/or government.