Another New “Design” Site? Please

As one who is interested in design, I find reading design sites, and design blogs to be a wonderful way to gather information and inspiration. I am filled with a hunger for knowledge in this field, everything from typography to color to layouts to best practices and standards. Therefore, I love to read sites that are written by well-known designers and bloggers who have been around for a while and have a lot of experience. But, sometimes I run across a site (or a dozen) that claims to be “pro” but just follows the same pattern all the other “pro” sites follow. These days, with so many “design” sites doing so many of the same things, it almost makes it seem like “more of the same” can be – and is – a recipe for success. Let me break down why I think there are so many sites first:

Those Same-Old, Same-Old Web Design Sites

You know what I really like? I like things that don’t follow all “the rules” or traditional ways of doing things. I especially like those things that bend or break “the rules” and create their own guidelines and standards for doing things. I get tired of the same-old, same-old all the time.

I look around my house, and see the same-old books, addressing the same-old topics, in the same-old ways. I drive to and from work the same-old way. And when I get on the Internet, I do the same-old things: check the email, check Facebook, check Twitter, click “interesting” sounding links, look at the pretty pictures, read the “interesting” articles, and discover 25 “new” tips, tricks, tutorials, or trends that I “didn’t know about” already.

Sexy Web Design Inspiration

Reading Sexy Web Design by Elliot Jay Stocks has given me a lot to consider in developing websites, as well as a lot of good inspiration and resource links. Therefore, I thought I’d quickly collect and catalog all the links that Elliot gives in his book for my future reference. Of course, these links are available freely on the web, so everyone can benefit from them. However, you won’t get the full benefit unless you read about them in the context in which they are written in the book, so head on over to SitePoint.com and pick yourself up a copy.

As the majority of the links in the books are provided for inspiration, I’ll leave those in order below. However, there are some really excellent online articles and tutorials, as well as printed books that Elliot references in his book. Those are more relevant for learning about good design, and I’ll post those first.

Create a Cool Korean Circle Pattern in Illustrator

I’ve been quite interested in Korean designs and patterns for some time now. I’ve also been hoping to incorporate some of the best Korean patterns into my designs. However, there seems to be a real lack of Korean design resources out there, so I decided to make my own. In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a cool Korean circle pattern like those found on many Korean traditional buildings and clothes. This is one of the coolest patterns I’ve found in Korea, so it was a lot of fun making it in Illustrator. I found a similar pattern here, and if you want to see more great Korean patterns, I encourage you to pick up this book all about Korean patterns.

Well, let’s begin.