50 Must-Read Resources For Incredible Web Design

Web design has become one of the largest online fields with thousands of people pitting their designs against those of others every day. While the field is still young and growing, there are few designers who are recognized by all and have stood the test of time as their designs prevail over all others. Today, I want to share fifty must-read resources if you want to get started on the path of creating incredible web designs. Remember, beautiful designs aren’t made overnight – this is a process that takes time and practice. Don’t give up – instead, read on and find either a website, article, tutorial, or just some inspiration to help you take yourself and your business to the next level.

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Sites

A lot of times, there are just a few sites out there in which every article is a must-read to learn more about web design. I’ve compiled ten of my favorite resources that I read every day to get my fill of design news, resources, tutorials, articles, and practices. Most of these you have probably heard of – some may be new – but either way, all ten of these sites deserve your visits and you deserve to read their articles. So dive on in!
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  1. Smashing Magazine – A site devoted to compiling resources for designers, Smashing Magazine is a great place to stay on top of the latest web design trends and news.

    2. Popular Articles

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  2. Noupe – Noupe is a web developer’s paradise of resources.

    3. Popular Articles

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  3. David Airey – An incredible designer, and a resourceful blogger, David Airey is a great place to learn about design, designers, and web design. That’s a lot of design!

    4. Popular Articles

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  4. You The Designer – YTD has been in my RSS reader for quite some time now – this information is simply too valuable to miss out on. Get a taste for the articles below:

    5. Popular Articles

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  5. WPCandy – WPCandy is a site all about WordPress, WordPress themes, and WordPress news. This resource is for all you WP developers out there!

    6. Popular Articles

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  6. Fuel Your Creativity – An overall great resource for design in general, Fuel Your Creativity has an amazing and inspiring web design section that must be checked out.

    7. Popular Articles

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  7. WP Designer – WP Designer has been the starting point for many web designers and developers out there, including myself, so don’t pass up this incredible resource of knowledge.

    8. Popular Articles

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  8. Just Creative Design – JCD is another one of my favorite resources for web design articles and inspiration. Read a couple of articles and you’ll be hooked.

    9. Popular Articles

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  9. Fadtastic – Fadtastic is a web design trends journal that goes all-out and in-depth with web design.

    10. Popular Articles

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  10. A List Apart – Put quite simply by ALA, “For People Who Make Websites.”

    11. Popular Articles

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  11. Web Designer Wall – A beautifully designed website with some beautifully written articles, you can’t go wrong with WDW.

    12. Popular Articles

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  12. Net Tuts – If you’re a web designer or developer and you haven’t heard of Net Tuts, you probably shouldn’t call yourself a web designer or developer. Enough said.

    13. Popular Articles

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  13. Tracey Grady – My deepest apologies to Tracy, with whom I mixed up a link. Check out this incredible article: 10 Seamless Website Designs

    Popular Articles

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    Inspiration

    I’m a big fan of inspiration – from CSS galleries to news feeds, inspiration is everywhere and is never lacking in numbers. Here are ten inspirational websites to help you with your web design process and ability. I am no advocate of copying or replicating a website design, however there is nothing wrong with putting your own twist on someone’s work. So be a true designer – get creative!
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  14. CSS Remix – A fresh blend of the best designed web 2.0 websites.

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  15. Unmatched Style – Unmatched Style offers the ability to browse their designs by certain tags making it easier than ever to find what you’re looking for.

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  16. Kreativuse – A relatively new site, Kreativuse offers a regularly updated inspiration section along with several articles linking to great posts from around the design world.

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  17. Design Flavr – Design Flavr is a great place to read design-related articles while at the same browse through their inspirational site gallery.

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  18. Web Creme – A clean site dedicated to showcasing the best of the web.

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  19. Best Web Gallery – A CSS gallery with so many sites you’ll get lost in a matter of minutes. This is the place to come for endless inspiration.

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  20. Screen Fluent – With over 7,000 submissions, Screen Fluent is another place to lose yourself in the inspiration.

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  21. Screenalicious – Sporting almost 10,000 submissions, Screenalicious offers endless web design inspiration.

