When I was in 7th grade, our fine arts teacher asked us to bring an item, which we thought had a great design. I couldn’t think of anything worthy. My thinking was that none of the things I owned were designer pieces.
When the teacher presented his own item, the scales fell from my eyes: a water bottle.
Art and design are not something exclusive. They surround us every day. Everything made by humans was once designed. And everything that is creative and affects our senses or emotions is art.
Here are the top 10 websites to discover cool art designs that will hopefully stimulate your senses.
Design Milk
Design Milk presents art in many different flavors. From chairs and lamps, over pillows and fireplaces, to entire houses, there are many interesting ideas and unique designs to be enjoyed daily. If you don’t care for a wild mix, you can browse by category and look at architecture, art, home furnishings, interior design, style & fashion, or technology separately.
As you can see in the screenshot above, Design Milk has two sister sites called Art Milk and Dog Milk. Use the tabs in the top left of the page to switch between the pages.
Home Design Find
This is one of my personal favorite sites for cool art designs because it’s inspiring and informative at the same time. Home Design Find is a daily guide to products, trends, and ideas for your home. While they feature a lot of designer homes and stunning architecture, which regular people will never be able to afford, they also come up with great tips and instructions on how to improve your home.
I love Home Design Find’s Design Dilemma posts, which provide solutions to very common issues, such as chaotic bookcases, hallways, desks, or family photographs.
DesignSpotter
DesignSpotter is an international online platform and design resource. The blog covers a wide array of topics, not only including furniture, but also design events, tools, jewelry, and architecture.
What I love about the blog is the interactive interface. Per default, only the pictures are shown. But when you click on “more information“, rather than loading a new page, the text simply slides out. To view the entire article on a separate page, you can then click the “details and comments” button.
Web Creme
Web Creme is a very basic gallery for web designers, featuring the best web designs online. Each post only contains the name of the site, the color selection, and screenshot, which also links to the site.
If you’re a web designer looking for inspiration, Web Creme should be your first stop.
Shinybinary
Shinybinary is the online portfolio of Nik Ainley, who does commissioned illustrations for clients like Virgin, Starbucks, Ericsson, or Audi. The blog also shows some of his personal work.
The guy originally studied physics and in his spare time taught himself how to use Photoshop.
Cool Hunting
Cool Hunting describes itself as a “daily update on ideas and products in the intersection of art, design, culture, and technology“. Consequently, you can browse the blog by these categories.
In addition to short articles about new products, Cool Hunting also features videos of on-site meetings with the artists, designers, and other innovators.
And if you need a gift idea for someone who already has everything, have a look at Cool Hunting’s Gift Guide, which starts at $25 and under.
Topiary Art Designs
This is the homepage of Steve Manning, a topiary art designer, who creates sculptures from living plants. The Galleries feature some amazing slideshows of his work.
And you thought cropping a Bonsai was difficult!?
What is your favorite site for cool art designs?
Image credits: Biscione
