The internet is the biggest library filled with more than enough reading materials, multimedia resources, and discussion about industrial design as well as the CAD services field. Whether you are a student or professional currently pursuing mastery of technical skills or any specific knowledge related to the study of design, the following blogs (in no particular order) offer tons of information about and insight into design trends of numerous categories as well as tips and tricks on how to hone your technical and business skills in increasingly competitive markets.
1. Design Juices
As a blog created to inspire, Design Juices can fulfill your hunger for ideas on digital arts, animations, product designs, commercial art forms, illustrations, fashion, typography, and industrial design. It is more than just a collection of information gathered from events or news outlets, but an assortment of works by many UK-based popular designers showcased in a friendly blog interface. The inspiration category, as the name suggests, gives many great examples of creative works that you can use as the foundation for your next project. One thing that separates Design Juices from a lot of other design blogs is the “Interview” portion where seasoned designers give their personal and professional opinions regarding design trends, approaches, and motivations. A massive collection of posts from major universities in the UK is also there for you to explore.
2. Dexinger
Regardless of your specialization in the design industry, Dexinger has some of the most valuable resources for you to read. Think of it as an online portal to connect you with experts, organizations, firms, and the industry at large. You can also examine a long list of books and museums to deepen your knowledge about the art of design. The blog has been publishing design news, events, and competitions since 2001.
3. Design Observer
The main focus on Design Observer is architecture and industrial designs, but the interesting part is that the blog tries to see them from the perspective of culture and politics. In short, Design Observer gives ideas about how the world utilizes design vice versa. It also offers some seemingly bizarre topics and contents you will not find on any other website. Topics like Accidental Mysteries (filled with interesting design histories and provocative arts), Obituaries (remembrances of great designers via their works), Reputations (stories and careers of renowned designers), Public + Private, Theory + Criticism, and many more provide examples of unique material. The website also has job listings from organizations and firms all around the world.
4. Creative Fluff
The blog comes with detailed reading materials about various aspects of designs categorized into five major categories including Illustration, Design, Culture, Film, and Fashion. In its “Modern Masters” and “Interview” sections, Creative Fluff tries to give you even deeper insight into designers’ minds about their best creations. You are allowed to submit your creative works, photography, or articles to the blog.
5. Design Milk
One way to look at Design Milk is that it is a blog created by professionals for professionals. All contents are carefully curated to use quality reading materials and recourses. Topics mostly revolve around art, architecture, styles, interior design, and technologies. Reading materials vary from articles about simple desktop wallpapers to super high-tech 3D scanner mirrors. Design Milk is reasonably one of the most popular blogs for designers today, proven by various publications in Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Time Out New York; it was also one of Google Reader “Staff Picks.” Much of its contents have been featured in popular magazines and TV shows as well. Some articles review and link to current popular products with notable designs, which can serve as good inspiration besides the more usual mainstream design blogs. All in all, Design Milk is a healthy daily dose of information to motivate you to keep on being creative and improving your ability to market creativity.
6. Designophy
For a blog that claims to be the “intermediary of design knowledge” created for designers and the general public, Designophy’s interface is not particularly eye-catching or even friendly. While it can do better with that specific aspect, the contents are always useful. Most (if not all) articles and publications are taken from other websites but with links to redirect you to the sources. The more interesting part of the blog is the “Designpedia” section where you can see popular product designs from decades gone by, all the way the back to the early 1900s, making it an impressive retrospective of design history. The interview section is filled with the opinions of well-known designers and often showcases their work.
7. designboom
Founded in Milan in 1999, designboom claims to be the first and most popular digital architecture and design magazine. TIME magazine included it in the 2007 list of TOP 100 influencers in Style & Design category, so at least the claim is backed by recognition from a reputable publication. You can think of the blog as photo albums of the world’s great product designs for decorations, vehicles, buildings, clothing, helmets, lighting, cutlery, and everything else that comes to mind. It also has a SHOP page where everybody is welcome to introduce and sell their creations online. Considering the blog has about 4 million readers worldwide, it is an excellent marketplace for starters and freelancers.
