These aesthetically-centered sites will open your mind to the world and what people are keeping their eyes on right now.
The Fancy
A lot of great designs come from looking at other great designs. The late Steve Jobs attributed his innovations from his observations at Xerox PARC to this: “Picasso had a saying — ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’ — and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” I’m not recommending that you necessarily steal ideas, but a lot of great ideas can be transferred. I know I’m definitely inspired when I see a good design to admire it and share it with the world. This is exactly what The Fancy is for: to collect and share stuff that you find cool. The Fancy specializes in sharing stuff — sculptures, pencil cases, boots, travel destinations, and the such. The Fancy has a home page that is a stream other users have “fancied.” You can Fancy something by hovering your cursor over it and clicking the green Fancy button. Alternatively, if you’ve found something on the internet that you really love (which you will), you can use the bookmarklet Fancy provides to add it to your collection and the Fancy database. Like what you’re reading? Sign up for free and try The Fancy.
FFFFOUND!
Streams of images are growing more and more popular. With the ever-so-hilarious Reddit memes and 9GAG pictures, there is no shortage of visual stimuli. FFFFOUND! is just that: a stream of images that seek to inspire .These images are collections of people’s favorite images from around the Internet. FFFFOUND! has a huge diversity of images, ranging from architecture to industrial design, to graphics and advertisements and so much more. Naturally, FFFFOUND! also adapts to your styles and tastes. By loving an image, you will have shown FFFFOUND! which images you prefer and which ones inspire you. If you like what you’re reading, have a look at FFFFOUND!
Wanelo
There’s cool stuff and stores all around us. I’m sure those of you who live near your city’s core or heart, or have had the chance to be in such an environment, understand what I’m talking about. That is the premise of Wanelo, short for Want Need Love. Wanelo is the one service that forces you to sign up via Facebook. Although irritating at first, this is actually a feature that forces people to be social and by default share Wanelo discoveries with their Facebook account. This is great! It encourages sharing and shows your closest network things you discover even though they might not have an account on Wanelo. Naturally, Wanelo also features a bookmarklet that allows you to add things to your Wanelo collections from around the web with a click of the mouse. Wanelo shows you unique products and stores that you’ve never heard of. If you like the sound of that, check out Wanelo!
Lyst
If you’re specifically interested in fashion, Lyst might be just the place for you. Lyst is an aggregation of people’s collections of articles of clothing, as well as runway images and all. Although this was a bit too fashionable for my taste (I prefer the simpler things in life), I know there are a lot of designers that can find inspiration in what they wear, or what other people wear. You may not run into fashionable strangers when you want to, but with Lyst you can actually purposely seek out inspiration from fashion and the way people express themselves. Check out Lyst for your fashion inspiration. As a side benefit, you may actually get to stay up-to-date on styles.
Svpply
To wrap it all up, I’d like to introduce you to what I consider the cleanest and most refined of the bunch: Svpply. Naturally, Svpply has the bookmarklet capabilities of the other services as well. It focuses on cool gadgets and fashions. Additionally, Svpply just has a very beautiful, clean UI. This isn’t always executed so well, and in a network of this aesthetic nature it has come to be an expectation for me. Like the other services, it also integrates shopping very well into the service. Check out Svpply and have a look at what kind of stuff everyone on the web is loving! These fountains are hopefully able to break through your writer’s/designer’s/artist’s block! They’re just the tip of the iceberg. If you find yourself thirsty for more, check out Nuji, Pinterest, Gimmebar, and Sumally. They all require an invite, but some will be easier to get than others! Best of luck.