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  22. Full Single – The front page of Full Single offers a lone preview of one web design. To see dozens more incredible designs, just browse through the archives.

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  23. We Love WP – A CSS gallery that focuses on web designs running on the WordPress platform.

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  24. I Love Typography – A fantastic website for typographical inspiration on the web.

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  25. Fave Up – A user-driven website with inspirational sections on logos, business cards, and of course, web design.

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    26. Tutorials

    It can be great to read the articles and browse CSS galleries for inspiration, but none of that will do you any good if you can’t design in the first place! Here are ten tutorials to get you started creating beautiful website designs. Remember, it’s all about the journey – not the destination. Just because a final product of one of these tutorials doesn’t interest you doesn’t mean the tutorial is worthless. Complete each tutorial step by step and you will walk away from the process knowing so many new techniques and styles that you’ll be able to start designing your own websites.
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  26. Professional, Clean Hosting Layout – How to design a simple, clean, and professional hosting website design.

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  27. Making Your Own Portfolio Web Page – How to design a personal portfolio web design in Photoshop.

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  28. Tutzor – Tutzor shows us how they redesigned their website with this well organized PS tutorial.

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  29. Aqua Layout – A tutorial walking you through the process of designing a simple “aqua” style website.

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  30. Design Studio Layout – This is a great resource to show you how to design a layout that a design studio may use.

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  31. Real Estate Layout – As millions of real estate agents move online, it can never hurt to have the knowledge to design a real estate website.

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  32. How To Slice A Web Design – A video tutorial walking you through the process of properly slicing and dicing a PSD image into usable web design images.

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  33. Create A Sleek, High-End Web Design From Scratch – PSD Tuts shows us how to design a nice website design through this in-depth and thorough tutorial.

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  34. From PSD To HTML, Building A Set Of Website Designs Step By Step – Net Tuts walks us through the coding portion of building a very professional looking web design.

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  35. How To Create A 3D Shelf Element Similar To Dragon Interactive – PSD Tuts shows us how to create that sleek looking shelf element seen at Dragon Interactive’s website.

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    36. Articles

    Articles are the bread and butter of this post. I want to show you all some articles that will truly help you take your designs to the next level. From inspiration posts to guides, any of these articles can, and will, help you with the creative process of website design.
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    1. 30 Most Inspirational Designer Web Designs
      A post compiling 30 inspirational web designs from the designers themselves.
    2. 30 Most Inspirational Dark Web Designs
      If 30 is the new 20, then dark is the new light. This post is a compilation of beautiful dark web designs.
    3. 30 Most Inspirational Light Web Designs
      Here are 30 light web designs to get you inspired.
    4. What Does Your Website Say About You?
      David Airey shows you what your website is really saying about you.
    5. Free Design Templates
      Smashing Magazine brings us a collection of free design templates.
    6. 35 Designers x 5 Questions
      What happens when you ask 35 designers 5 questions? 175 quality responses.
    7. 50 Designers x 6 Questions
      The second installment of designing questions brings more practical web-design related questions to the table.
    8. 10 Designer’s Checkpoints To Be Aware Of
      Our last article from Smashing Magazine brings you 10 checkpoints that all designers should keep in mind.
    9. Footer Design Showcase
      A fantastic collection of inspirational and creative website footers from around the web.
    10. What Everybody Ought To Know About Usability And Web Design
      A great article explaining the importance of usability in website designs.
    11. A Design Is Finished When…23 Pro Designers’ Opinions
      How do you know when a web design is finished? Here’s what 23 professionals have to say.
    12. 30 Websites To Follow If You’re Into Web Development
      If you’re this deep into the article, one would assume that you are into web development. If so, here are 30 sites you should follow.
    13. 20 Blog Designs That Stand Out
      Want to stand out among millions of sites online? See how others are doing it and how you can too.
    14. 9 Common Reasons A Website Is Not Drawing Visitors
      Having trouble getting visitors onto your site? Perhaps one of these 9 reasons can explain your troubles.
    15. 20 Useful Tools To Make Web Development More Efficient
      In the fast paced online world, time is money. So learn how to save time and earn more money!
    16. 5 Excuses For Discrimination In Web Development
      Are you discriminating against your visitors? It’s time to find out and right your wrongs.
    17. 3 Key Prerequisites Required To Succeed As A Designer
      We all want to succeed, but many designers lack these elements of success. Do you have them?
    18. Seven Reasons You Shouldn’t Charge By The Hour
      Are you charging your clients by the hour? If so, you may be hurting your business and your wallet.
    19. 11 Ways To Gain Exposure As A Web Designer
      A fantastic post designed to guide you through the process of gaining exposure as a professional designer.
    20. 53 Steps To Follow If You Want To Become A Freelance Web Designer
      A list of 53 logical steps to making it as a freelance web designer and developer.

