If I Could Only Read 10 Blogs…
Written by Jacob Cass on Sunday, June 1, 2008 – 2:19 pm
Recently Steven from Vandelay Design listed his “Favourite Sites for Web Design Tutorials” and JCD was one of the twelve mentioned due to my unusual tutorials that walked through my design process, so it made me think… If I could only read 10 blogs what would be the top 10 design blogs I would choose?
Narrowing down 100+ feeds into 10 is no easy feat (nor fair) but in no particular order, here is the list I would choose if I could only read 10 blogs. I have done this based on variety, the quality of their content, how often they post and the range of topics that they cover.
Abduzeedo
Seriously if you have not heard of this blog, take my word for it, subscribe. They post every day (sometimes three to four times) with something unique every time. They interview great graphic designers and have regular best of the week summaries, a best video of the week series, inspiration posts, general design resources and just recently, contests too.
PSD Tuts
I had to list PSDTuts not just because they are Aussie but because they have the best quality tutorials on the net. Period. Keeping up to date with the latest effects and techniques is crucial as you should always be improving your skills and these guys make it a breeze.
Vandelay Design
I do not know how Steve makes time for his quality resourceful posts as well as maintaining his business but he does a very good job of it. He posts mostly about web design resources but his posts vary into social media such as his 50 Designer To Follow On Twitter and also blogging posts such as 101 Ways to Monetize Your Website or Blog.
Subscribe to Vandelay Design Blog
Creative Curio
I have been reading this blog ever since I started blogging back in November 2007 and still do to this day. Lauren has also put together a handy graphic design glossary aka definitions for words used in the design industry. Her blog has also just recently under gone a new redesign and as her blog title says “Learn, discuss and enjoy the realm of graphic design.”
I Love Typography
Does this blog even need to be given an intro? You can never know enough about typography as a designer.
Subscribe to I Love Typography
Inspiration Bit
InspirationBit is another blog that I have been reading since I started blogging… how I came across it I have no idea though I am sure glad I did. Vivien’s articles on design are usually very discussion worthy and one article of interest (of many) is her 16 best loved fonts in web design post.
David Airey
David Airey’s personal design blog / portfolio site was the first blog that I ever read and still continue to read today. David writes about his personal design projects as well as many other topics. Something that does make this blog stand out is the quality comments that his readers leave on on each article adding value to the subject at hand.
Freelance Switch
Freelance Switch is a multi author blog that focuses on the business side of freelancing. Every article published is of extremely high quality, something that is made sure by their team of brilliant editors. I am just about to have a (paid) guest article published on Freelance Switch too so keep an eye out for that but in the mean time check out their most popular post The 12 Breeds of Client and How To Work With Them.
ProBlogger
Although technically not a design blog, I put this in my top 10 list because a blogger should always be learning new ways of doing things to improve their blog and this site makes that job a breeze. If you are new to blogging this should be your first stop.
Smashing Magazine
I am pretty sure that everyone would have heard of Smashing Magazine by now but if not I suggest you subscribe… They smash you with information to make your life easier… 74 000+ Subscribers can’t be wrong.
Subscribe to Smashing Magazine
Write Your Own Top 10 Blog List
Why don’t you write a blog post about your top 5 or top 10 blogs of choice? Leave a trackback to this article to let other readers know about your post! It is also a good way to clean out your feed reader.
Spread The Word:
StumbleUpon | 
del.icio.us | 
Design Float | 
Digg | 
Design Bump
Related Articles:
33 Responses
to “If I Could Only Read 10 Blogs…”
5 Trackback(s)
- Jun 3, 2008: 10 blogs de diseño — Tablosign
- Jun 3, 2008: If I Could Only Read 10 Blogs… | + fuel your creativity // find your spark +
- Jun 6, 2008: Harika Tasar?m Bloglar? | BizimAilemiz.NET
- Jul 3, 2008: Function Web Design & Development [ Blog ] » Blog Archive » If I could only Read 10 Blogs: My favourite collection of Blog’s I read
- Sep 28, 2008: Designer In The Spotlight: Fabio Sasso
Subscribe
By firewalker (2 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
I agreed about your reasons to subscribe Abduzeedo. They have great tutorials and artwork. In fact, I only visited PSD Tuts just to see another highlighted Abduzeedo’s art.
firewalkers last blog post..101 Website Snapshots With FireShot
By inspirationbit (45 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
wow, thanks for the feature, Jacob. Great list, it’s an honour to be featured among such pros.
