Inspiration
12 sitesAwwwards
Daily awards for web design, judged and scored. Good for seeing where the craft bar sits.
awwwards.com Insp·02SiteInspire
Tightly curated web showcase, filterable by style, type and industry. Very little noise.
siteinspire.com Insp·03Behance
Full project case studies rather than single shots. Best for branding and editorial work.
behance.net Insp·04Dribbble
Fast visual scroll of UI, icons and lettering. Treat it as a mood source, not a spec.
dribbble.com Insp·06Are.na
Slow, quiet research boards. Build channels of references and connect them over time.
are.na Insp·05The widest net for moodboards. Search in specifics — "1970s packaging", not "cool design".
pinterest.com Insp·07Savee
Image board with a strong art-direction bias and far less commercial clutter.
savee.it Insp·08Cosmos
Visual collection app that surfaces related work as you save. Strong for mood building.
cosmos.so Insp·09Land-book
Landing pages sorted by category and color. Useful when you need layout precedent fast.
land-book.com Insp·10The Brand Identity
Identity work with the thinking attached — interviews, process shots, rollout detail.
the-brandidentity.com Insp·11Identity Designed
Archive of brand identity case studies, heavy on print and packaging applications.
identitydesigned.com Insp·12Brand New
Rebrands reviewed with an actual opinion. Read it to sharpen how you critique work.
underconsideration.comType
10 sitesGoogle Fonts
The free workhorse library, with variable axes and easy self-hosting downloads.
fonts.google.com Type·02Fontshare
Free-for-commercial-use faces with real personality. The fastest way out of default type.
fontshare.com Type·03Velvetyne
Libre type foundry with experimental, opinionated display faces. Free to use and modify.
velvetyne.fr Type·04Uncut
Curated open-source type, presented as a specimen wall you can scroll and test.
uncut.wtf Type·05Collletttivo
Italian open-source foundry. Small catalogue, high hit rate for editorial projects.
collletttivo.it Type·06Font Squirrel
Licence-checked free fonts plus a webfont generator for converting your own files.
fontsquirrel.com Type·07Typewolf
Type in the wild, with the pairings named. The best reference for what actually works.
typewolf.com Type·08Fonts In Use
Archive of typefaces in real projects, indexed by format, industry and period.
fontsinuse.com Type·09Fontpair
Ready-made display and body combinations when you need a pairing in two minutes.
fontpair.co Type·10WhatTheFont
Upload a photo or screenshot and it identifies the typeface. Handy for client references.
myfonts.comColor
8 sitesCoolors
Generate and lock palettes with the spacebar, then export to any format you need.
coolors.co Colr·02Adobe Color
Harmony rules, palette extraction from images, and built-in accessibility checks.
color.adobe.com Colr·03Color Hunt
Hand-picked four-color palettes. Fastest option when you just need a starting point.
colorhunt.co Colr·04Huemint
Generates palettes against a real layout — brand, poster or web — instead of bare chips.
huemint.com Colr·05Khroma
Train it on colors you like, then it only shows you combinations in that direction.
khroma.co Colr·06Happy Hues
Palettes shown as a working page, so you can see which color does which job.
happyhues.co Colr·07Realtime Colors
Drop your palette onto a live site mockup and judge it in context before committing.
realtimecolors.com Colr·08WebAIM Contrast
Check text against background for WCAG AA and AAA. Settles arguments about legibility.
webaim.orgAssets
13 sitesUnsplash
Free high-resolution photography. Search by color to match an existing palette.
unsplash.com Asst·02Pexels
Free photos and stock video in one library, with fewer of the same overused frames.
pexels.com Asst·03Rawpixel
Restored public-domain art, vintage ephemera and botanical plates. Great for collage.
rawpixel.com Asst·04The Noun Project
Enormous icon library covering obscure concepts other icon sets never bother with.
thenounproject.com Asst·05Lucide
Clean open-source icon set with consistent stroke weight. Copy as SVG straight out.
lucide.dev Asst·06Phosphor Icons
One icon family in six weights, from hairline to filled. Rare flexibility for a free set.
phosphoricons.com Asst·07Iconify
Searches two hundred-plus icon sets at once. Start here when nothing else has the shape.
iconify.design Asst·08unDraw
Editable vector illustrations that recolor to your brand hex before you download.
undraw.co Asst·09Transparent Textures
Tileable grain, paper and noise overlays. The cheapest way to kill a flat digital surface.
transparenttextures.com Hero PatternsHero Patterns
Repeating SVG backgrounds with adjustable color and opacity. Copy-paste ready.
heropatterns.com Asst·11Freepik
Enormous library of free vectors, photos and PSDs, with a paid tier for exclusive files.
