One of the big hurdles DIYers have trouble overcoming is landing on a design that feels right to them. It can feel like a real challenge to just pull something out of thin air design-wise. Even if we have a vague idea of what we want our design to look like, putting all the pieces together can be a long, slow slog that seems to never result in the thing you are hoping to accomplish.
When I am blocked or when I just want to kickstart ideas for design, I usually go over to the almighty Google and search “Design inspiration for _________”. More often than not, this is for website design, so I’ll take you on a little journey through the process.
The results page will likely have a lot of compilation articles that supply you with a wide variety of designs. The idea here is not to find something you want to copy exactly. The idea is to find elements, color schemes, design layouts that spark something for you.
If you have a design style that you like – and this doesn’t have to be in digital design – If you like vintage pop art as an example, try searching for “Design inspiration for vintage websites” and see if something there tickles your fancy.
Try Browsing Templates
Another place to search for design ideas is template directories. Many website builders, like Wix and Squarespace, have well-designed templates for their customers to use and customize with their own content. These collections of varied web designs can be a great place for inspiration, especially if you are using one of these web builders.
Here are some template collections to browse:
Squarespace templates: https://www.squarespace.com/templates
Wix templates: https://www.wix.com/website/templates/html/most-popular
Webflow templates: https://www.wix.com/website/templates/html/most-popular
Expectations vs. Reality
Remember, my DIY-loving friend, you CAN certainly build an amazing website on your own, but don’t let the design slow you down too much. Find something that you like looking at that is also simple, clean, easy to navigate. Having an amazing design is a nice to have. Having a website that has the right words, phrases and marketing messaging to attract your ideal customer/client/raving fans is the key to utilizing a website for it’s ultimate purpose.