8. Tuvie
Modern, cutting-edge product designs make most of the content in Tuvie. Some designs featured in it are still in concept stage, but everything is attached to the good description from a design perspective. One of the biggest categories, Architecture, is filled with various subsections for examples home, garden, interior, and office. Cars also account for a good portion of the contents, and it is a good thing that the blog groups the posts based on car brands; the same thing applies to phone design. For a collection of the most notable designs, take a look at the Best of the Best category. Tuvie even allows everyday designers and inventors to submit their products for reviews, providing an excellent opportunity for beginners to test ideas and concepts.
9. Develop3D
One of the best sections of Develop3D is the “Reverse Engineering” category which discusses the basic process of making a design. For those who are interested in both the design and engineering parts of product creations, this is a great blog to read (and follow). The design process involves a lot of technical difficulties – unless the product is simple enough that it does not require complex parts assembly – as it should be, and beginners often overlook the technical feasibility of a design when they are drowned in concept sketches. Mostly about digital design, Develop3D analyses and disseminates current technologies used by successful designers.
10. Cool Material
A vast majority of the posts in Cool Material are aimed towards consumers, but it does not mean there is nothing here for designers and inventors. After all, all designers need inspirations and motivations to come up with brilliant ideas now and then. In 2009 when the blog just started, almost everything was about exciting, unique products that people want. Now the focus has shifted quite a bit that it also gives designers a chance to get a glimpse of what the market is currently craving. Cool Material doubles as an online shop as well where you can see a lot of carefully crafted product designs in some categories such as office, outdoor, home, carry, drink, gifts, and more.
11. DesignMind
If you want high-quality stories about industrial design, and not just tips and tricks or a collection of concepts that looks like a product listing, DesignMind has you covered. The world of design is not merely about the technical aspects of product creation, but also market trends related to global consumer culture and how the public sees design as important everyday life. Popular posts such as The Future of Industrial Work, Aged to Perfection, and Creativity with a Cause do not focus on the technical parts, but the surrounding atmosphere of design that every designer cannot possibly escape. DesignMind offers more serious insight into the industry and gives new perspectives that some designers often completely miss.
12. Above the Clouds
You might as well call it “AutoCAD Insider and Tutorial Blog” because Above the Clouds is written by AutoCAD Technical Marketing Manager, Heidi Hewitt. It is filled with a lot of explanations and tutorials on how to use the popular software for visualization and modeling. The author has worked in many different (and important) positions for Autodesk: Training Specialist, Technical Marketing Manager, Product Support Technician, and Senior Applications Engineer to name a few. If you want someone to teach you about AutoCAD design, there are very few (if any) that can do it better than Heidi Hewitt. The blog covers broad topics including but not limited to 3D Modeling, 3D Visualization, Layers, Dynamic Blocks, Interface, etc.
13. Car Body Design
The title says it all: everything about Car Body Design is related to the design aspects of cars. You would assume that this is strictly for professionals, but the way the contents are written make you realize that the blog is also for students and general automotive enthusiasts. It has tutorials, news, sketches, and even original projects for you to explore. Surprisingly enough, Car Body Design allows you to download a lot of 3D models of various car models, free of charge. Combined with the 2D and 3D modeling tutorials provided on the blog, this blog is an excellent place to spend time learning and practicing.
14. Creative Review
It is an excellent place to read a sharp analysis of current design trends from reputable professionals. Creative Review is also filled with countless advice and opinions on life and design industry at large. It has been almost four decades since it was launched, and the blog keeps on growing in its scope of discussions and its community of readers. It has connected many brilliant ideas from creative individuals from different specializations since 1980. Creative Review is based in the UK, but more than half of its readers are actually based somewhere else. The blog talks about great works of art from many designers, and analyze why or how those works are important.
This blog asks how open-minded you are when dealing with many different challenges from the ideas of others. Categories include Art, Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Photography, Health, Lost Masterpieces, Digital, and more. There is also an interesting “David Bowie” category.
