Website Design Inspiration: 20+ Best Sources

Designing websites can be rewarding, but there are some challenges to staying creative. For example, a long-term client may pivot into a niche you’re unfamiliar with or request something outside your typical wheelhouse.

Although it can be tricky to keep up with website design trends and technologies, there are many advantages to doing so. It can inspire new ideas and help you build more appealing websites — which could also mean being able to charge more.

In this article, we’ll discuss how exploring website design ideas can help with your client projects. We’ll also provide you with a list of 20+ great places to look for website design inspiration, and provide some tips for boosting your creativity. Let’s get to it!

20+ Great Places To Look for Web Design Inspiration

As we’ve established, having sources of inspiration to tap into can be a boon for your creativity. Fortunately, there are many platforms that aggregate website designs from all over the world and across different industries and niches. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Elementor Monthly Showcase

This list wouldn’t be complete without mention of our own Elementor Monthly Showcase:

Each month, we explore some of the best sites around the world built with Elementor. The selected designs serve to highlight Elementor’s powerful capabilities, as well as the results that both novices and experts can achieve with it.

Our monthly showcase focuses on design and is meant to inspire your own work. If you’re looking to experiment, this is a rewarding resource because you can borrow ideas from different industries, such as travel, film, food, and more.

2. Behance

Behance bears a lot of similarities to Dribbble. Here, designers can showcase their work and connect with other creatives:

It is also one of the largest design communities in the world, and its content is primarily community-curated. It’s particularly useful if you’re looking for photography, illustration, and graphic design examples.

When searching on the site, you can filter the available options based on:

Time frames
Popularity
Location
Tools used (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.)
Creative field (Web design, UX/UI, Branding, etc.)
Colors
And more

Similar to Pinterest, Behance also uses ‘moodboards’ which you can explore and, as a member, follow or create your own. It also includes a job board where you can apply for freelance design work.

3. Awwwards

Awwwards offers a large and searchable archive of high-quality designs, which are arguably some of the best on the web. One of the advantages of this resource is its exclusivity. It costs at least $65 to add a site here, so it’s not littered with subpar examples:

Another notable feature of Awwwards is that it doesn’t only showcase designs. It also introduces each selected entry on the Awwwards blog in detail, helping you understand what about it made it worthy of inclusion.

Awwwards uses a scoring system and enables its users to vote for entries. The designs are also reviewed by top web experts who consider usability, design, creativity, and more.

4. Dribbble

Sometimes it’s not the overall design concept you’re struggling with, but a specific aspect or element of the site. If that’s the case, Dribbble is worth checking out:

Many creatives use this site to find inspiration for their projects. Anyone can put up designs for a variety of elements, including icons, apps, illustrations, and more.

Dribbble is also an effective resource for developing your skills. For example, in addition to web designs, there are other fields such as graphic design that can be helpful for exploring new styles and techniques. As with most of the other sites on this list, you can streamline your search using tags.

5. DesignRush

DesignRush is a leading online B2B Marketplace connecting brands to over 10,000 professional agencies worldwide.

Its comprehensive agency directories, thought leadership articles, and Best Design Awards create an entire ecosystem that provides the best value for agencies and brands alike.

DesignRush’s Best Design Awards features engaging articles that offer in-depth, high-quality, interdisciplinary design reviews — among which is website design.

It’s one of the ways DesignRush provides tangible solutions for agencies to promote their work to at least 50,000 targeted monthly visitors, helping them generate more leads for a more actionable ROI at a minimum cost.

Meanwhile, brands can gain inspiration from award-winning designs and get insights on which agencies to partner with on their next project.

6. Pinterest

Pinterest offers a rabbit hole you can dive into to find almost any kind of content. From recipes and concept art to marketing and design examples, it’s one of the most expansive and flexible places to find ideas and inspiration:

In case you’re unfamiliar with the platform, Pinterest uses ‘boards’ where you can pin (or save) your favorite content. You can create multiple boards, invite others to access and contribute to them, share them on social media, and even ‘hide’ them from the public.

These boards provide an organized hub for you to collect and manage design inspiration and materials. For example, you might choose to have one for e-commerce designs, and another for a different niche or industry. You may even get more specific and create boards for color palettes or typography.

7. CSS Nectar

CSS Nectar is one of the best collections of web designs on the internet:

CSS Nectar requires a $5 fee to submit websites, and each design is vetted thoroughly. This makes searching the site for specific types of designs quick and easy.

