Over the past year or so I have been diving into the online design community, meeting and getting to know all kinds of interesting people from all over the world. As I come across different design-related blogs, I have added the ones I like or find interesting to my RSS subscriptions, and I check in with most of them daily. I currently subscribe to about 300 design blogs, everything from the most popular to the least known. I learn a great deal from most of them, and must credit my ongoing education to these wondrous websites that continuously put out tutorials, showcases, inspiration, discussions and more.

Recently I have become particularly enthralled with some new-to-me discoveries in the design blog world. While I do gain quite a bit of knowledge and inspiration from the majority of the design blogs, these three websites have risen to the top of my own personal list because of their distinctly different approaches. Where many others have an obvious focus on driving traffic, which in turn influences the content they produce, these three blogs write from their inspirations and passions. They wrestle in their writing with subject matter that they are dealing with themselves. They challenge and question. They inspire discussion and debate. They ask the all-important question: “Why?”

I have an affinity toward people who go deeper, who don’t just accept the way things are but examine them, pick them apart and try to understand how they became accepted in the first place or if they are the best option. Through different experiences in my life I have learned how foolish it is to blindly follow the crowd instead of think for yourself and I love to commiserate with those who challenge popular thought. I truly believe these types of people are leaders, influencers and world shapers. Not because they aspire to be leaders, but because their actions inspire others to follow.

I believe the creators and authors of these three design blogs are such people. Their writing challenges me. It gets me to look at things from another perspective. It dares me to enter into debate with the status quo. It inspires and motivates and strengthens what I do as a designer. I believe it does the same for others.

So I want to share them with you in the hopes that if you have not already discovered them, you will today be exposed and begin the journey alongside them as they contribute to the shaping of the future of design.

Drawar

I would like to think that Paul Scrivens, the creator of Drawar, and I are kindred spirits. He writes with an in-your-face style and pulls no punches. His words seem to just flow as though he were speaking to his readers directly – I imagine he doesn’t plan out his articles as much as just ‘vomit’ them. He always throws down some type of gauntlet, challenging popular thought and inspiring debate and discussion. He walks his talk, too, producing designs that speak of what he’s writing about.

I asked Paul to share a little about why he started Drawar. Here’s what he said:

“Design is one of the few activities that we all have in common. Everyone likes to design in some way or another. Maybe it’s your wardrobe or the inside of your car, either way we all design. However, the few of us that get to do it for a living are the fortunate ones. We get to solve problems to make the world a better place. It’s pure happiness. I wanted to feel that happiness when I looked at the design community and for me it wasn’t there.

I understand that to design well you need to know the how’s and that is why sites that showcase tutorials, lists and other things are a benefit to us all, however, to really understand design we need more exploration into the why’s. There wasn’t much of that around so I figured instead of hoping that it pops up one day I would start to write it myself. This gives me a chance to better understand why I tackle design problems the way I do and give me a chance to give back to the community. The community deserves better and I’m just trying to do my part. Plus, I enjoy hearing myself talk.”

Drawar is not only a design blog, but a design community, and Paul is constantly tweaking and expanding as he looks to create a place online that grows and strengthens its users. He is funny, interesting and always worth reading. The forums are just as engaging, and a critique section is in the alpha stages. If you are interested at all in design, you must make Drawar a daily stop.

Echo Enduring

Matt Ward is not only an exceptional designer, but a prolific and talented writer. His efforts at Echo Enduring Blog have enlightened me and made me a better designer. He shares quality tutorials and even a few great lists now and then, but I really enjoy his thought-provoking discussions on design. His writing style addresses tough subjects with an ease that invites the reader to participate rather than be offended or raise our defenses. He presents his points clearly and wonderfully articulately, and I really value where he takes my mind.

When I asked Matt about his philosophy behind Echo Enduring Blog, here’s what he said:

“The Echo Enduring Blog is less than a year old, and was something that I started as an extension of my main website. Over the past 11 months or so, I’ve sort of let the blog evolve and transform and really enjoyed the process. I’ve published basically every kind of content you can imagine – from articles and freebies to tutorials and giveaways. I’ve even published a few list posts, though these days I only ever publish “lists” that are also accompanied by some solid editorial explaining the selections in some way.

In the past several months, and moving forward, my basic philosophy for the blog has and will continue to be centered around four words: Teach, Motivate, Challenge and Equip. With the vast majority of posts, I aim to accomplish at least one of these things. I suppose you could add a fifth word – Entertain – since I sometimes like to write posts that are more amusing than anything else. I also try to produce interesting content that people will actually be excited to read – the kind of stuff they will forward to their friends or share on Twitter, and hopefully even come back to in the future. It’s all about quality, and though my subscriber count isn’t as high as some of the bigger blogs (yet), I like to think that I have a higher level of subscribers, who appreciate my work and are prepared to really engage with it.”

That last sentence sums it up for me. Matt invites us to engage with his writings. He not only welcomes interaction and discussion, he inspires it. Be sure to make your way through his past articles and add Echo Enduring Blog to your daily web surfing habits.

Design Informer

Jad Limcaco has succeeded in creating a design blog that at first glance may appear to be very similar to others out there, but digging a little deeper I realized he was not only providing valuable resources, he is also stretching the boundaries beyond what the “biggies” in the business do. Design Informer brings together a number of contributors and is building a community that seeks to expand on what is being done elsewhere not out of spite or competition, but in an effort to raise the bar and pursue improvements.

I asked Jad to share a bit about himself and what Design Informer is about, and he sent me an entire article! He started out writing a couple paragraphs and it turned into what will eventually become a post on Design Informer. To me, that is a prime example of an author expressing his passions – when you start you just can’t cut it short. Here’s an excerpt of what Jad shared with me:

“When I started Design Informer, I had a goal to be different. I didn’t want to just do what the other blogs were doing; I wanted to be known for being a blog that had a great design, high quality articles, and a great community behind it. I care more about quality than quantity. There will be weeks where you will see me not post at all, and there would be some weeks where I post two or more articles. If I wanted to, I can post every day, but coming up with a quality article takes time and I strive to make the articles on Design Informer to be of that standard.

I’m crazy about the small things. When I designed my site, I really spent time thinking about every aspect of the design. Until today, I’m still constantly tweaking my site. These changes might be little, but it’s what really make Design Informer the site that it is. When I publish my posts, I obsess over the little design details.”

The idea of never being satisfied, constantly tweaking and striving for improvement, is one I admire and pursue myself. It also seems to be a common thread among these three.

I realize this list is not exhaustive, and by creating a list at all I am leaving SO many others out. For other design bloggers who read this, I apologize if you are offended in any way. My intent is not to raise these three up at the expense of all others, but instead to challenge us all to find our own voice and use it. Sure, we can all whip out list posts and tutorials, and I hope no one completely abandons them. I do think there is a place for design blogs that share tutorials and roundups and showcases and such. I share them on Twitter all the time, I browse through many of them daily, and I have learned much from and been inspired by the multitudes of them.

However, I personally want to associate myself with the thoughts and passions of those who challenge me. I want to hear your voice. I want to wrestle with your questions. I want to become better because we all are asking “Why?” In the end, isn’t that what design is about? Finding the best solutions and creating them where there are none. I truly believe these three are doing that. I applaud and celebrate them, and I encourage you to do the same.

If you know of any other design blogs that you would consider “different” from, say, Smashing Magazine or the countless clones, please feel free to share them in the comments below. I would love to discover more members of the design community that contribute to challenging and questioning and growing it, and I’m sure others would too. Also, please feel free to subscribe to this blog either by RSS feed or via email to receive all the latest posts and never miss a single one.

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