Got something I missed? Drop a comment and let me know!

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  • This post was written by Brian
  • Website: http://elitebydesign.com
  • About: Brian is a blogger and web designer at Elite By Design. He has been blogging for over a year providing quality design-related articles for the community.
70 Comments RSS
  1. Reply Steven SnellNo Gravatar said on July 20th, 2008

    Thanks for the link to one of my articles.

  2. Reply PoloNo Gravatar said on July 20th, 2008

    Very cool list but I put A List Appart & Web Designer Wall in my top10 ^^

  3. Reply Noura YehiaNo Gravatar said on July 20th, 2008

    Very useful post.
    I am glad Noupe made it to the top10, thanks for the mention :)

  4. Reply adelleNo Gravatar said on July 20th, 2008

    Great post, going to take me a while to get through all these articles though! :) Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Also thanks for putting Fuel Your Creativity in the post!

  5. Reply Jacob CassNo Gravatar said on July 20th, 2008

    Great list, thanks for the mention!

  6. Reply David AireyNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Hi Brian,

    I’d include A List Apart, as mentioned already, and also I Love Typography. Two excellent type-based resources.

    All the best.

  7. Reply Greg-JNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Nice ! Very cool list !

  8. Reply OmarNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    wow thanks! you introduced me to atleast 15 new sites :D

  9. Reply OnyekaNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Great list! I’m already a smashing mag/noupe junkie! Must check the others out!

  10. Reply liamNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Nice stuff, extensive collection.

  11. Reply upstyloNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Wow great list :) . What about Design Float ? I think it is great resource too

  12. Reply Pinkpetrol.comNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Great list, great resources…

    Sammy x

  13. Reply Ryan BattlesNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Great, just when I thought that my RSS reader was full enough, you’ve addicted me to more feeds! Thanks for the great resource.

  14. Reply SureshNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Great Post!
    Thank you very much for sharing. I really love the collection.
    Bookmarked and forwarded to friends.

    - Suresh
    http://www.realgroup.co.in

  15. Reply JakeNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    New sites for me.

    And Webresourcesdepot.com is a great resource for designers. It deserves to be in the list.

  16. Reply RuthNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Thanks for all the great resources. I have so many windows open right now so I can bookmark and get the feeds on many of these.

  17. Reply valerio vazNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Great List! Thanks for sharing

  18. Reply quadenNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    that is great, thanks a lot
    http://www.dotqn.com

  19. Reply haiyanNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    That’s what needed. But when i am getting into more information, i am becoming more anxious about what i lack.

  20. Reply RyanNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    http://faveup.com/ should be in the inspiration list, it has great logos, business cards, flash and html/css websites.

  21. Reply KirkNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Thanks for putting this list on your blog :D

  22. Reply Valdecir CarvalhoNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Hi! Is that a way to share a opml file with all those amazing websites? It’s much more easier to have then on a feedreader and event better if it’s possible to add all in a snap!
    Thanks a lot
    Valdecir

  23. Reply SusanNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    WOW, I love this list!!!!

  24. Reply BrianNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    Whoa. 29 comments already – thanks everyone! To save space, let me just say thanks everyone for the comments. Here are a few more specific points:

    @Noura – No problem – you have a great site with great articles. Keep it up!

