Recently Steven from Vandelay Design listed his “Favourite Sites for Web Design Tutorials” and JCD was one of the twelve mentioned due to my unusual tutorials that walked through my design process, so it made me think… If I could only read 10 blogs what would be the top 10 design blogs I would choose?
sponsored message
Narrowing down 100+ feeds into 10 is no easy feat (nor fair) but in no particular order, here is the list I would choose if I could only read 10 blogs. I have done this based on variety, the quality of their content, how often they post and the range of topics that they cover.
Abduzeedo
Seriously if you have not heard of this blog, take my word for it, subscribe. They post every day (sometimes three to four times) with something unique every time. They interview great graphic designers and have regular best of the week summaries, a best video of the week series, inspiration posts, general design resources and just recently, contests too.
PSD Tuts
I had to list PSDTuts not just because they are Aussie but because they have the best quality tutorials on the net. Period. Keeping up to date with the latest effects and techniques is crucial as you should always be improving your skills and these guys make it a breeze.
Vandelay Design
I do not know how Steve makes time for his quality resourceful posts as well as maintaining his business but he does a very good job of it. He posts mostly about web design resources but his posts vary into social media such as his 50 Designer To Follow On Twitter and also blogging posts such as 101 Ways to Monetize Your Website or Blog.
Subscribe to Vandelay Design Blog
Creative Curio
I have been reading this blog ever since I started blogging back in November 2007 and still do to this day. Lauren has also put together a handy graphic design glossary aka definitions for words used in the design industry. Her blog has also just recently under gone a new redesign and as her blog title says “Learn, discuss and enjoy the realm of graphic design.”
Subscribe to Creative Curio
I Love Typography
Does this blog even need to be given an intro? You can never know enough about typography as a designer.
Subscribe to I Love Typography
Inspiration Bit
InspirationBit is another blog that I have been reading since I started blogging… how I came across it I have no idea though I am sure glad I did. Vivien’s articles on design are usually very discussion worthy and one article of interest (of many) is her 16 best loved fonts in web design post.
David Airey
David Airey’s personal design blog / portfolio site was the first blog that I ever read and still continue to read today. David writes about his personal design projects as well as many other topics. Something that does make this blog stand out is the quality comments that his readers leave on on each article adding value to the subject at hand.
Freelance Switch
Freelance Switch is a multi author blog that focuses on the business side of freelancing. Every article published is of extremely high quality, something that is made sure by their team of brilliant editors. I am just about to have a (paid) guest article published on Freelance Switch too so keep an eye out for that but in the mean time check out their most popular post The 12 Breeds of Client and How To Work With Them.
ProBlogger
Although technically not a design blog, I put this in my top 10 list because a blogger should always be learning new ways of doing things to improve their blog and this site makes that job a breeze. If you are new to blogging this should be your first stop.
Smashing Magazine
I am pretty sure that everyone would have heard of Smashing Magazine by now but if not I suggest you subscribe… They smash you with information to make your life easier… 74 000+ Subscribers can’t be wrong.
Subscribe to Smashing Magazine
Write Your Own Top 10 Blog List
Why don’t you write a blog post about your top 5 or top 10 blogs of choice? Leave a trackback to this article to let other readers know about your post! It is also a good way to clean out your feed reader.
Hi Jacob. Thank you for sharing this. I just gave this link to my daughter (aspiring graphic and game designer) and she find the sites interesting. Cheers!
Great, I’m always looking for more content to read and inspire. Especially when I have downtime at work between designing or am starting a new projects. Oh no, not that feeling of running out of new posts in the reader! I’m subscribed to many of these but there are a couple I got to add to my list!
Jacob,
Thanks for the mention. There’s a few on your list that I’m not familiar with, so I’ll have to check them out.
I agreed about your reasons to subscribe Abduzeedo. They have great tutorials and artwork. In fact, I only visited PSD Tuts just to see another highlighted Abduzeedo’s art.
firewalkers last blog post..101 Website Snapshots With FireShot
wow, thanks for the feature, Jacob. Great list, it’s an honour to be featured among such pros.
