Inspiration
August 08, 2004 | 
41 Comments
Summary: A repository for inspiration.
I just recently ran a Google search on the word “inspiration” — it didn’t work out so well. In fact, it didn’t turn up much of anything.
So I started thinking. I use the Web for inspiration all the time, but I’ve never run a search for it. I was a bit surprised at the lack of inspiration my search brought so I figured I’d see if I could do something about that.
But I need your help. I’m going to share some things I find inspiring with you and I’ll ask you to do the same. I want to know what gets your creative juices flowing. It can be anything at all. A story, a picture, a link — anything that inspires you.
I hope everyone reading this will leave a comment and share some inspiration with the world. If you have a Web site of your own, please link to this post so we get the word out that this post is a source for inspiration.
My Inspiration
Here’s a bit of my inspiration:
- Dwell magazine
- Tim Burton
- Tony Hawk
- Roger Zelazny
- Aesop Rock
- Paul Rand
- Tony Diterlizzi
- The Sandman and Neil Gaiman
- Halfproject
- Courtney Crumrin
- Steve Largent
- Hawaii
- Kevin Spacey
- Snowboarding
Filed under: Life and Such
Comments
1. Lashlar said:
Truman Capote, Italo Calvino, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, J.G. Ballard, M. John Harrison, Alastair Reynolds, classical Chinese poets (particularly Li Bai, Wang Wei, and Du Fu), Franz Kafka, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Zhang Yimou’s movies (The Road Home, Hero, et cetera) have also been inspirations at one time or another.
Posted on August 8, 2004 02:17 PM | #
2. Peter said:
My site is based on inspiration. (However, that does not mean the content is inspiring! But I hope some of it is.) Inspiration is another word for breathing in and that’s where I get all my inspiration from. Sometimes a web site might trigger the inspiration but most times I have to be already inspired or appreciative enough to be able to appreciate the inspiration.
I hope that does not sound that I have a huge ego and cannot find inspiration from anywhere else but me. That is far from true. But to be able to see inspiration elsewhere I have to have it in me first. Perhaps for others it is automatic. For me - I have to work at it.
Now, to check out those sites you listed, Keith. Nice post!
Posted on August 8, 2004 02:29 PM | #
3. Robert Lofthouse said:
The Cure
Marc Almond
Books - i.e. His Dark Materials, Prospero’s lass etc
Goya - the artist
pre-raphaelite art
the North Yorkshire countryside
Thirsk
Tim Burton
Bert Monroy
Marcus Green (excellent programmer)
Fatma Osman (my fiancee) - amazing writer and artist
Posted on August 8, 2004 02:32 PM | #
4. Peter said:
Orange Afro is always good for a laugh and Kitta.net is often both hilarious and inspiring. Her latest is brilliant!
Posted on August 8, 2004 02:54 PM | #
5. Geoffrey said:
Currently:
Cappuccinos
Josef Muller Brockmann
Bangkok
OMA
E.Guigal
Hillman Curtis
David Shrigley
Chris Ware
Posted on August 8, 2004 03:23 PM | #
6. Ian Gordon said:
Other Websites
Magazines
Nature
Movies
TV
Food - Like fancy food from resturants
The Sky
Clocks
Scientific Textbooks
Lance Armstrong
Car Designs
Technology Designs (likes shapes or the design of a computer or piece of technology)
Posted on August 8, 2004 03:42 PM | #
7. Richard MacManus said:
The Velvet Underground
Glenn Gould
18th Century English Literature
The Matrix
Bladerunner
Twin Peaks
Bowie
Muse
Tom Wolfe
Michael Lewis
Dave Winer
Tim Berners-Lee
Ted Nelson
Mitch Kapor
Ftrain.com
Nanowrimo
J G Ballard
P K Dick
Greg Egan
Kierkegaard
Nirvana Unplugged
Warhol
To name just a few of my inspirations.
Oh and most of all in this day and age, original content on weblogs!
Posted on August 8, 2004 04:00 PM | #
8. Crano said:
Well when my mind draws blank, I usually get away from the pc for a day or two. I like to go outside and refresh the brain. ;)
But I usually visit some graphic design forums and look at what people are doing, give my advice.
