Being a product designer comes with a host of challenges. And those challenges range from the purely technical—such as wrangling a thousand different device sizes—to the intimately personal—such as creative burnout.
That’s why design communities, inspirational media, and other design-specific news and resource sites have become an integral part of a designer’s workflow.
Here are 7 resources our design team finds super-handy while they’re working on new projects.
1. Screen Siz.es
A handy table of popular device screen dimensions and other important information
No human mind can keep track of all the specs for all the different devices out there, and versioning for different devices can turn patient product designers into raving madmen.
Screen Siz.es simplifies things by presenting all the required product design specs in an easy-to-grok table.
2. Sketch App Sources
Over 1,000 free Sketch resources submitted by designers around the world
Sketch is quickly becoming the product, UX, or UI designer’s best friend. But it’s still relatively new to the market and doesn’t have the massive outpouring of design resources that Photoshop does. Sketch App Sources provides a neat library of Sketch-specific resources, all submitted and curated by fellow designers.
3. Niice
Designer-friendly moodboarding in your browser
Nailing the right look and feel for your brand, or your client’s, is essential to any design process. Well-made moodboards provide a clear representation of look and feel that’s easily comprehensible to both designers and non-designer stakeholders, allowing for better design conversations. Niice lets you pin photos you find on the web to a moodboard and search their extensive database of beautiful imagery.
4. Typewolf
Font inspiration, recommendations, and resources
Typography can make or break a design—if your UI’s beautiful, but the copy’s set in Comic Sans, no one will take it seriously. Typewolf posts great font combos from around the web as inspiration, and also provides several very well-made guides and resources on typography.
5. Pttrns
A beautiful collection of the best mobile design resources and inspiration
Mobile design comes with a lot of constraints, so coming up with a truly innovative—and problem-solving—interface can be a challenge. Pttrns gathers the best, most innovative mobile designs on the market to help you get inspired.
6. Flat UI Design
A showcase of standout web designs using the flat UI style
Web trends come and go, but between Google’s Material Design and Apple’s latest OSs, it seems “flat” is here to stay. And with any new aesthetic comes new user experience challenges and best practices. Flat UI Design curates flat designs grounded in solid UX principles from a variety of industries.
7. FindGuidelin.es
A easy-to-use repository of design guidelines for popular websites
Let’s say you’re building a landing page and marketing wants a sharing button for every social network out there. Know where to find them? Skip hours of Googling and proceed directly to FindGuidelin.es, which gathers links to many major brands’ assets and standards all in one place.
by Clair Byrd
Former Director of Content Marketing at InVision.
