As a maker, I have tried many different jobs: web designer, developer, marketing manager, content creator, etc.
I must admit that I very often have a lack of knowledge. I can find some marketing or development tips on the Internet, in books or by asking my colleagues or friends. However, web design requires creativity, which (as I thought) is an inborn quality and I just don't have it. Nevertheless, in the projects I build with Maxence, I am the one who does the design. I still have problems with that and my design skills are not as good as I would have liked, but it gets better from one project to another.
For the moment, it is difficult for me to imagine a web page by myself, so I often look for inspiration on the Internet.
Dribbble
Dribbble is the most famous community where web designers publish their artwork. Why are they doing this? Well, showing your graphic and web design skills helps you find customers, so it's an excellent platform for self-promotion. As a web design newbie, I can tell you that sometimes Dribbble can be demotivating because it is a community for professionals and they try to demonstrate their best artworks to find more commercial orders in the future. For example, if you search for "landing page", you will find works of art with amazing graphics and animations, which you will not be able to reproduce. Instead, I advise you to look for a particular block you want to create. For example, price cards or a footer.
Onepagelove
I like this platform because here you can find a user-friendly, minimalist and professional website examples. It is a perfect web resource to find inspiration for your home page. Everything is classified into different categories so that you can find the section that interests you the most. On this platform you can also buy landing page templates.
Landingfolio
As Onepagelove this platform was created to help web designers to find inspiration. Templates are also available. On Landingfolio there is a collection of very helpful ressources (tools, books, icons etc), that you might need to learn or improve your design skills.
Land-book
Here you will find inspiration not only for a home page, but you can also watch exemples of portfolio, blog, stores pages. All designs are neat and user-friendly.
Lapa.ninja
This platform features the best landing pages on the web. Here you can find designs of all level of difficulty. You can sort them by colors or categories. Also Lapa.ninja team provides a huge number of free ressources that will help you to learn design.
Theme forest
It is the first website I used to find inspiration for my landings. Theme Forest is a platform where you can buy website templates. So, if you find a landing you 100% love, you can easily buy it. However, I find it difficult to find a template that completely satisfies my needs. Don't forget that this is a web page selling platform so most landing pages here are a bit "soulless" because they were not created for YOUR product. Template authors are trying to create a web page that everyone will like. Of course, there are different categories such as "App Mobile Landing" or "SaaS Landing". But they are always oriented to suit everyone. However, you can find interesting solutions for some blocks for your landing.
CSSDesignAwards
I promise you that if you go to this site, you will be lost for 2 hours looking at how many talented people there are on our planet and what magic they can do with html + css + javascript. In general, CSSDesignAward is a platform that highlights independent web designers, agencies and studios. However, most pages are too crowded. They are impressive, but most of them are not intuitive. Yet sometimes you can find showcases that combine awesome design and an user-friendly interface. Also as the website name suggests, it is an award. It means that the presented web pages are the best of the best. Very often, it is a huge team work of web designers. So don't let yourself be discouraged by the showcases. Look at this more like on examples of what you will be able to do, if you continue to work constantly.
Product Hunt
Very often, I find my inspiration from other makers. In fact, I really like this platform. It is an incredible source of inspiration in all areas: ideas, motivation and of course web design. If you are not yet familiar with this platform, take a look at it.
In this article, I have used the word "reproduce" a few times. Yet I never meant to say that you can freely copy someone else's design and code. I am a learner at the moment and this article is mainly intended for people who are new to design as I am. Inspiring from masters is essential for the learning process. So it's normal to look at other people's works and create something yourself based on other people's web pages. Gather your inspiration from different sites, don't copy images and source code and don't forget to add your personal touch on your landing page.