Lately I have been reading a lot of fiction. It really gets my imagination going.
When I am not at the computer I usually thumb through mags… any mag at all.
Posted on August 8, 2004 05:11 PM | #
9. Brad said:
Any P.T. Anderson Film
Charlie Kauffman Movies
Jon Brion music
U2
Lost in Translation (movie and soundtrack)
Hemingway
Drives down unknown streets
Visits to stores I’ve never been in
Nature
Posted on August 8, 2004 05:59 PM | #
10. entertainment news said:
Noam Chomsky
Tom Petty
Ellen Degeneres
Margaret Cho
Jon Stewart
Posted on August 8, 2004 06:13 PM | #
11. Ted said:
Art which makes use of elegant design, audacious color, and startling ideas.
Dave McKean
Yoshitaka Amano
Junko Mizuno
They once said that were an infinite number of monkeys placed in front of a typewriter, one would eventually type out Hamlet. They now say that the internet has proven this axiom untrue. And yet, in this sea of banality, you can occasionally catch an indepth glimpse into the human condition.
Courtney Cox’s Asshole
The Big Scam
Posted on August 8, 2004 06:40 PM | #
12. Kevin Navia said:
In no particular order:
Aliens
Tim Burton
Original Star Wars Trilogy
Weblogs: Simplebits, Asterisk, Shaun Inman and Todd Dominey
Formula 1
Sony Ericsson
Gadgets and their designs
Lord of the Rings/Hobbit
FPS shooters/PC Games
Ferrari
Quentin Tarantino
Mechwarrior/Battletech
The Matrix
Idjea
Good ol’ Spidey (drawn by Romita)
Jim Lee
Alice in Chains
Posted on August 8, 2004 08:11 PM | #
13. Tim Hill said:
woo Sandman, should check out transmetropolitan as well, really cool stuff. I think Dave McKean does some art for it as well, (but don’t quote me).
And apparently they (gaiman, mckean) are doing a movie soon, or have been working on one.
Can’t remember the name though…
Posted on August 8, 2004 10:56 PM | #
14. Keith said:
Tim – It’s called MirrorMask and it should be great!
This list is awesome, it’ll be a great resource for me and hopefully many others as well! Thanks and keep ‘em comin’.
Posted on August 8, 2004 11:27 PM | #
15. adn said:
How about this?
inspiracion.net
Posted on August 9, 2004 01:56 AM | #
16. cathy said:
Asterisk, is on my list of sites I visit daily for ideas and inspiration. Here are some others:
daily dose of imagery
simple bits
what do i know
stop design
toy camera
Posted on August 9, 2004 03:57 AM | #
17. Mike Stenhouse said:
This thread’s a top idea! Here’s mine:
A walk around my neighbourhood. Getting away from a computer helps me to get my thoughts in order.
www.abeatexperience.com/experience - great photography and loads of links.
netdiver - some of the best work on the net.
The Photographers’ Gallery in London - it’s free so I can just wander in without looking up what’s on and it’s never let me down.
Waterstone’s off Picadilly Circus - it’s a bookstore with a cafe built in. I grab a couple of books and have a flick while I have a coffee. I almost always end up buying something.
Borders bookshop on Oxford Street has the biggest collection of magazines I’ve ever seen so I wander in there and spend ages checking out the design mags. Again, I always end up buying something that I’d never have thought to pick up otherwise.
Domino records - they have so many great acts: Adem, Four Tet, Clinic, Fridge, Stephen Malkmus, Pavement, James Yorkston.
Tru-thoughts records - again, top notch music: Quantic, QSO, Bonobo, TM Juke, Alice Russell, The Limp Twins.
Low Life records - the best uk hip hop label: Jehst, Braintax (I come back to Biro Funk more than to any other hip hop album), Skinnyman, Task Force, Kashmere.
