WellMedicated - Inspiration Overdose

With new design blogs launching left, right and center (present company included), being a self-taught designer is easier than ever.  It is thanks to these online resources, ideas and tutorials that our fingers are kept on the pulse of the design collective.

That being said, if I ever found myself stranded on a desert island and miraculously had access to 10 design blogs (you never know, it could happen), this would be them:

Pearsonified
While the updates have been pretty slim-to-none these days, Pearsonified still remains one of my favorite blogs of all time.  Chris Pearson’s crucial mix of killer design with well written and often hilarious blog posts results in nothing short of pure genius.

Design Reviver
You won’t find any post not worth reading on Design Reviver – this blog is pure, concentrated gold.  It is apparent that Henry Jones puts a lot of effort into each and every post ensuring a worthwhile read every time.

Smashing Magazine
If you’re even remotely into design and have never checked out Smashing Magazine I either feel sorry for you or am horribly jealous of all the joy you are about to experience.  Be prepared to feel like a kid in a candy store.

Outlaw Design Blog
I am a fairly new reader of Danny Outlaw’s design blog, but I am most certainly hooked.  This blog has shown some quality posts and is a most welcomed update in my feed reader.

NetTuts
Though fairly new to the scene, NetTuts is quickly climbing the ranks in popularity.  This is not really a surprise as it is the brain child of monster blogger Collis Ta’eed of PSDTuts and Freelance Switch fame.  I chose NetTuts as it is a web design blog, but would highly recommend the entire “Tuts” series.

Boagworld
Okay, this is not technically a blog, it’s a podcast.  But I have been listening Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington’s show for over 2 years and always find myself learning something new with every episode.  I’m not sure if it’s years of expertise or their British accents, but they certainly sound like they know what they’re talking about.

A List Apart
I’m not going to lie to you, this is some pretty heavy lifting.  There are times when A List Apart goes right over my head.  But that is because it is penned by some of the most advanced designers working today.  Though we may not realize it, it is through ALA’s experimentation that we designers have a lot of our tricks and hacks up our sleeves.

Web Designer Wall
If you were to google “web design”, at least at the time of writing this article, Web Designer Wall would be the second result only to the wikipedia definition.  This is because Nick La’s epic design blog has taken the internet by storm.  With good reason, it’s a pretty incredible site.

ThemeShaper
Anybody not interested in designing for WordPress should just move along right now.  But for WordPress fanatics like myself, Themeshaper is a godsend.  With updates that are frequent, useful and informative, every WordPress junkie should be paying ThemeShaper a visit.

Just Creative Design
Though marketing itself as a graphic design blog, Jacob Cass’ Just Creative Design offers something for everyone.  Topics range from web design to the lifestyle of a freelancer.  Admittedly, he even inspired this very blog post.

* You might be wondering why I wouldn’t use my internet connection to seek help instead of reading design blogs… well, have you ever been stranded on a desert island?  Didn’t think so.