Thoughts on Dribbble
I recently set up a Formspring account out of sheer curiosity. To my surprise, someone asked me almost immediately, “What do you think of dribbble.com?” I mentioned in my response that I could write a whole post to answer that one, so here’s what I said.
For years designers have been scouring CSS galleries and showcase sites for ideas and to keep up with trends. This has led to not only the imitation of certain styles and techniques, but entire concepts. Even I’m guilty of spending to long on an “inspirational” site, only to see far to much of it manifesting in my current project. Dribbble is great because it only gives you a taste of what someone is working on. You might see a shot and think, “Wow, that’s a really interesting text style.” From there you might begin to experiment with the technique in your work, integrating rather than imitating. While sites have been striving for years to inspire, Dribbble finally found the right balance.
Another reason I enjoy Dribbble is that it takes the inspiration and critique process and makes it social. Here you’re in a community of like-minded artists who can actually help you generate & evolve ideas. This is rewarding both socially as well as artistically.
Finally, I think Dribbble is just an interesting way to keep people up-to-date with what you’re working on. The same way Twitter has done this for thoughts, and Foursquare/Gowalla for location, Dribbble is another way to express who you are.
Feel free to check out my work on Dribbble.
