There are hundreds of resources designers can take inspiration from, and there is no difference whether you are UI, UX, Graphic, or Typography designer, any type of creative professional is always in search of new horizons and ideas to get inspired from.

Every practicing designer is aware of Dribbble, Behance, Mobbin, AWWWARDS, Pinterest, and many more resources full of design templates, patterns, creating illustrations, and just beautiful content. But is this everything you need? You can copy some best practices and ready-made solutions that actually work, but what about creating something totally new and unique?

Of course, functionality is the key feature to think of while designing any project. However, there can be some cases when you are fed up with the standard design resources, and you need to be creative to your full potential. So, it is high time to look for inspiration somewhere else, sometimes in quite surprising sources.

Architecture

Architecture for a reason is sometimes called “the music frozen in stone” as it is all about rhythm and rhyme. It is even not so necessary to travel around the world to see exciting buildings. You can just look through photos, concept arts, and outstanding renders. Window size ratios can give you an idea for a modular grid, columns or glass walls can tell you the positions of the power lines. Clear geometry, adjusted distances, and dimensions perfectly transfer from architecture to website grids and compositions.

Here are some resources for architecture inspiration:

• Inspiration grid. You’ll find here the finest examples of architectural designs, from residential projects to high-rise buildings.
• 25 Architecture Blogs For Design Inspiration

Books

No doubt that books truly help in finding inspiration, and it is not only about books regarding design. These can be exhibition catalogs, art books with experimental layouts, books about interior or exterior design. You should pay attention to how the text and graphic content are laid out, what grid is used for complex layout. It is possible to find a lot of interesting ideas in books and magazines, and adapt them for your future projects.

The Book Design Blog will provide you with tons of exquisite editorial designs.

Movies

Of course, cinema is about visuals. The framing, composition, lighting, sets, props, colors, all this work in harmony to create the right mood and atmosphere and perfectly distribute the visual weight of objects, textures, and space. Try to notice the main design principles next time watching a new movie/show, pause the video where you think the visuals are beautiful and do a quick analysis of why it looks so good.

The other interesting aspect from a design perspective, not so obvious at the first glance, is opening and closing title sequences. Not just because it’s important to exalt and store away the names of those who give us our favorite pieces of filmed entertainment, but because they get us so in the mood to watch a film/show. It’s like an appetizer before a delicious dinner.

What resources you can check:

• 53 Best Opening Title Sequences in All of Cinema
• Artstation website with the hundreds of concept art for movies, shows, games and exclusive illustrations from the best digital artists

Photography

Photographs are also a great source of inspiration. Pay attention to what composition the photographer uses, what does he highlight in it? What color correction, what color combinations does he use? For example, it could be a subject shot on a monochrome background with a contrasting color object. The composition of this photo could inspire you for creating some interesting solutions, as well as find a distinctive color scheme.

It’s also interesting to study posters with photos and Swiss typography. Point out the grid, composition, and how accents are placed in order to support the overall atmosphere.

Well, art has a great influence on the design industry. In fact, it is ubiquitous, sometimes we even don’t know that the origins of certain design styles can be found in artistic means and methods. Study brilliant compositions in the paintings of old masters, collect peculiar color palettes from the works of impressionists, find bold solutions in avant-garde and contemporary art. Of course, art is not all about paintings. Attend exhibitions with creative installations and performances, enjoy exquisite sculptures and try to convey the best solutions into your work.

Besides, don’t forget about digital art. New means give artists new possibilities to create. Illustrations, 2D and 3D art, NFT can be also a perfect sources of inspiration.

Games

Even if video games are not your hobby, don’t neglect them. The game industry has matured quite a bit over a couple of last decades and now values more than $300 billion, more than any other kind of entertainment. It’s hard to ignore its level of creativity and influence on players.

There are plenty of things in video games that can interest designers — storytelling and narrative, 2D graphic design, 3D modeling for environmental and character design, interactions, interface, and, of course, overall style — from pixel art to photorealism, games have a wide range of aesthetics that they employ to create worlds.

Don’t have enough time to play? Well, you can still watch streamers play the games you’re interested in or find a bunch of screenshots on websites dedicated to game UI. Here are some of the best to look through:

One secret weapon you may not be aware of is that many times game publishers release art books for corresponding titles, and usually they are worth their weight in gold for creative people. The thing is art books contain the process, the journey from rough sketches to final concepts, props design, and 3D models.

Here is one of the lists mentioning the best game art books released for the last decade:

• Heavy

Traveling and taking walks around the city

Travel exposes you to new cultures, people, and experiences. It’s no wonder that traveling is so popular among designers as a source of inspiration as well. By immersing yourself in an area that’s far from home, you break out of your comfort zone and open your eyes to new possibilities in your creative projects.

Sometimes the best way to get inspired creatively is to leave the office and simply go on a walk. The 2014 study by Stanford University found that walking boosted creative output by 60%. Even your city can become a neverending source of inspiration, from tags and murals to people and the environment.