SpyreStudios - Design and Development Magazine

There’s probably hundreds of community and networking sites out there but only a few focus on the design and creative community. We went ahead and selected 15 of the best sites for designers and creative types.

Obviously there are some sites we might not be aware of, so make sure you leave a comment if your favorite design community/networking site wasn’t included in this post.

Dribbble

Dribbble is a show and tell for designers where you can show the world what you’re working on by uploading 400x300px screenshots. Dribbble is all the rage these days, most likely because the site is invite-only but also because the work showcased on Dribbble is of great quality. Nonetheless Dribbble has a great community of extremely talented designers – if you’re a designer and haven’t been ‘drafted’ yet, you can still join as a spectator.

Forrst

Forrst is a community of developers and designers. This is a great place to get critiques and feedback on your work and connect with other designers and developers. Like Dribbble, Forrst is also an invite-only community (I currently have 2 invites left. Leave a comment on this post. First come, first served.)

LoveDsgn

LoveDsgn is a new social site for designers and other creative types. Like Dribbble and Forrst, LoveDsgn is invite-only. This is another great place to get feedback on your designs and connect with like-minded designers.

Drawar

Drawar is more of a discussion forum than a networking site, but it definitely deserves a place in this post. On Drawar you can discuss design, development, business and pretty much anything else that has to do with being a web-designer. If you’re looking for a place to express your opinions or ask other people for theirs, Drawar should be your first stop.

Behance Network

I’m pretty sure that all of you know of the Behance Network. While Behance is more of a showcase-meets-portfolio site, there is a huge (and very active) community on Behance. Simply create your profile, upload some of your work and discuss designs and give feedback on other people’s work. You can also become a part of groups, post in the forums and even find a job.

DeviantArt

DeviantArt is probably the largest online community for artists and creatives. I don’t think DeviantArt needs any introduction :)

DesignersCouch

DesignersCouch is an invitation-only community where you can network with other designers, post some of your work in a portfolio, read articles and connect and collaborate with other designers.

DesignRelated

DesignRelated is another invitation-only community site where you can find inspiration, create a portfolio and network with other members.

Typophile

For all of you typography lovers out there, Typophile should be a daily stop for you. Interact in the forums, read news articles, find great resources and learn about type and design with their TypoWiki. Definitely a great place to hang at.

SitePoint

SitePoint deserves a place on this list in part because of their huge community. Of course they offer more than just discussion forums. There’s blog articles, products to buy, courses, podcasts and a marketplace. SitePoint is like a one-stop shop for all things design and web business.

ColourLovers

The ultimate community for artists looking to get color inspiration and get feedback on their professional or personal projects. You can search user-created color palettes and patterns, create your own and share them with the community, interact in the forums, join groups and read articles.

DesignBump

While DesignBump is not exactly a networking site, it’s still totally worth visiting to keep up with all the latest design and development articles and news – a daily stop for me.

The Web Blend

TheWebBlend, much like DesignBump, isn’t a networking site, but it’s another great resource to stay up-to-date with all the latest design and dev news.

CSSGlobe

CSSGlobe is a community of designers and developers with a focus on CSS and development. While there’s no networking features, CSSGlobe offers a great range of web development links for all of you web-designers and developers out there.

Pixel Groovy

Pixel Groovy is a user-controlled tutorial directory. Users decide which tutorials are worthy of being published. You can see this site as a social media site for designers where users are in control of the content.

More Resources

Of course there’s a lot more community and networking sites out there. Not all of them are for designers and developers only, some are more business oriented. Here’s a short list of additional resources:

• Emberapp
• FreelanceSwitch Forums
• FreelanceFolder Forums
• Tutorial9
• 9Rules
• YourDesignForums

I hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to chime in and leave a comment below :)