15. Just Creative
The blog belongs to Jacob Cass, a professional graphic designer who has worked with prestigious clients including Nike, CAPCOM, Red Bull, Disney, Jerry Seinfeld, Nintendo, and so much more. In addition to being an information blog filled with reading materials revolving around the graphic design industry, the blog also features Jacob Cass’ impressive portfolio. The articles talk about a wide range of topics like web design, interviews, freelancing tips, design trends, and inspirations. Assuming you are thinking about offering design services online as a freelancer, the blog gives a good example of how every page should be done. Some popular contents such as 2018 Graphic Design Trends + Inspirational Showcase, Single Page Web Design: Trends, Tips & UX Advice, Design, Freelance & Travel with Jacob Cass, and Jacob Cass on Brand Marketing Blog should give you a glimpse of how broad the discussion is on the blog.
16. Eye on Design
With more than 122 reputable contributors, Eye on Design is a busy blog where you can learn how the industry develops and evolves. It dissects the works of the world’s most established designers brand names and introduces you to new, exciting, and emerging professionals. There are seven large categories in the blog including Books, Digital, Branding, Magazines, Illustration, Typography, and Graphic Design. You will find some interesting topics as well in the Rejected Design and Design History 101 sections. Eye on Design is part of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the largest and oldest non-profit design organization in the United States.
17. Brand, Packaging & Opinion
Richard Baird, the author of the blog, has written many works for The Dieline, Design Week, and Brand New; he has been featured in Computer Arts magazine as well. His reputation makes it safe to say that he is the most qualified person to tell the world about logo design and packaging. A lot of articles are expressive and heavily opinionated. Another good thing is that, despite his reputation, he does not hesitate to review and analyze lesser-known logos for examples. You can regard everything simply as “just somebody’s opinions,” but an opinion is often the driving force behind any form of design including logo and packaging.
18. Brand New
Another blog about logo design, Brand New makes a good blend of editorial and community-based contents. In its simple way, it is a collection of hundreds (if not thousands) of logos seen on popular products, online, services, political organizations, and companies. The “Spotted” category features notable logos worthy of discussion, and everyone is welcome to express opinions on the blog. Other categories include Reviewed, Noted, Linked, Announced, and Sponsored. The logos discussed here are not only those used for commercial branding but also religions, education, charity, and advocacy. The collection of logos in this blog is seemingly endless. You can think of it as an all-in-one logo craze.
19. Graphic Exchange
Also known as The Blog of Mr. Cup, Graphic Exchange is an image-heavy blog filled with a massive assortment of designs in various categories from simple objects to packaging, from letterpress to music and movies. The blog shows you what good design is and what makes a design good enough.
20. CIA – Central Illustration Agency
Here is another photo-dense blog divided into three large sections including Illustration, Motion, and Physical. The number of works featured in the blog is quite overwhelming since it is updated almost on a daily basis. It covers everything from 3D rendering, wood engraving, motion graphics, to sculptural installation. The “News” portion is filled with carefully selected contents linked to social media. Regardless of your specialization, chances are you will find a lot of things to tickle your creative side. Every page is like an explosion of ideas.
21. Gurafiku
According to the blog, the contents are results of research into the history of graphic design in Japan. It is exactly that, and the designs featured go back to the 1800s. In case you have not noticed, Japanese designs have some of the most unusual, yet universal, ideas that you can incorporate into many of your future projects.
22. The Dieline
The Dieline discusses packaging designs. Before Andrew Gibbs came up with The Dieline, he had spent years designing for Jelly Belly, Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond. As the blog developed over time, he was joined by more contributors to help him run and manage the online platform. Its thumbnail layout makes it easier for you to navigate the pages and contents. You will find lots of exciting approaches to product packaging designs you probably have not heard of or seen before. The blog offers in-depth discussions about various objects, along with the design trends & news every packaging designer should know. Every post is grouped based on product categories such as Fashion, Beverage, Home & Garden, Toys & Games, Pets, etc. Even packaging materials have their categories.
