Unique Places for Interface Design Inspiration

Video Games

From their in-game graphic user interfaces to working game interfaces, video games have always been a source of inspiration for me. The creative possibilities are virtually endless when you’re designing a video game interface; you can create just about anything your mind can think of. You can have a futuristic design like Halo or something cartoonish/illustrated like Grand Theft Auto. Video games have always been a good place to acquire some unique and cutting-edge inspiration.

Ember App

EmberApp.com is an amazing online repository for screen captures and other images. Ember is made by RealMac software, the creators of Little Snapper & Rapid Weaver. Ember is a great place to browse through interface designs, web designs, typography and anything in between. With great interface designers, like Tim Van Damme, uploading images everyday, there is more than enough for you to look at, drool over, and make notes of, for your next interface.

Flickr

This rapidly-growing image uploading service receives an exorbitant amount of images everyday. Flickr has become so massive that there are even interface design groups, as well as various other groups, within the web interface, to find inspiration from. Most importantly, its minimal interface allows you to easily view the beautiful pictures that others have uploaded.

Library or Bookstore

by Dunny

In this digital age, we often tend to forget that print publications still exist. Books and magazines still provide tons of places for inspiration. Go to a book store, take your laptop, get some coffee, and read; not on digital format, via your Kindle, but on actual paper. Leaf through some magazines and you will be surprised by the mountains of fascinating ideas that will flow into your brain. Oh, and don’t forget to take a sketchbook or notebook with you so you can record your thought process.

Outside

by Casey Templeton Photography Inc

Sometimes we, as slaves to our own work, forget that we would be 100% better if we just got out of the house for a change. It’s true. Go out for a walk or a run, and even take your dog (if you have one) with you. You will be able to come up with some amazing ideas when you have relaxed and set your mind free.

Concept Cars

This is probably my favorite of the entire group. Concept cars have always been able to push the limits without having to actually have everyday function since they are, concepts. The cars are made to push the boundaries of the Transportation Design industry, so they tend to have sleek steering wheels, doors that open in the opposite direction, solid glass roofs, pushing function over form instead of form over function. Nothing can inspire me more than a groundbreaking concept car design that has amazing attention to detail and incredibly elegant lines.

Where do you find yours?