A friend of mine who was a designer at the time asked if I wanted to try designing a site for some company. I don’t remember what the design ended up looking like (I’m pretty sure it was quite ugly), but since then, web design has been what I do for a living.

Where do you look for sources of inspiration?

I try to look for inspiration everywhere. As I once read in a book, you need to maximize your intake to get creative ideas. The more you pay attention to the things around you, the better your chances of finding interesting ideas. You just always need to be prepared, because it can hit you when you least expect it. At least for me, it happens all the time. I can get an idea or solution for a project or problem I’m working on when I’m walking down the street, watching a movie or doing something else. So, for me, it’s a matter of being curious and staying focused.

What is your favourite aspect of web design?

I just love the entire creative process. Creating something out of nothing is so much fun. I believe it’s the same feeling of excitement that every writer or artist gets when they start with a blank canvas and eventually create something new, something that has never existed before.

What are your top 5 favourite websites?

• http://www.behance.net – Amazing site with a lot of talented people.
• http://css-tricks.com – I’m sure everyone knows CSS-Tricks and Chris Coyier by now, but for those who don’t, CSS-Tricks is one of the most useful websites on the Internet for web professionals.
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com – Another well-known website with loads of useful information.
• http://www.thecssawards.com – My favourite CSS gallery.
• http://500px.com/photos – Great photo community. There are plenty of fantastic photos, and while I’m not a photographer myself, I find the website very inspiring.

Who do you look up to in your field?

I’ve always been amazed by Dylan Cole’s work. He is a matte painter and concept artist, and even though matte painting has little to do with web design, it’s simply amazing how Dylan can take a regular photo and turn it into a fantasy scene. Check out the work he’s done for The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Riddick, and see for yourself. I’m also a big fan of CSS-Tricks and Chris Coyier. I learned everything I know today about front-end development from Chris.

What sort of social media tools have you found most successful?

That would definitely be Twitter. Even though I’ve been using Twitter for only about two months, I absolutely love it. It’s an awesome tool to connect with other creative people, get inspiration and promote yourself as a professional.

Where did you get your inspiration from when designing your website?

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to have some sort of illustration on the home page, but I wasn’t sure what kind. I wanted it to be something design-related, yet a bit futuristic. As I recall, I was listening to the audio book for H.G. Wells’ Time Machine while working on the design. So I guess it affected my thinking–whether consciously or subconsciously–and I came up with the illustration that you see there.

What would be your perfect dream project?

I like to create unique environments by blending multiple images together. And I’ve always liked these graphic-rich official movie and video-game websites, so trying a project like that would definitely be fun.

What piece of work are you most proud of and why?

I think the piece of work I am most proud of is my portfolio website itself. For me, a portfolio is not only a place to showcase your work, it’s also a vantage point from where you can look back on your designs and see how your views have changed, what things you’ve learned and maybe even how your perception of the world has evolved. Redesigning your own portfolio is probably one of the hardest projects to do. But it’s definitely a great place to try out new skills and ideas and perhaps learn something new.

What advice would you give to someone starting out online?

I don’t really have much to add to the ton of information available on the Internet about this, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to reiterate the most important advice, which in my opinion is, never stop learning. If you persist and keep learning and practicing all the time, then nothing should keep you from succeeding.

What’s your biggest design/internet pet peeve?

I’m sorry, I can’t think of one.

Looking into a crystal ball, what do you think will be the next design trend?

That’s a tough one… I was never good at predicting the future, but I think the next design trend (well, more of a coding trend that might affect design) will be somehow connected to the rapidly growing popularity of CSS3 and HTML5. People will use CSS3 and HTML5 features more and more in place of traditional graphics. Also, current trends such as rich typography, subtle textures and use of infographics are still very strong, and I think we’ll be seeing only more of these, but used more deliberately and for purpose, not just because they’re trendy.

What can we expect from Serj in the upcoming year?

A lot of things! I’m currently working on quite a few interesting concept designs, which I’ll add to my portfolio once they’re done. You can also expect more retouching and photo-manipulation tutorials, as well as some quick Photoshop tips. Also, I’ll release my first free PSD layout in the near future. So, stay tuned and (here comes some shameless self-promotion) follow me on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss any updates.