23. Core77
With a long list of categories, filled with more contents than you can read in an entire day, Core77 is a truly authoritative design blog across the Internet. It offers a huge number of articles and discussion forums that every student and established professional can appreciate. There is also a job listing section from various organizations with many different design specializations. In the Reader Project category, you can read contents and ideas from everyday inventors.
24. Yanko Design
Despite its seemingly small number of categories (Architecture, Technology, Automotive, and Lighting), the blog is not short on ideas and inspirational contents even for seasoned designers. It is more of an online magazine than a blog, covering design news and trends on an international scale. If you think the categories are too restrictive, click “Random” to get a blast of product design ideas you probably never knew existed.
25. Fast Co. Design
To satisfy your hunger for information about industrial design, Fast Company blog should be on your must-visit list. Judging by the design and quality of the articles, you can safely say that this blog means business. It talks not only about ideas, but real, influential, ideas with profound impacts on the industry. One of the latest posts – These are the 397 most inspiring, innovative designs of 2018 – gives you a glimpse into the number of ideas you can absorb from the massive blog.
26. Cool Hunting
Art, technology, culture, and design are always interconnected, and Cool Hunting makes a strong statement about that. The blog accumulates news, trends, and innovations in industrial design, then compile everything in a pretty format anybody can stare at for many hours every day. There are six categories to explore: Design, Tech, Culture, Food + Drink, Travel, and Style. It also has a “Buy” section filled various products discussed and recommended for consumers.
27. Best CAD Tips
Authored by Mark Sadler, a consultant for Revit, the blog has resources for targeted towards design professionals rather than non-technical readers. Tips and tutorials on 3D CAD design, automation, and Revit accounts form the majority of the contents. Students and new designers can learn a good deal from the blog, too.
28. Between the Lines
Shaan Hurley, an Autodesk technologist, is the man behind the blog. He knows a lot of things about industrial design and maybe everything there is to know about Autodesk. Some of the recurrent topics he writes about include Generative Design, Photography, Autodesk Products, Fusion 360, and Construction. It may not be useful for casual design readers but is invaluable for professional designers.
29. Edison Nation Blog
Everyday inventors know about Edison Nation. This blog is the place that connects them with a big community of designers, investors, prototype developers, and custom manufacturers. Its main website has helped individuals and small companies to bring their products, inventions, and designs to the market. The blog is not that much different. The blog is filled with helpful resources about 3D printing, the design process, crowd-funding, licensing, and basic inventing 101.
30. Japanese Design
As previously mentioned in the “Gurafiku” blog introduction above, (#26) design approaches from Japan are as exciting as they can get. That being said, it is unfortunate that few English blogs focus mainly on e-designs from the Far East. The Japanese Design blog tries to fill the void. Have a look at several posts such as Architecture for Dogs, Pop up Animal by Yu Matsuda, and The Space of Flowers and Birds to get a good idea of how exciting the creations are.
31. ProductDesignHub
It is a place for industrial designers from all over the world to share stories and ideas. A lot of posts in the blog revolve around the topics from product design including the process and advice as well as 3D printing and taking advantage of crowd-funding platforms. The blog focuses heavily on new designers including freelancers and everyday inventors currently still trying to navigate their way into the industry.
32. SolidSmack
Discussions about 3D CAD and engineering technology take a good portion of SolidSmack. The posts are written in language that even the most casual readers will have no problems following. As you browse from page to page, it is easy to capture a sense of the randomness of topics, with relevance to industrial design. SolidSmack tells you what the trends are in the market; not only design trends but also recent technologies and popular tools used by popular designers. It features interviews with well-known professionals, product reviews (software and hardware for modeling), engineering tools, and the “SMACKDOWN” category where the force of the randomness is even stronger.
33. Bicycle Design
If there is a blog dedicated specifically to discussions about car design, it only makes sense to see the same approach to any other vehicle, including bicycles. James Thomas, the person behind the blog, is an industrial designer and passionate cyclist. The blog had been busy for ten years until Thomas decided to stop updating it at the end of 2015. However, Bicycle Design is still up and running, with archived contents that you can read anytime. It contains valuable and relevant information about bicycle aerodynamics, material, structural rigidity, design concepts, and the science of cycling in general. The author now has a new blog called JCT Design, which covers broader design topics.