    @Steven – Sure thing :)

    @Adelle – Of course – you have a wonderful site that shows a lot of potential.

    @David – Added those + webdesignerswall. Thanks for the heads up!

    @Ryan – Added FaveUp :)

    @Valedecir – So sorry, I don’t think I can be of any help to your problem! I would give it a good ‘ol fasioned google search to see if you can find the answer to your problem.

    Thanks again everyone for your comments :D

  25. Reply Shubhra BanerjeeNo Gravatar said on July 21st, 2008

    This is really cool. I have discovered quite a few interesting things because of this post. Thanks.

  26. Reply ThomasNo Gravatar said on July 22nd, 2008

    I agreed with most of this websites but I don’t understand why you choose CssRemix in inspiration… this galllery is not updated since few weeks

  27. Reply Graphic Design ServicesNo Gravatar said on July 22nd, 2008

    useful list! Aqua layout design tips were nice.

  28. Reply Matthew GriffinNo Gravatar said on July 22nd, 2008

    Thanks for the link, Brian.

  29. Reply Sydney Web Design and DevelopmentNo Gravatar said on July 22nd, 2008

    Wow! Thanks, I need to make myself a cup of tea now and start browsing. Great collection – have bookmarked.

  30. Reply BrianNo Gravatar said on July 23rd, 2008

    Thanks everyone for the comments. Best of luck with web design and I hope this post helps!

    @Thomas – Whether or not it is updated, I still have found it incredibly inspiring to browse the “top rated” and “most votes” categories – some incredible designs can be found in there :)

  31. Reply Antony OstelerNo Gravatar said on July 24th, 2008

    Great list of some excellent Web Design Resources

  32. Reply Tracey GradyNo Gravatar said on July 26th, 2008

    Thanks for a great and very comprehensive list, Brian. Would you consider adding my recent blog post on 10 Seamless Website Designs? Keep up the good work.

  33. Reply Tracey GradyNo Gravatar said on July 27th, 2008

    I notice that you’ve already included my article in the list but you’ve put it under Fuel Your Creativity where I posted it as a User Submitted web site. It would be great if you could show the link to my blog as the article was written by me and sits on my blog. Thanks.

  34. Reply EurodipityNo Gravatar said on July 29th, 2008

    Aca se esta viendo mucha cosa respecto a seo.
    Esel ultimo concuso europeo de Seos.
    Yo estoy desde uruguay, tratando de estar entre los mejores de europa, recomiendo pegarse una vuelta, y ver lo que se esta haciendo.
    saludos y gracias

  35. Reply Payel (HIP)No Gravatar said on August 22nd, 2008

    Hi!

    It is a very useful guide. Looking ahead to read such posts in near future.

    Payel

  36. Reply erginNo Gravatar said on September 14th, 2008

    nice sites …

  37. Reply Svetainiu kurimasNo Gravatar said on October 15th, 2008

    Someone said it doesn’t work properly in IE6. The example doesn’t work AT ALL in IE 6! What a waste of time! Come on!

  38. Reply Svetainiu kurimasNo Gravatar said on October 15th, 2008

    do I say yes?

  39. Reply MaitlandNo Gravatar said on November 4th, 2008

    I have loved your site for its useful and funny content and simple design.,

  40. Reply LowellNo Gravatar said on November 27th, 2008

    we better get on the tinatic because sinking is rising on saturday morning!,

  41. Reply Rory MartinNo Gravatar said on April 15th, 2009

    Great stuff! Nice list of top notch web design here, thanks for sharing.
    29. Aqua Layout, is my favourite very simple but looks great!

  42. Reply web design norwichNo Gravatar said on April 27th, 2009

    Good article, resources like these are great for when a creative block occurs

  43. Reply Fireplace DesignNo Gravatar said on May 14th, 2009

    I had to stop looking at sites after a while, I could spend endless hours looking at web design! I think the use of color, gradients, etc, can make a website look stunning, but one thing I can never get right but often see done well is typography. I think typography can sometimes make or break a good web design.

  44. Reply IlCreativoNo Gravatar said on June 14th, 2009

    Great Collection, thanks a lot!

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