You can apply filters based on:

Categories
Features
Countries
Colors

Another benefit of this site is that there are always new designs to explore. You can view how many ‘likes’ each one gets as well as any awards or achievements it earned, such as ‘Site of the Day’.

8. SiteInspire

Another solid resource for finding ideas is SiteInspire. This site spotlights some of the best web and interactive designs, and offers a huge collection of them:

SireInspire features an extensive tagging system, which enables you to use multiple tags to search for a particular element or feature. You can filter entries based on style (design patterns and layouts), type, subject, and platform.

If you’re looking to create a go-to list of website design inspiration, SiteInspire also lets you create collections of your favorite designs. You simply need to create an account to become a member.

9. Commerce Cream

Commerce Cream is a highly-styled and curated hub of e-commerce web designs:

When compared to other resources on this list, Commerce Cream is particularly simple and straightforward. It features a one-page layout where you can scroll to explore the collection of impressive Shopify stores.

What’s more, you can find the agencies behind each design. This is helpful when you want to discover other work by the same creators.

Although Commerce Cream may not be the most robust or dynamic site, it’s unique in that it focuses on a specific niche. If you’re looking for inspiration for an e-commerce project, browsing its showcase can save you time because it isn’t cluttered with a wide variety of websites and design types.

10. Calltoidea

Calltoidea is the place to go if you need inspiration for building some of the more mundane – yet important – elements on a website:

Calltoidea was created for designers to find inspiration for daily tasks and projects. It showcases a massive collection of creative assets you can use to get ideas for enhancing otherwise boring pages, such as Error 404 or login pages.

The examples included on the site are selected by a team of designers, and chosen based on both design simplicity and usability. Although the site doesn’t include a search functionality or tagging system like others on this list, it’s an ideal option if you’re looking for ideas for a specific design element, such as a slider, animation, or pop-up.

11. Admire The Web

From a design and UI standpoint, Admire The Web isn’t anything to write home about. However, it does offer highly-curated web designs that can serve as sources of inspiration:

The designs are extensively tagged, so you can quickly narrow your search to focus on a specific aspect or topic. There are also ‘related content’ recommendations for when you’re looking for similar examples.

To submit a site, Admire The Web only requires users to make a small donation, which is refunded if the design isn’t selected. However, the sheer abundance of sites included in the gallery is beneficial when you’re still in the brainstorming phase of your design process and looking for a diverse pool of examples to draw from.

12. Instagram Web Design Pages

It may not be the first choice that comes to mind, but social platforms like Instagram have hundreds of great pages focused solely on web design.

From top influencers like @jessicavwalsh to web design-centric accounts like @welovewebdesign, Instagram has an amazing selection of accounts to get you out of your creative rut.

Although Instagram is unlike the other platforms we’ve reviewed thus far, a simple search will unlock boundless information, resources, and inspiration that you won’t find anywhere else.

13. Designspiration

Built almost like a personal mood board, Designspiration is a great resource for anyone looking to broaden their scope of what’s possible when it comes to design.

From physical to digital, to typefaces and photography, Designspiration provides its users with a simple and value-packed range of inspiration in a layout that is easily digestible. Regardless of the project you are seeking inspiration for, Designspiration has something for you.

Created as a way to share creativity and design ideas, Designspiration has created an open network for designers and creatives to share their work and inspire others.

14. Brutalist Websites

Truly an inspiring and unique platform, Brutalist Websites gives you a unique window into the vast world of digital avant-garde design.

With utility and functionality being a mere afterthought, Brutalist Websites are a new-age design style that breaks free of the traditional norms and guard rails of web design; and are typically known for their raw layouts and interactions. With what seems like a never-ending library, Brutalist Websites provides a much-needed space for those looking for an alternative to the vast libraries of what most would define as “traditional” design.

15. Best Website Gallery

Best Website Gallery has a name that speaks for itself. With its wide range of styles and aesthetics, Best Website Gallery is a must-look when searching for inspiration for your next project.

Best Website Gallery has an extensive library of unique designers that is sure to bring about your next great idea. With their ability to drill down and choose from a wide range of filters and categories, Best Website Gallery acts almost like a digital visual bookmark.

16. Land-Book

Looking for a highly curated and well-vetted library of landing pages, portfolios, blogs, and e-commerce sites? Then look no further than Land-Book.

Get inspired with Land-Book’s top designers in an easy-to-use and highly structured layout. With thousands of galleries to choose from, Land-Book is here to provide you with a wide range of highly talented designers, eager to share and provide you with much-needed design inspiration.

