If you are into designing, then you might already know it is an ever-growing and evolving industry. To keep up with the ongoing trends, you must be updated with what’s in and what’s out. For instance, if you are working on design collaboration, then you have to think from several perspectives. To help you be inspired, I have come up with a list of the top 10 sources that host a thriving community of designers and are known for their informative resources.
10 Best Design Inspiration Platforms of 2021
While there are tons of design platforms to seek inspiration for collaborative design, I would recommend exploring these options.
1) Wondershare Mockitt
Wondershare Mockitt is one of the most popular online designing applications that is actively used to create mockups, prototypes, wireframes, and more. Though, the platform also has a dedicated community of users and an extensive blog where you can find all kinds of design tips.
On the freely accessible blog of Mockitt, you can know about all sorts of industry trends and even get your queries resolved. From UI/UX designing tips to product reviews and best design practices to in-depth tutorials, you can find it all in one place.
The design collaboration tool also has an active community where you can find ideas for websites, mobile apps, icon designing, desktop applications, and so much more. If you want, you can explore numerous designs in different categories and can even upload your project to share it with others.
Other Features
Besides that, Mockitt has tons of other features that can help you with collaborative design. The online tool has numerous static and dynamic widgets that would let you come up with high-fidelity designs. You can also share your prototypes/wireframes with others, assign permissions to your colleagues, and can export your work in different formats.
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2) Figma Community
Figma is another popular online tool that can help you meet your designing requirements on the go. If you want, you can also explore the dedicated community of Figma that hosts both informative and inspirational content.
While most of their design collaboration content is dedicated to Figma, you can learn a lot about other tools as well. For instance, you can get to know about things like Ant Design, 3D illustrations, hologram design, etc. from its community.
3) Dribbble
Dribbble is the world’s leading social platform of designers, and it certainly needs no introduction. The platform is operational in more than 140 countries with around 12 million active users.
Therefore, if you want to get inspired and come up with stunning designs, then Dribbble would be a go-to place. Though the platform is all about sharing designs and getting inspired from others, but you won’t find any tutorials there.
4) Behance
Owned by Adobe, Behance is one of the most popular social platforms for designers that hosts more than 10 million active users worldwide. From posters to app designs and testimonial pages to website prototypes, you can find it all in Behance.
Using Behance is extremely easy, and you can simply search for any design by entering the right keywords. There are also options to follow fellow designers on Behance and share your work with others for collaborative design practices.
5) Awwwards
Awwwards is one of the leading online platforms that showcase award-winning and noteworthy designs from some of the best domains. The website also keeps hosting various competitions that you can explore or even take part in.
Besides that, Awwwards also has a dedicated “Academy” section where you can learn all kinds of design practices. If you are a newbie, then you can certainly learn how to come up with better designs by enrolling at its Academy.
6) Uplabs
Uplabs is an ideal design collaboration platform where you can upload your designs or browse the work of other users. It is one of the most extensive online sources to find icons, mockups, prototypes, illustrations, and more.
While most of the design resources at Uplabs are free, a few of them are only restricted to premium users. Also, you can only find ready-made design resources here, but there is no scope to learn about any specific topic.
7) Smashing Magazine
Smashing is often considered a go-to destination for designers, illustrators, and creative artists. The online magazine and eBook publishing platform was started in 2006 and have an active user base as of now.
The Smashing Magazine’s blog is visited by over 3 million unique readers from all over the world. Apart from design ideas, you can also find job listings and get to know about the ongoing industry trends here.
8) CreativeBloq
Are you looking for inspiration or can’t seem to implement the right collaborative design practices? In this case, you can consider visiting CreativeBloq, which is one of the most popular blogs dedicated to creative professionals and designers.
You can get to know about the best design practices here, read genuine reviews of design products, and even compare various tools – all in one place. There is also a dedicated section for job postings that can help freelance designers find some long-term gigs on CreativeBloq.
9) Interaction Design Foundation
IDF, which stands for Interaction Design Foundation, is one of the best places to learn the basics of designing. The online platform keeps hosting all kinds of courses that are related to designing.
You can simply enroll in any course of your choice by paying the relevant fee or get a monthly/yearly subscription to enroll in multiple courses at the same time. The only drawback is that most of these courses are paid, and you would rarely find free resources by IDF.
10) DeviantArt
Lastly, if you are looking for illustrations and graphic designs of all kinds, then you can also explore DeviantArt. While the website is mostly dedicated to illustrations and creative arts, you can find inspiration for graphic designs as well.
The website is owned by Wix and has over 25 million members who post illustrations and other types of creative content.
As you can see, when it comes to design collaboration, there can be so many options. If you are also just starting your journey as a designer, then you should subscribe to places like Mockitt, IDF, Smashing, and can be an active part of the community platforms like Behance and Dribbble. Not only would this help you with collaborative design practices, but you can learn from other designers and get to know about the emerging industry trends too.