I’ve discovered your blog via Lauren (Creative Curio), commented here, and that’s how you found my blog
inspirationbits last blog post..Meticulous Design: Information Architecture
By adelle (4 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
Jacob - great article, since I just did the list of the 55+ Design RSS Feeds, your post is making me want to narrow them down to write another post. Look out for it tomorrow - your my inspiration on this!
Cheers!
adelles last blog post..Design RSS Roundup 50+ Feeds
By Janette Toral (5 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
Hi Jacob. Thank you for sharing this. I just gave this link to my daughter (aspiring graphic and game designer) and she find the sites interesting. Cheers!
By Sketchee (9 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
Great, I’m always looking for more content to read and inspire. Especially when I have downtime at work between designing or am starting a new projects. Oh no, not that feeling of running out of new posts in the reader! I’m subscribed to many of these but there are a couple I got to add to my list!
By Ivo (3 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
Nice list, I love Smashing Magazine and PSD tuts, too.
My favorites:
http://veerle.duoh.com/
http://www.youthedesigner.com/
http://cameronmoll.com/
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/
By ferdinand (2 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
This is a great list Jacob. I thought I knew a lot of great blogs already but you’ve proven me wrong. Just added some of these to my subscribtions.
ferdinands last blog post..“Free” Origami Vectors
By Steven Snell (10 comments) on Jun 1, 2008 | Reply
Jacob,
Thanks for the mention. There’s a few on your list that I’m not familiar with, so I’ll have to check them out.
By LaurenMarie - Creative Curio (85 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Wow, Jacob! Thanks!! In the top 10
You made my day!
The only one I don’t subscribe to is Abuzeedo, but I do check it every once in awhile.
LaurenMarie - Creative Curios last blog post..Small Details of a Blog Design
By kristarella (58 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
I haven’t heard of Abduzeedo. I’m so on top of my RSS feeds at the moment (i.e. have read all but four to date) that I’m subscribing to new stuff all over the place. I’ll check them out.
PSDTuts does have great tuts. I love the grass and fire text they did recently.
Smashing Magazine is good. It’s a shame there isn’t more community there though. They get so many three word comments and no one reads the other comments before posting their own.
Looking at my feed reader I realise that most of these are some of my favourite blogs.
p.s. Hmm, I guess the most recent version of Comment Luv has omitted an apostrophe from the default text?
kristarellas last blog post..Making Goals and Making Graphics
By Alec Rios (7 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Nice list, Jacob. I’m already subscribed to all of these, so I guess my top 10 would be very similar. They all have a nice steady flow of useful information.
Alec Rioss last blog post..How to Attract Zero Visitors
By Jacob Cass (531 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Firewalker,
Yeah they are both great resources.
Vivien,
Yeah well I have always read your articles so it seemed only fair but your welcome.
Adelle,
Ah great just looking at your rss feed post. I really do not think I need any more at this subscriptions at this time however I am sure there is many more very worthy.
Janette,
Ah thanks Janette. She also may find our featured articles page of help too.
Sketchee,
Haha I wish I was like that… no new posts in the reader… that is impossible.
Ivo,
Yes those sites are among my favourites as well. Thanks for the list.
Ferdiand,
There are so many great blogs out there that is very hard to keep up with them all however I really enjoy reading these blogs.
Steven,
It is always good to share feeds and resources so you’re welcome.
Lauren,
Hehe glad I made ya day… keep it up. I do recommend you subscribe to Abuzeedo.
Kristarella,
Sometimes that is a good sign Kristarella… wish I could say that, I have hundreds of articles that I wish I could read. And you are right about Smashing Mag, everyone just wants to be first commentator for the traffic. Even if I manage to get in as 5th of 6th commentator I do notice quite a bit of traffic if you have a quality comment.