17. Webdesign-Inspiration

On a mission to make it simple to bring new websites and apps to life, Webdesign-inspiration is here when you need that extra jolt of creativity.

With a global audience and user base, Webdesign-inspiration brings you the best of worldwide digital design. From individual designers to agencies, design inspiration publishes new, fresh, and creative designs daily.

With a separate section for WordPress themes, Webdesign-inspiration is on our must-have list for top web design libraries.

18. Abduzeedo

One of the most inspiring and unique resources for web, digital, and 3D design. Period.

Unlike other web design libraries, Abduzeedo, or abdz. for short, started as a personal blog and quickly expanded to a collective of writers sharing articles on photography, design, and UX. Today they are a breath of fresh air, providing some of the most fascinating and intriguing articles, tutorials, on all things design.

Unlike other websites offering inspiring to display your work with a free account, all users on abdz. must submit their work for approval in order to be featured on their site.

19. Cssdesignawards

Looking for some of the best web designers on the internet? You can find them here on the official CSS Design Awards website.

Unlike the other places we have reviewed in this article, CSS Design Awards is an international web design and development award platform that highlights freelance designers and agencies. Here you’ll find the best of the best, who have pushed the bounds of what’s possible in UI and UX.

20. Web Design Ledger

Pure, straightforward, and unique, are the best ways to describe the content you’ll find on Web Design Ledger.

Regardless of your needs, Web Design Ledger has your back. Choose from dozens of different categories, such as mobile, to e-commerce, to even wearables. It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for, Web Design Ledger has got you covered.

With no account necessary, Web Design Ledger is absolutely free and is focused on providing daily, new, and exciting web design inspiration, for designers, by designers.

21. Responsive Design

If you’re looking for a platform that provides more than just great examples of talented web design and inspiration, then Responsive Design the perfect place for you.

Boasting far more than libraries full of content, responsive design.is takes a different approach and educates its visitors on what is, and the value of, designing with responsive design in mind.

From tutorials to podcasts, responsive design is a great resource to review, regardless of your design experience.

22. Pttrns

At first glance, Pttrns can seem too much to handle, but this platform provides a wealth of knowledge to support your current or upcoming design project.

WIth what might be one of the most extensive and diverse libraries, Pttrns offers visitors a wide range of different design elements, inspiration, and resources.

For only $5 per month, Pttrns offers its users access to a growing collection of up-to-date design resources and inspiration, perfect for a designer on a budget, or one looking to up their skill level a notch or two.

23. Codrops

With a clean layout and interesting articles, Codrops is a great platform to gain knowledge and insight from the pros.

An entirely free platform, Codrops provides the web design world with a plethora of engaging blogs, tutorials, and in-depth articles on the latest news and trends within the world of web design. Whether trying to choose your next project or learning about the latest tools available to enhance your design skills, Codrops will have something for you.

24. Template Monster

Your one-stop shop for all things design and inspiration has arrived, say hello to Template Monster.

Regardless of whether or not you’re in the market to purchase, Template Monster offers a phenomenal range of different designs, styles, and you guessed it, pre-designed templates that are great sources of inspiration.

Template Monster makes it super easy to filter through various designs and find a category that inspires you to push your own design limits.

How Exploring Inspirational Ideas Can Improve Your Web Design Projects

When you work in a creative field such as web design, it’s only natural to occasionally find yourself in a rut. However, when you’re stuck or feel as if your creative juices have dried up, looking to sources of web design inspiration can be a powerful remedy.

Exploring web design examples and ideas can also help you stay in touch with current trends and technologies. This can be particularly useful if you’re taking on a new client and want to familiarize yourself with the type of designs popular among their target audience.

Working in a different niche than you’re used to might require you to learn new styles and design elements. Not only can exploring the work of other web design professionals give you ideas for your own projects, but it can also improve your skills and offer a fresh perspective on certain aspects of design, from aesthetics to usability.

Having a go-to list of inspirational resources could even boost your workflow and productivity. It can make diving into projects easier, and allow you to better meet the demands of your clients’ creative briefs.

Find Inspiration for Your Next Web Design Project

As a web designer, it’s easy to get caught in a creative rut or grow tired of redundant or stale designs. However, if you’re looking for fresh ideas or a way to breathe new life into your work, it helps to explore examples of website designs created by other professionals.

Fortunately, there are plenty of places where you can find impressive and innovative designs to draw inspiration from. Have you found any website design ideas or sources of inspiration on our list particularly helpful for your creativity? Let us know in the comments section below!

Website Design Inspiration: 20+ Best Sources

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