I’ve discovered your blog via Lauren (Creative Curio), commented here, and that’s how you found my blog 😉
inspirationbits last blog post..Meticulous Design: Information Architecture
Jacob – great article, since I just did the list of the 55+ Design RSS Feeds, your post is making me want to narrow them down to write another post. Look out for it tomorrow – your my inspiration on this!
Cheers!
adelles last blog post..Design RSS Roundup 50+ Feeds
I haven’t heard of Abduzeedo. I’m so on top of my RSS feeds at the moment (i.e. have read all but four to date) that I’m subscribing to new stuff all over the place. I’ll check them out.
PSDTuts does have great tuts. I love the grass and fire text they did recently.
Smashing Magazine is good. It’s a shame there isn’t more community there though. They get so many three word comments and no one reads the other comments before posting their own.
Looking at my feed reader I realise that most of these are some of my favourite blogs. 😛
p.s. Hmm, I guess the most recent version of Comment Luv has omitted an apostrophe from the default text?
kristarellas last blog post..Making Goals and Making Graphics
Firewalker,
Yeah they are both great resources.
Vivien,
Yeah well I have always read your articles so it seemed only fair but your welcome.
Adelle,
Ah great just looking at your rss feed post. I really do not think I need any more at this subscriptions at this time however I am sure there is many more very worthy.
Janette,
Ah thanks Janette. She also may find our featured articles page of help too.
Sketchee,
Haha I wish I was like that… no new posts in the reader… that is impossible.
Ivo,
Yes those sites are among my favourites as well. Thanks for the list.
Ferdiand,
There are so many great blogs out there that is very hard to keep up with them all however I really enjoy reading these blogs.
Steven,
It is always good to share feeds and resources so you’re welcome.
Lauren,
Hehe glad I made ya day… keep it up. I do recommend you subscribe to Abuzeedo.
Kristarella,
Sometimes that is a good sign Kristarella… wish I could say that, I have hundreds of articles that I wish I could read. And you are right about Smashing Mag, everyone just wants to be first commentator for the traffic. Even if I manage to get in as 5th of 6th commentator I do notice quite a bit of traffic if you have a quality comment.
Not so sure about CommentLuv, I could fix it up manually, but it is annoying because every time there is an update it goes back to the default.
Hmmm, not sure if my read feeds are a good sign – it means I’ve been reading them instead of the science papers I’m supposed to be reading and writing an essay about. 🙁
Hmm, if I start using CommentLuv I’ll ask the developer to change it… hate misapostrophication!
kristarellas last blog post..Making Goals and Making Graphics
Nice list, I love Smashing Magazine and PSD tuts, too.
My favorites:
http://veerle.duoh.com/
http://www.youthedesigner.com/
http://cameronmoll.com/
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/
This is a great list Jacob. I thought I knew a lot of great blogs already but you’ve proven me wrong. Just added some of these to my subscribtions.
ferdinands last blog post..“Free†Origami Vectors
Wow, Jacob! Thanks!! In the top 10 😀 You made my day!
The only one I don’t subscribe to is Abuzeedo, but I do check it every once in awhile.
LaurenMarie – Creative Curios last blog post..Small Details of a Blog Design
Nice list, Jacob. I’m already subscribed to all of these, so I guess my top 10 would be very similar. They all have a nice steady flow of useful information.
Alec Rioss last blog post..How to Attract Zero Visitors
Wow, great list. I can’t believe how similar my list would be.
Sean Hodges last blog post..Chris Nielsen Interview
Thanks for the recommendations. Some I already read but a few greats that I now follow thanks to this post. Been reading your blog for a few months now. I love it. Thanks for all the hard work.