About Serj

Twitter

Website

Identity Designed

Hollerado

Mark & Phil

Kembrel

Mooze Design

Supersteil

Cassius

PPF – Participatory Politics Foundation

Unlocking

Design Cocktail

These design bundles are really catching on, I love it. Believe me, you want this bundle – it’s a great collection of vector resources. Be sure to grab this one.

Theme Trust

Henry Jones of WDL has released a new theme store, with some nice themes. It seems like everyone is doing this – not sure if the market is being over-saturated or not but – the themes are great.

Citroen

adidas

Co.Design

WPCandy

Our friend Ryan Imel just recently purchased WPCandy, and has really put his own spin on it, but also keeping the some of the features that made WPCandy special. Ryan seems to have a great handle on what he wants to accomplish with WPCandy, a very exciting site to subscribe to.

Naomi Atkinson Products

Track Record

Where do you look for sources of inspiration?

Well if you’d asked me this a few years ago I probably would’ve given the standard answer of “CSS Galleries” and similar resources on the web, however these days I try to stay well clear of them. The problem with finding inspiration on the web is that it’s very hard not to make whatever you’re doing look exactly like whatever it is you’re being “inspired” by. These days I spend a lot of time looking at print and packaging design in particular, with a few bits of product design thrown in for good measure. I find it much more interesting to try to take a really good idea from outside your own industry and try to adapt it and apply it to the web.

What is your favourite aspect of web design?

I think my favourite part would have to be when you have that great idea for a small change which is really going to make the whole site, and it all just comes together. At the start of this year I was building the new blog for vtravelled, Virgin’s new travel website, and we went through quite a few design iterations that were getting closer and closer to the end product. At one meeting I spontaneously came up with the idea to run a live twitter feed up the left hand side of the blog using some beautiful icons which they had already created for the main site. This was really one of those moments, and I think the scrolling feed and colourful icons are now what makes that site most memorable.

What are your top 5 favourite websites?

This is pretty much impossible for me to answer I’m afraid, I don’t think I could even pick one? Let’s go with Twitter, because Twitter leads me to all other websites!

Who do you look up to in your field?

Oh so many: Cameron Moll, Jason Santa Maria and Mark Boulton for their unprecedented understanding of design that just leaves all of the rest of us rolling around in the gutter wondering which way is up. Ryan Carson and Andy Budd for founding amazing agencies and conferences. Tim Van Damme for his attention to detail, and Adii Pienaar for his raw business acumen.

How has using Twitter helped the popularity of your online brand?

Twitter has pretty much been the cornerstone of everything for me. Without it, I would be nowhere. Every big client I’ve ever had, every opportunity and every break has come through Twitter. If they started charging $100 a month just to use it – I would probably do it. It’s connected me with thousands of new people and I couldn’t live without it now.

What do you think are the main benefits for offering free advice online? (Whether it’s a tutorial, quick snippet of code, advanced tutorial)

I think the main benefit has got to be that it establishes you as someone who knows what they’re talking about. Building up that sort of reputation is hugely beneficial because (if you do it right) then people will think of your name first when they need xxx bit of work done, so it all comes back. Like karma.

What inspires you to create and maintain a blog?

I’m not sure if there’s anything that inspires me as such. I like the idea that by publishing my own mistakes (which is what makes up 80% of my posts), other people can learn from them and not fall into the same holes. It’s also partially for myself, I like being able to look back at where I was and compare it to where I am now and just how much has changed.

What would be your perfect dream project?

It would comprise of several factors: The client would give me free reign, have no revisions, pay immediately (like within an hour of being invoiced), and the project itself would be something significant. I’ve experienced all of these individually, but so far I’ve never had them all together in a single client.

What advice would you give to someone looking to specialize in web design?

From a business point of view I would say focus on branding. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of really really bad web designers out there who make a very healthy income purely because they’ve made a name for themselves. If you can make a name for yourself and you’re actually a good designer… well then that’s all you need really.

From a design point of view you just have to keep on pushing. Never allow yourself to settle for average, to just repeat the same old tired full width header that you used on your last ten designs. This is probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do, and if you’re a good designer, you’ll never be happy or satisfied with any of your work.

