Four Fifths Design

There are thousands of blogs out there dealing with all kinds of design. The majority are portfolio or opinion driven. However, that is not the case with all. The following are three blogs I feel every designer should keep in touch with and why:

This simple and effective blog is run by husband and wife out of San Diego, California. Design Milk is fantastic for various reasons:

• It is rarely opinionated.
• It spends 4/5 a post showing you designs with pictures rather than text.
• It is freshly updated more than once a day.

Design Milk’s graphic artist, Crystal Chou, is an aspiring designer. Chou is from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Design Milk excels in providing new design ideas in areas ranging from architecture to fashion. It’s simplicity and clean cut manner of portraying each new article delivers inspiration to those even outside the design field.

Any designer who works even remotely close to the fashion industry must, if not already does, keep up to date with The Sartorialist. Named in the top 100 blogs of last year, Scott Schuman delivers the highest quality fashion shoots possible outside of a studio. His eye for the the visually appealing human is easily one of the most keen in any blog out there. The styles he captures are striking and the people he finds showcasing them are favourable, considering they are all off the street. The Sartorialist delivers:

• Fashion in action. All his photographs are of people he finds while roaming some of the most famous areas and streets in the world.
• Opinions through viewer comments. Half of the blog’s appeal is the comments.
• Constant inspiration for the photographer, fashion designer and every day fashionista.

Be sure to check out Schuman’s biography. His story is as interesting as some of the encounters he finds himself in.

Another top 100 blog spot from the past year, Engadget, owned by Weblogs Inc, is quite possibly my favourite blog on the internet. It is an award winning multilingual technology weblog and podcast on consumer electronics that has never failed in reviewing, informing and inspiring the newest and hottest electronics worldwide. Since its founding in 2004, dozens of writers have written for engadget and already it has made more press than any other technologic weblog, rivaling that of Gizmodo.

• Daily articles providing information on technologic design you would often have a tough time finding easily elsewhere.
• Opinion, humor and statistic driven writing voices make it more than just a daily journalistic read.
• It really is a prime number one source for the latest on anything electronic or technologic.

Engadget not only provides insight into the constant advancement of technology but also acts as an archive of the latest designs in the electronic industry. Because technology is always advancing, the design and innovation that is portrayed at Engadget is always cutting edge and inspiring to its readers.

Engadget also hosts meetups for readers in various cities that are free to attend and include various prizes and promotions. Easily my most recommended blog.

All three of these blogs are unique in their own ways, addressing the world of design from different perspectives and continuously providing a viewpoint in how design influences different aspects of everyday life.