A blog post about… well… blogs. A collection of my go-to’s for inspiration, tutorials, trends, and more. ×

There’s so much information out there in so many places [This is one of this is one of those places]. How do you even keep up? What’s everyone else looking at? Questions. Possible Answers.

How do you find the answers to the questions? What if you don’t even know what the question is? Ah! Help!

Without going into a spiral and having an extensional crisis, let’s pull it back to basics. This blog post is about blogs. Some of my favorites that I regularly check to keep up with everything design, plus get some great tips, inspiration, tutorials, and more. You’ll find answers to questions you didn’t even have, and also be aware of what’s going on the [design] world, too.

1. UnderConsideration’s Brand New

I’d say this list isn’t in any particular order, but honestly, this is my number one favorite blog. Because it’s so much more than your average blog. I’ve been following Under Consideration [UCLLC] – lead by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit– since I first found them in college – I believe it was from their Quipsologies blog [RIP] back in 2010, and their FPO: For Print Only [also, RIP]. They also have another blog, Art of the Menu, which is fantastic, too.

But the main attraction, Brand New. Brand New is a fantastic source to see the latest new branding, rebrands, and links to design-related things [like crazy collaborations, funny Tik-Toks, and more]. They also have a Podcast called, The Follow-up, and a Job Board. Plus, they have a new section called Collected, which featured curated galleries of specific parts of branding [i.e. Instagram Stories, Icon Sets, Liveries]. It’s part of my morning routine.

Recently, due to the pandemic, they switched from a free blog to a paid subscription, but, of all the subscriptions out there, it’s very affordable. With only $2 a month or $20 for a year. It also includes the podcast, too.

Armin’s fantastic reviews include great insight into the projects with added bonuses of humor, plus he showcases the brands/rebrands so well. You learn more and more with each post. The second best [and sometimes worst, ha] part of Brand New is the comment section. It offers additional insight, ‘this looks like’, ‘that blue’, and other comments from designers.

UCLLC also host conferences and one-day First Round events all over [though post-poned until 2022]. I’ve personally been to the First Round in Portland, back in early 2020, and it was fantastic! To fill in the gap while you await for the next event, they have Case Studies available for purchase, too.

Lastly, another UCLLC gem, is their book, Flaunt: Designing effective, compelling and memorable portfolios of creative work. I could go on and on, but now it’s your turn to check ’em out and see what else they’ve got. – Brand New Blog.

2. The Dieline

Another blog that I’ve been following for many, many years. Back in my college years. I’ve watch this blog evolve into it’s different iterations, and see its community grow, too.

A fantastic blog for everything Packaging Design. See the latest brands, rebrands, plus search by color, category, substrate, features and more, to get all the inspiration and research you need for your next packaging project. Another blog that has a great job board included, plus Awards & Conferences to expand your horizons. – The Dieline Blog.

3. Courtside: The Dribbble Blog

I joined Dribbble way back when, again, in college [I was doing a lot of knowledge building that I still carry over today], now I may have deleted my account back in 2014 or 15, but I’m back on again. But this isn’t about Dribbble’s platform, it’s about their Blog! I subscribe to their newsletter, so I get a dose of creative updates throughout the week and check back on their blog for inspiration, tutorials, and more. In fact, while designing this very website, I scoured their blog for helpful tips and insights into building your portfolio.

Like the first two, Dribbble has a job board, plus it also includes may other features like a portfolio to post your work, workshops, a new marketplace, podcast and more. Back in day, I also had the pleasure of meeting a ton of people at Pittsburgh’s Dribbble meetups! So many designer friends that I still am in touch with today. – Courtside: The Dribbble Blog.

4. Brush Up by Creative Market

Last on this shortlist is Creative Market’s Brush Up Blog. Like Dribbble’s, Brush Up is filled with great tutorials, trends, insight, and more. Although, Brush Up is more reliant on categories than the formers. Focusing on Latest Articles as their main drop, along with Tutorials, Inspiration, Fonts, Typography, Design, etc. – Brush Up by Creative Market Blog.

What Are Your Favorite Go-To Blogs?

Have any blogs you’d like to share and add to this list? I’d be super happy to do so! I love learning about new things and sharing them as well. Send ’em here!

Curious what fonts I used? If it’s not my own handwriting or illustration, it’ll be in my very first blog post!

This post is not sponsored or an advertisement. These are just genuine recommendations, or/and thoughts.