FRESH01

I’m sure you would agree that inspiration is a critical part of any designers life. Seeing what other people have accomplished gives us something to aspire to and motivates us to push ourselves and progress further as designers. So I decided that I would list the designers who’s style and success inspire me on a daily basis.

All these designers should be well known to most of you, so by no means do I feel I’m exposing you to something new (if I am, then that’s awesome!). These are simply designers who I feel have achieved great success in the web design industry and motivates me to be a better designer.

So without further ado, here are my 7 favorite web designers:

WeFunction

WeFunction is a design agency run by Liam Mckay. They write quality design related articles and have a host of resources over there that are just as good. The icons on my blog is actually courtesy of WeFunction! I love the subtle grunge styling of the site, whilst not being overwhelming or distracting.

Rob Goodlatte

Rob Goodlatte’s site is “grungy”, whilst maintaining a very professional appearence. The site has a decent grid structure which organizes the content nicely. His site  one of the best uses of Flash image replacements on headings. It just adds something different and refreshing to the overall look of the site.

Rob writes good articles which shows that he definitely knows a thing or two about interface design, even though he’s been pretty quiet for the last couple of months, but I hope he picks up the speed again soon.

Matt Brett

I love Matt’s site because of the personality it brings across. The moment you see it you have a good idea of who you’re dealing with. The design is just awesome and I feel Matt is definitely a trendsetter for ‘grunge’ design.

Marius Roosendaal

This has been a favorite of mine for a long time. Super clean design and layout is what makes Marius’ site stand out for me. He makes awesome use of javascript for his portfolio items. The overall feel is so simple and minimalistic, but yet his immense attention to detail makes it very interesting. The style switcher is definitely a nice touch!

Elliot Jay Stocks

Elliot needs no introduction. The ex-Carsonified designer gone freelancer is in my mind one of the top guys in the industry. He writes clever articles and speaks at many top web-related conferences. He’s got some serious talent and skills and his personal site’s design is a testimony of that.

Carsonified

Everybody knows Carsonified, and I bet everyone wants to work for them! They organize some of the most influential events in the industry, like FOWA, FOWD and FOM. Need I say more?

avalonstar

Avalonstar is the blog of Bryan Veloso. The reason I like this design is because of how unique it is. You’ll have a hard time finding a similar looking design, and for me that really makes him stand out from the crowd.

The attention to details on avalonstar is amazing, even the less important parts are really well done (check out his about page…). The current design is actually version 25 of the blog. So he redesigns quite often, and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Conclusion

So there you have a few of my favorite designers. I obviously have many more, but this is just a selection of some of the guys who I feel are at the top of their game. As you may have realised, I am a sucker for grunge design that still maintains readable and accessible layouts and content.

I’m sure most of you would know all these guys, and would agree with me that they’re all awesome designers.

Who are you favorite designers who inspire you to be a better designer? Would love to get some feedback from you in the comments…