Jerad
Jerad Hills last blog post..Get the most our of your gallon
[…] Just Creative Design nos muestran una lista de 10 buenos blogs de diseño. Muy bueno para visitar, buscar recursos e inspirarse. 0 […]
[…] that would just be darn right hard! “If I could only read ten blogs” was written by Jacob at Just Creative Design. Just this week I wrote 55+ Design RSS Feeds […]
Thanks very much, Jacob. Amongst fantastic company too! I like your live comment preview, something I’ve been thinking of integrating. Is it a plugin? Do you think it eats up much on the resource front?
David Aireys last blog post..Logo design and business card for WDE
Hey now wait a minute, you missed out inspirational creative blogs like, The Original Linkage
;-D
http://www.original-linkage.co.uk
Kristarella,
Well sometimes it is good to be on top of things… I would rather that then to be always dragged down, it eventually gets to you,
Sean,
Well good to hear someone has the same tastes 🙂
Jerad,
Your welcome, enjoy reading the other blogs.
808,
Thanks for the link.
David,
Your welcome David. Yeah it is a plugin called Live Comment Preview. Not so sure about the resources but I have not noticed a difference however it is in the wrong spot… I would like it right underneath the submit button however I am yet to change this… need to look into the code, shouldn’t be too hard.
Definitely. If I get too far behind I just mark them all as read. They’re there to enhance and supplement, not stress you out. I might miss something good, but nothing of eternal significance.
kristarellas last blog post..Wooshka T-shirts
I’ll take a look at the plugin, Jacob. Thanks.
Kristarella,
Marking all as read. I can completely understand. I’ve just returned from a few days holiday, and reading over 300 feed items isn’t top of my priority list.
David Aireys last blog post..Logo design and business card for WDE
There’s loads of great sites you’ve missed here like
http://www.aisleone.net
http://www.dirtymouse.co.uk
http://www.formfiftyfive.com
to name but 3
Excellent list! I try to apply design suggestions to computer user interfaces (as applicable) and so I am always on the lookout for good design resources. Skimming through some of the articles from the linked sites shows them to be very promising.
As for CommentLuv, you can change the default output in the WP settings somewhere.
Cheers and thank you for sharing!
Eddle,
Thanks for the other links Eddle, it was very hard just to choose 10.
Inaequitas,
Thanks and glad you enjoyed it. Yeah I have changed the CommentLuv thing before however every time an update comes around it changes back to the default. 🙁
David, wow! Great list. Being more on the programming/back-end side of things, these will give me some great inspiration in graphic design for future projects.
Hi Matt,
Maybe you muddled me (Jacob) and David’s names up? and yeah, I really recommend these websites.
[…] bir ?ey sunmak istedim ve tasar?m konusunda i?in ehli zirvedeki 10 siteyi (blogu) s?ralayan ?u yaz?y? sizinle payla?ak istedim. yaz?n?n sonunda da sizden yerli/yabanc? favori 3 tasar?m […]
Great post! I must agree with you on many of those. I have found Smashing Magazine to be of huge importance to me. Keep up the great work!
Cheers
Wade Bekkers last blog post..Facebook: Requests and Invites Overload
[…] concept inspired by Jacob Cass’ post over at Just Creative Design. I’ve put together my collection of the top 10 blog’s that I’d read if I could […]
Amazing article! Detailed and very interested. I am going to recommend this blog to my friends.
Amazing article! Detailed and very interested. I am going to recommend this blog to my friends.
[…] Sasso is the owner of the very popular design blog, Abduzeedo which is one of my top 10 favourite blogs so it is a pleasure to have him interviewed on Just Creative […]
Here’s my list: http://www.presidiacreative.com/the-10-best-graphic-design-blogs-of-2008/
[…] concept inspired by Jacob Cass’ post over at Just Creative Design. I’ve put together my collection of the top 10 blog’s that I’d read if I could […]
[…] everyone. Topics range from web design to the lifestyle of a freelancer. Admittedly, he even inspired this very blog […]
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language 😉
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I have really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!