Looking into a crystal ball, what do you think will be the next design trend?

Honestly? Whatever Elliot Jay Stocks does next. That guy has an uncanny knack for doing new and awesome things, but I think he’s also probably one of the most influential designers in the world because no matter what he does: a week after it launches the CSS Galleries are full of sites using whatever his latest style is.

What can we expect from John O’Nolan in the upcoming year?

Loads. I’ve pretty much been feeling my way along since leaving full time employment and in the next year I really want to go places now. I have huge ambitions to do great things and I won’t stop until I get there.

In the immediate future, I’m writing a book, editing another book, working on a startup… and I’ll be making one other big move in the next couple of weeks that I can’t talk about yet, so watch this space!

Want more John?

http://john.onolan.org/
http://twitter.com/johnonolan

HD Live 10

Justin M.Maller

Virb

Kiluka

E Skate Boarding

Carbon Ads

Hide Your Arms

abipti

Glasser Italic

bubbleboddy light

D3 Globalism

Corpuscare

CollageAl

MANABU

Gayatri

Bobel

Val

OvalSingle

Cyclo Trial

Aunchanted

Zorque

Synthetic BRK

Steiner Light

Quarantine BRK

Nyamomobile

Diebel

EXCEED Medium

iStockphoto

iStock finally redesigned their site, the site before was fine, but just needed a refresher.

Pancake Payments

Design by Raul

Larissa Meek

Marketing Profesional

Themify.me

Our friend Nick La, launched his new project. With the help of super dev Darcy Clarke, they are offering some really cool WordPress themes and some very nice features.

New Adventures Conference

Treehaus Collaborative Workspace

Had the opportunity to check out this spot yesterday. The workspace look fantastic, a very exciting and energetic company.

We are Synapse

Glenn from down under in Australia, sent me some examples of work. They just recently designed their new portfolio. Their works is very unique and creative, check them out!

Zero Watches

Derick sent me his new business cards early in the week and I thought the cards were really kick ass. Not only that but looking further in the company – their watches are phenominal. I am a big fan of watches, and Zero watches are – pushing the boundries on their new concept watches. On top of it, they also have a really cool looking iPhone app. This German company is really turning things up. Can’t wait till I get my hands on one of these watches.

Prologue

FoundationSix

A beautiful redesign from F6, I was pleasantly surprised that F6 is from Hamilton. Right down HWY6 from us, it would be awesome to collaborate with these guys.

Delicate News Theme

I don’t normally put WordPress themes – but I couldn’t help myself. This is a fantastic theme by Elegant Themes.

Designers Couch

Bundle Hunt

Mike McQuade

Midnight Shift Studio

Deaxon

Logic By Design

Band Themer

We thought that it would be nice to give you something back, like the new design wasn’t enough. We threw together some cool wallpapers for you to dress up your desktops, iPhones, and iPads.

Design Inspiration Lab

Desktop

iPhone

iPad

Available Sizes

• 1920×1200
• 1680×1050
• 1440×900
• 1280×1024
• 1024×768
• iphone
• ipad

Download Set

Experiment Gone Bad

Desktop

iPhone

iPad

Available Sizes

• 1920×1200
• 1680×1050
• 1440×900
• 1280×1024
• 1024×768
• iphone
• ipad

Download Set

As many of you already know, we recently launched The Lab design for Inspiredology. It has been a few days now, and we would just like to thank everyone for helping promote the launch, as well as all the great feedback that we have been given. We know our servers have been slow, and we appreciate you being patient with us.

Please feel free to send us any bugs or browser issues, we are still working out the kinks. There are a few new features we are working on, and we hope to launch in the upcoming weeks. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed to stay updated.

The Timeless Beauty of National Geographic

Diacarta

Hotel Rottnest

Bowtie.

Mind Work 3D

Alexandre Gomes

A Friday Fix Extra

Nate Smith of FP Media was inspired by our 28 Minimalist Movie Posters post that he created 3 posters as well. He sent me an email earlier this week – the quality is again top notch. Take a look for yourself. Be sure to check him out on twitter!