freepik.com Asst·12Vecteezy
Free vector art, stock photos and video under a generous licence for commercial work.
vecteezy.com Asst·13Flaticon
The icon-focused half of the Freepik family. Huge catalogue, consistent style packs.
flaticon.comLogo
7 sitesLogoLounge
Curated logo gallery organized by theme and industry. The reference pros actually use.
logolounge.com Logo·02Logo Design Love
David Airey's site on logo process — sketches, rationale and client presentations.
logodesignlove.com Logo·03Logopond
Community showcase where designers post work-in-progress logos and get direct feedback.
logopond.com Logo·04Brandcrowd
Logo templates and an instant maker. Fast starting point, not a finished identity.
brandcrowd.com Logo·05Looka
AI logo generator that also builds a starter brand kit around whatever it produces.
looka.com Logo·0699designs Gallery
Thousands of contest-submitted logos, filterable by style and industry.
99designs.com Logo·07Logo Geek
Christopher Doyle's site and podcast on logo design craft and client process.
logogeek.uk3D
7 sitesSketchfab
The largest library of viewable 3D models, many free to download and remix.
sketchfab.com 3D·02Spline
Browser-based 3D design tool built for the web — no modelling background required.
spline.design 3D·03Poly Haven
Free HDRIs, textures and 3D models, all public domain, no login required.
polyhaven.com 3D·04CGTrader
3D model marketplace covering everything from product renders to game assets.
cgtrader.com 3D·05Quixel Megascans
Photorealistic scanned surfaces and props, free inside Unreal Engine projects.
quixel.com 3D·06ArtStation
Portfolio platform for concept art and 3D work, with a serious jobs board attached.
artstation.com 3D·07Blender Market
Add-ons, materials and training for Blender, sold by the people who make them.
blendermarket.comTools
10 sitesFigma
Where most layout, UI and handoff work happens now. Free tier covers solo projects.
figma.com Tool·02Photopea
Opens PSD, AI, Sketch and XD files in the browser. Free rescue when you lack the app.
photopea.com Tool·03Squoosh
Compress images with a live before-and-after slider so you can see the quality you lose.
squoosh.app Tool·04SVGOMG
Strips the junk out of exported SVGs. Often cuts file size by half with no visible change.
jakearchibald.github.io Tool·05remove.bg
Cuts subjects out of photos automatically, including hair edges. Good enough for comps.
remove.bg Tool·06Vectorizer.ai
Converts raster logos to clean vector paths when the client only sent you a JPEG.
vectorizer.ai Tool·07Haikei
Generates SVG blobs, waves, grids and stacked shapes you can tune and export.
haikei.app Tool·08Blobmaker
One job, done well: organic blob shapes as SVG, with controls for complexity.
blobmaker.app Tool·09Mockup World
Free PSD mockups for packaging, stationery, signage and devices. Check each licence.
mockupworld.co Tool·10Type Scale
Preview a modular type scale at a chosen ratio and copy the CSS out. Two-minute job.
typescale.comReading
8 sitesIt's Nice That
Daily coverage of new work across illustration, type and identity. Broad and current.
itsnicethat.com Lern·02Eye on Design
AIGA's magazine. Writes about design history, labour and politics, not just visuals.
eyeondesign.aiga.org Lern·03Creative Review
Long-running UK title covering advertising, branding and the business behind the work.
creativereview.co.uk Lern·04Practical Typography
Butterick's free book on setting text properly. Read the summary of key rules first.
practicaltypography.com Lern·05Thinking with Type
Ellen Lupton's companion site. The clearest primer on letter, text and grid there is.
thinkingwithtype.com Lern·06Letterform Archive
Digitised type specimens and graphic design history, photographed at absurd resolution.
letterformarchive.org Lern·07Design Observer
Essays and criticism about why design decisions matter beyond how they look.
designobserver.com Lern·08Refactoring UI
Concrete fixes for interface work — spacing, hierarchy, depth. Aimed at non-UI designers.
refactoringui.com
Social
6 sitesAds of the World
Global archive of ad campaigns across print, film, outdoor and social.
adsoftheworld.com Socl·02Meta Ad Library
Every ad currently running on Facebook and Instagram, searchable by brand.
facebook.com Socl·03Mobbin
Thousands of real app screens, organized by flow — onboarding, checkout, feed and more.
mobbin.com Socl·04Canva Templates
Ready-made social post, story and ad templates you can reskin in minutes.
canva.com Socl·05Placeit
Mockups and social templates you customize online, no design software required.
placeit.net Socl·06PosterMyWall
Templates for social posts, flyers and video, with quick resizing across platforms.
postermywall.com