Posted on August 9, 2004 04:48 AM | #
18. steve said:
I get inspired (and taught) by all the blogs I read each day… via bloglines…
(In no particular order)
noscope
k10k
creative bits
the daily flight
digital web magazine
css vault
zeldman presents
a list apart
graphic push
simple bits (and dan’s book)
ordinary-life
adam polselli
mezzoblue (and Dave’s Garden)
Thoughts from Eric
Superfluous Banter
StopDesign
HTML Dog Blog
Photo Matt
Jay Allen
Hicks Design Journal
Speak Up
The Weekly Standards
Asterisk
What do I know
Jason Santa Maria
Nundroo
Design By Fire
Little F*&%$# Ray of Sunshine
Sitepoint
Tailored Consulting Blog
and then there is always…
Macromedia Site of the day
heavy.com
cuban council
linkdup
design is kinky
anil dash
aiga.org
moma.org
And I even read actual printed materials like…
graphic design usa (free subscription)
print
I.D.
HOW
Wired
and some design books.
you can tell I dont work too hard during the day with all this going on.
Posted on August 9, 2004 05:44 AM | #
19. lee said:
Posted on August 9, 2004 06:00 AM | #
20. Amit Deshpande said:
Whoa!
My all time hit is 2advanced!
Posted on August 9, 2004 07:34 AM | #
21. Kim Siever said:
Besides what’s been mentioned:
Posted on August 9, 2004 07:49 AM | #
22. Ted Drake said:
Listening to Drive Like Jehu or Three Mile Pilot have always gotten my juices flowing the best.
Posted on August 9, 2004 08:23 AM | #
23. NateL said:
My primary inspiration is in the hope of the return of Jesus Christ to the earth to rule and reign as king.
Honestly.
=)
Posted on August 9, 2004 08:46 AM | #
24. Nick Finck said:
lately…
photography
modern architecture
Doug Bowman
Scandinavian furniture
M. Night Shyamalan
Leonardo Da Vinci
Apple
Salvador Dali
Vincent Van Gogh
Thomas Alva Edison
Albert Einstein
Punk Rock
snowboarding
The X Games
D. Keith Robinson
Posted on August 9, 2004 09:05 AM | #
25. chuck said:
Veer Visual Elements Catalog
Trees
Cameron Moll
Didier Hilhorst
CSS Zen Garden
Old books
Eearly 20th Century architecture
Posted on August 9, 2004 11:10 AM | #
26. Matt Raoul said:
Lately, I have found great inspiration in non-digital forms.
Fine art
Architechture
Books
Poetry
Traditional Photography
Anything that I look at and feel any emotion towards I make a mental note of. For me, anything that evokes feeling in me is inspiration.
Posted on August 9, 2004 11:12 AM | #
27. Robert Lofthouse said:
oh, I missed out:
Charlie Chaplin
Andy Kaufman
Gothic/Ethereal/Classical Music
Posted on August 9, 2004 01:25 PM | #
28. Carl Peterson said:
For inspiration, I always turn to music. Especially good songwriting. I guess it’s because I’m a musician myself. REM, Morrissey, Eels, to name a few off the top of my head. Music gets creative juices of all kinds going for me.
Posted on August 9, 2004 01:38 PM | #
29. Kyle Fox said:
The Muppets
Tom Clancy
Old Buildings
Nature
Stephen King
Books (not the words, just the physical manifestation)
CSS Zen Garden
My dog
Posted on August 9, 2004 01:41 PM | #
30. Ty said:
I look to music for when I need a creative boost. Chris & Cosey, Cocteau Twins, Ultravox, The The, Jean Michelle Jarre, Kitaro, Medieval Babes, Mozart and Tom Waits come to mind.
Posted on August 9, 2004 01:44 PM | #
31. Scrivs said:
Alcohol
Women
Posted on August 9, 2004 02:17 PM | #
32. Ryan Saghir said:
Gotta agree with Scrivs - Alcohol does the trick many times.
Then I’ll resort to music.
Posted on August 9, 2004 02:57 PM | #
33. chartoo said:
Whenever I need something to get me going lately,
I head on over to Jim Donovans’ site for a inspirational boost.
