Design resources
Design resources that make me a finer designer.
Published on
Fun, Inspiration
Color Match is a browser game where you match colors on time.
Bezier is a browser game that helps you learn the vector pen tool.
Not Boring Software build fun apps for boring routines.
Drams is a collection of Framer components inspired by Dieter Rams’ design principles.
Conversations on Quality is a video series of interviews with designers, hosted by Linear.
Design Notes is a podcast about creative work.
User experience in LEGO interfaces explores the various interfaces that exist in LEGO.
Ollie Hoff is an illustrator and graphic designer.
Headspace is an app for meditation and sleep.
Teenage Engineering make hardware products for audio engineering.
Good Enough is a company who make software that is good enough.
The Hardest Working Font In Manhattan is a deep dive article about a font called Gorton.
Shift Happens is a book about typewriters and keyboards.
Morten Kantsø is an illustrator.
Simple Bits is a tiny type foundry, goods shop, and design studio who make handmade letters and numbers.
IORAMA makes apps inspired by musical instruments and video games.
A Playful Path is a book about play, being playful, and playfulness.
Playables create playful strange things, like video games.
Hardware
Pen. My favourite pen is the Copic Multiliner SP 0.5.
Paper. Anything goes, but I prefer thick and grainy paper.
Tablet computer with pressure sensitive touch display. I use an iPad.
Tablet stylus. I use an Apple Pencil.
Computer. I use a MacBook.
Software, Apps, Web apps
Figma is a collaborative web application for wireframe and prototype design.
Frame0 is a MacOS, Windows, and Linux application to design wireframes.
Affinity Studio is a MacOS and Windows application suite for raster and vector graphics.
Squoosh is a website for optimizing images.
Spline is a collaborative web application for 3D sculpting, modeling, and animation.
Cavalry is a Windows and MacOS application for 2D animation.
Rive is a collaborative web application for 2D animation.
Procreate is an iPad application for raster graphics.
Nomad Sculpt is an iPad application for 3D sculpting and modeling.
Raycast is a launcher application for MacOS and Windows.
CleanShot X is a screen capture application for MacOS.
Tabular is a web application to build responsive emails.
Learn
Visual Design is website book about how to improve your visual design.
Learning Through Play is a website with articles and guidelines for the importance of play, and being playful as a way to learn.
Smart Interface Design Patterns is a course with guidelines and best practices for common components in user interfaces.
Accessibility
Design System
Atomic Design is a free web book on how to build reusable parts, from small to large.
Design Systems Database is a directory of design systems.
Design Systems is a design systems publication by Figma.
Storybook is a web tool to present user interface components for development, testing, and documentation.
Design Thinking
Untools is a website to learn methods for practical problem solution.
The Design Sprint is a book on how to build and test a prototype in five days.
Mindful Design is the responsible designer’s survival guide.
Product Thinking
Agile Manifesto is how you should develop software.
When Coffee and Kale Compete is a free PDF book on how to find and solve the core problem.
Shape Up is a free web book that makes you stop running in circles to ship work that matters.
User Interface
Practical UI is a book about making user interfaces that work.
Refactoring UI is a book about front-end design.
Blocks is a low fidelity wireframe design kit for Figma.
Layers is a website with design inspiration for apps and websites.
Complementary is a podcast about interface design.
Game User Interface Database is a website with a lot of examples of user interfaces from video games.
User Experience
Laws of UX is a book about the principles of user experience design.
Raut is a Norwegian newsletter about user experience.
Deceptive Patterns is a website that shame intentionally bad design patterns that manipulate the user in a bad way.
Test, Research, Analyse
Rocket Surgery Made Easy is a book about testing what you build with your users, to verify that what you make is usable for your users. Explained in a simple and practical way that you can start doing right now.
Don’t Make Me Think is a book about building usable services and products on a digital screen.
Tally is a web tool for building forms to collect feedback from users.
A/B Test Design is a website with A/B test results from apps and websites.
Communicate, Plan, Document, Note
Type, Typography, Font
Free Faces is a collection of free, open source fonts.
Google Fonts is a collection of free, open source fonts. Curated by Google.
Legible Typography is a book about writing readable text.
Color
Inclusive Colors is a website that uses HSLuv to explore WCAG compatible accessible color combinations.
Icon, Logo, Illustration
Google Material Icons and Symbols.
Streamline icons is a collection of icon design guidelines.
Derek Yu: Pixel Art Basics Tutorial is a great page with solid advice on tools and process on how to make pixel art with depth for use in video games. Derek also has a guide with common mistakes when making pixel art.
Code
Invent with Python is a series of books written by Al Sweigart on Python. They’re available for free to read online, and they’re written in a practical way to code along with.