I love your site. 🙂 Love design!!! I just came across your blog and wanted to say that I?ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. Sign: ndsam
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.
that’s nice Jacob! good work… i like Abduzeedo most because of the great art work and for more reasons… thanks for the share!
Excellent stuff. There’s a few here I know of and a few I don’t. Will have to check the rest out. thanks!
Male enhancement pills reviews that realy works to enhance you sexual health and improve sed drive and stamina. read review at http://www.male-sexual.com penis enlargement pills – penis enhancement – penis enlargement
Love this list. Thanks for the great resources!
I’ve found so many of these sites interesting and helpful. Thanks for the great recommendations.
PSD Tuts is a popular one out there. Used to spend hours a day when I was having holidays trying to pisk some sick skills!
And here I thought I knew all of them.
Thanx nice list even if it’s late.
that’s nice Jacob! good work…
Nice Top 10. Narrowing down all the info available it tough. Looks like its time to delete a few bookmarks
Thanks for this amazing list…in fact I think how you came out with just ten names..I have been reading many blogs and most of the time I find them interesting and useful in one or the other way. Anyways those blogs which I have not visited yet among these tens, soon I am going to have a look at them.
Hey thanks for posting such a wonderful post here. Recently I subscribed to Abduzeedo and it is superb to use as well as to read. 100+ design feed is amazing for me. I am a graphic designer and i know that your blog how important for me. Thanks again Jacob for publishing.
At the time of net surfing, I have found this blog. I realize its usefulness & I also use it according to my necessity.
I spend time, result in I recently found precisely what I’d been taking a look for. You have concluded my personal 4 time very long search for! Our god Bless you dude. Have a good time. Bye
Thank you for your marketing cheat sheet Alyson. Very helpful.
Hey thanks for posting such a beautiful post here. Recently I signed to Abduzeedo and it’s excellent to use also on scan. 100+ design feed is superb for me. I am a graphic designer and that i grasp that your journal however necessary on behalf of me. Thanks again Jacob for publication….
Well I also have built a list of popular blogs which i usually used to read. This is the best method to aware about the current updates and technologies. Actually, Everyone should do like that.
I stumbled across this post quite by accident while doing some archive sorting and research for a project, and I have to say, Smashing Magazine is still smashing it (pun intended) as a design blog and it is really cool to see they were on a list way back in 2008, too!
I’m also a big fan of Vandelay Design and use some of their posts regularly to help promote my company’s Facebook page. I’m glad to see high quality blogs are making a lasting impression!
Great post, thanks!
I stumbled across this post quite by accident while doing some archive sorting and research for a project, and I have to say, Smashing Magazine is still smashing it (pun intended) as a design blog and it is really cool to see they were on a list way back in 2008, too!
I’m also a big fan of Vandelay Design and use some of their posts regularly to help promote my company’s Facebook page. I’m glad to see high quality blogs are making a lasting impression!
Great post, thanks!
Hello Jacob! I stumbled upon this post by accident just like the rest of the commenters here. I’d like to thank you for showing me to PSD tutorials via this post. I tried checking it out and it would be very beneficial for me in to keep subscribing to it in the future.
Hello Jacob! I learnt too many things about website design from your blog. The advantages of good design in your business is very impressive and intangible. Please share some design also. Thanks for the great recommendations.
Great, great list! I especially loved the I Love Typography site. You’re so right–you can never know enough about typography. I got caught up perusing these blogs for a loooong time! Thanks!
There are a lot of web design blogs out there, but this one is better because of its Typography. This is essential for web developing and improving blogs.
This a great list of graphic design blogs for those who wants to learn more about graphic design. Sometime written tutorials helps a bit more to understand.
Hey Bud !!
Thanks for sharing these beautiful and informative tips regarding Web design.
I really appreciate the Typography site.I have learnt tremendous useful and really informative stuff about website design from your blog. The Key points you have mentioned regarding good design in your business is very impressive and intangible.The list of graphic design blogs you have categorised are truly awesome.
Keep doing good work!!
Regards
Alison J Stark