Not so sure about CommentLuv, I could fix it up manually, but it is annoying because every time there is an update it goes back to the default.
By kristarella (58 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Hmmm, not sure if my read feeds are a good sign - it means I’ve been reading them instead of the science papers I’m supposed to be reading and writing an essay about.
Hmm, if I start using CommentLuv I’ll ask the developer to change it… hate misapostrophication!
kristarellas last blog post..Making Goals and Making Graphics
By Sean Hodge (1 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Wow, great list. I can’t believe how similar my list would be.
Sean Hodges last blog post..Chris Nielsen Interview
By Jerad Hill (2 comments) on Jun 2, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the recommendations. Some I already read but a few greats that I now follow thanks to this post. Been reading your blog for a few months now. I love it. Thanks for all the hard work.
Jerad
Jerad Hills last blog post..Get the most our of your gallon
By 808 (1 comments) on Jun 3, 2008 | Reply
Hey now wait a minute, you missed out inspirational creative blogs like, The Original Linkage
;-D
http://www.original-linkage.co.uk
By David Airey (48 comments) on Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Thanks very much, Jacob. Amongst fantastic company too! I like your live comment preview, something I’ve been thinking of integrating. Is it a plugin? Do you think it eats up much on the resource front?
David Aireys last blog post..Logo design and business card for WDE
By Jacob Cass (531 comments) on Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Kristarella,
Well sometimes it is good to be on top of things… I would rather that then to be always dragged down, it eventually gets to you,
Sean,
Well good to hear someone has the same tastes
Jerad,
Your welcome, enjoy reading the other blogs.
808,
Thanks for the link.
David,
Your welcome David. Yeah it is a plugin called Live Comment Preview. Not so sure about the resources but I have not noticed a difference however it is in the wrong spot… I would like it right underneath the submit button however I am yet to change this… need to look into the code, shouldn’t be too hard.
By kristarella (58 comments) on Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Definitely. If I get too far behind I just mark them all as read. They’re there to enhance and supplement, not stress you out. I might miss something good, but nothing of eternal significance.
kristarellas last blog post..Wooshka T-shirts
By David Airey (48 comments) on Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
I’ll take a look at the plugin, Jacob. Thanks.
Kristarella,
Marking all as read. I can completely understand. I’ve just returned from a few days holiday, and reading over 300 feed items isn’t top of my priority list.
David Aireys last blog post..Logo design and business card for WDE
By Eddie (1 comments) on Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
There’s loads of great sites you’ve missed here like
http://www.aisleone.net
http://www.dirtymouse.co.uk
http://www.formfiftyfive.com
to name but 3
By inaequitas (2 comments) on Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Excellent list! I try to apply design suggestions to computer user interfaces (as applicable) and so I am always on the lookout for good design resources. Skimming through some of the articles from the linked sites shows them to be very promising.
As for CommentLuv, you can change the default output in the WP settings somewhere.
Cheers and thank you for sharing!
By Jacob Cass (531 comments) on Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Eddle,
Thanks for the other links Eddle, it was very hard just to choose 10.
Inaequitas,
Thanks and glad you enjoyed it. Yeah I have changed the CommentLuv thing before however every time an update comes around it changes back to the default.
By Matt (11 comments) on Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
David, wow! Great list. Being more on the programming/back-end side of things, these will give me some great inspiration in graphic design for future projects.
By Jacob Cass (531 comments) on Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Hi Matt,
Maybe you muddled me (Jacob) and David’s names up? and yeah, I really recommend these websites.
By Wade Bekker (1 comments) on Jun 30, 2008 | Reply
Great post! I must agree with you on many of those. I have found Smashing Magazine to be of huge importance to me. Keep up the great work!
Cheers
Wade Bekkers last blog post..Facebook: Requests and Invites Overload
By Computer Forum (1 comments) on Jul 22, 2008 | Reply
Amazing article! Detailed and very interested. I am going to recommend this blog to my friends.
By Calum (1 comments) on Jul 25, 2008 | Reply
Amazing article! Detailed and very interested. I am going to recommend this blog to my friends.