I particularly like the article he wrote called Thoughts are things
Seems to help get the juices flowing.
Failing that,I read anything I can find by Wayne Dyer,
from our local public library.
;-)
Posted on August 9, 2004 04:12 PM | #
34. Lachlan Hunt said:
I guess many things have inspired me in the past, and many more will inspire me in the future. Some of the most notable sources of inspiration, which come from a variety of places, and inpire me in a variety of ways, include:
Friends and family. They are the people we spend the most time with. They’re their when they’re needed, and when they’re not; and without them, life would be boring and lonely. They inspire me to be myself and have fun.
CSS/Edge and the Zen Garden were the first to really inspire me to embrace CSS and learn as much as I have. Both Eric Meyer and Dave Shea continue to be a great source of inspiration.
Tim Berners-Lee, the W3C and the work they do to improve the accessability, usability and overall technology and experience of the web inspire me to make the best websites I possibly can, and to help others do the same.
Posted on August 9, 2004 07:27 PM | #
35. Peter said:
Wes Anderson movies
Chinatown
Gallery-hopping
Flowers/leaves
Echo & The Bunnymen
Posted on August 10, 2004 04:10 AM | #
36. Josh Williams said:
Taos, NM
Chicago, IL
Puma
Comm Arts
U2, Coldplay, and Delirious?
Wildflowers
The Bible (specifically Genesis, Exodus, Ecclesiastes, and Daniel)
Doug Bowman & Todd Dominey
Apple
Jars of Clay
Texas
And I share a few with Keith…
Snowboarding
Paul Rand
Dwell Mag – on my floor now, don’t tell the client.
Posted on August 10, 2004 06:10 AM | #
37. Richard Rutter said:
* Lance Armstrong’s autobiography. If you’re ever in need of motivation or lacking some get-up-and-go.
* Josef Muller-Brockmann. The original master of the grid.
* Making and Breaking the Grid. Lots of great sample layouts.
* The Alps by mountain bike. Clears your head of everything other than sheer excitement.
* The PGA Championship web site. For a reminder of how good a web site can and should be.
* Public Lettering - A Walk In Central London web site. Likewise.
* The Elements of Typographic Style. Lest you forget the importance of typography and the elegance in simplicity. And because a seemingly mundane subject can still be written about in an emotionally engaging way.
* Don’t Make Me Think. For when you know what you want but don’t know how to ask for it.
* Google Labs, Amazon and BBC. Ideas in interactive functionality.
* Widgetopia. For widgets, good and bad.
* Seamonsters, Is a Woman, The Downward Spiral, Slanted & Enchanted. Four fantastic albums; four different moods.
(Wot no definition lists allowed. Keith?)
Posted on August 10, 2004 06:57 AM | #
38. mattymcg said:
and my parents.
Posted on August 10, 2004 07:26 AM | #
39. Noah Lazar said:
The site for my web shop is themed on personal inspirations. Look at some of the ideas at Saforian.com.
This is not a sales pitch, but you should see some of the general things that inspire us ("Clean Code" is a personal favorite of mine). Please feel free to submit your own inspirations that we may later add to the list.
Posted on August 10, 2004 01:44 PM | #
40. Matthew Pennell said:
In no particular order…
Charles Bukowski, Alison Healey, PT Anderson, New York, Alan Moore, Woody Allen, Will Self, Stephen Fry, Guy Gavriel Kay, David Attenborough, Oliver Stone, Robert Heinlein, Ginger Wildheart, William Goldman, Bob Dylan, Alexander the Great, Google, Michael Moore, Kurt Cobain, Muse, London, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Paul Gaugain, Baz Luhrmann, Counting Crows, Christina Dodwell, plus uncountable others whose names I cannot recall.
And many, many (too many) blogs.
Posted on August 11, 2004 06:37 AM | #
41. Rick Silletti said:
Strangers… I am a people watcher, and it is people I have never seen before that inspire me. The way they move, the way they are shaped, and facial expressions in particular. There is nothing like trying to decide what brought about the look in a persons eye to get the wheels turning.
Posted on August 17, 2004 08:53 AM | #
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