34. Product Design and Development
Product design, materials, and prototyping account for the vast majority of the contents here, but there is a healthy portion of posts revolving around the business side of industrial design, too. Technology and its implementation in modern devices are also heavily featured. There is a lot of information to consider here, yet the categorization and the configuration make navigating the blog between every post a breeze. Everyday inventors can use the blog’s “Company Guide” to search for manufacturers that offer the right kind of services to materialize ideas and innovations.
35. DesignBytes
The blog is owned and run by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), and designBYTES is part of it. That being said, designBYTES can stand on its own as a full-blown design blog that features unbelievably varied topics about trends, ideas, design history, the automotive industry, movies, advice, robotic innovations, fashion, and much more. When you switch to the “Education” category from the main blog, you can read some quality materials compiled by professionals.
36. Industrial Design Sandbox
You may not think that this is a serious design blog as soon as you notice its free domain. While this is true most of the time, Industrial Design Box is an exception; the contents are written by Jason Morris, an associate professor of industrial design at Western Washington University, so yes, he is qualified to make a blog about design. The blog has been active since May 2007, and the latest update was in May 2018. He may not know a whole lot about website layout, but surely he understands more than most people when it comes to industrial design. There isn’t even clear categorization, but it is always a good thing to explore every post in a blog, especially when it is authored by someone with the unquestionable credentials of Jason Morris.
37. Behance
The Curated Galleries category in Behance is filled with enormous collections of ideas in Product Design, Illustration, Crafts, Advertising, Fashion, Architecture, etc. It is an eye-candy type of a blog where you can browse all day, and you want to do it again after you get to the last bit of it.
38. Packaging of the World
It sounds like a great name for a blog about packaging design, and it lives up to expectations. You are greeted by thumbnails of various common products right at the home page. Moreover, you can sort them based on countries, product categories, and even the packaging materials used. Every post is image-heavy accompanied by concise write-ups discussing what design is all about.
39. ID Sketching
There are hundreds of rough sketches of various products on this blog. You will find a sketch of a lighter, fire extinguisher, a building, a vacuum cleaner, robots, and everything else in between. Another good feature is the designer lists the tools utilized to come up with the attached sketch. Most (if not all) the works are licensed under Creative Commons, and that makes the blog better.
40. Noupe
If you are craving tips, tricks, and tutorials on website design, Noupe is the blog to visit. Most of the contents are about digital arts including WordPress design and website development in general. Of course, there are plenty of blogs offering the same things, but Noupe sees everything from real designers’ points of view. In addition to common topics such as CSS, graphics, and typography, you can also find interviews with popular web designers. There are free tutorial services to create and manage your WordPress blogs.
41. Logo Design Love
It started as a book about logo and design; then it transformed into an excellent online place for just about anybody (not just designers but also consumers) to dig deeper into the stories and motivation underneath the industry. The book “Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities” is still available in popular online stores. The blog itself thrives in the online world thanks to its opinionated insights into design-related subjects. Some popular articles such as Famous Logos Drawn from Memory, Cultural Difference in Logo Design, and Evolution of the LEGO Logo are just a few of many great readings that can give you new perspectives toward the logo design paradigm. The blog takes its time between updates, but each one is worth waiting for and reading.
42. Trend List
The main discussion in Trend List is typography. The general public may not pay too much attention to how intense the process is to develop the design of each word and letter in their products, but designers understand that graphics, motifs, designs, language, and cultures play crucial roles. Just like everything else in the design industry, typography cannot escape the influence of “current trends” and market demands. The Trend List makes it clear that everyone needs a collection of samples and inspiration to be creative with typeface. There are 34 categories on the blog, and some of them are filled with thousands of contents; each features a long list of design samples from which you can take inspiration.
43. Identity Designed
Logo Design Love and Identity Design are related, the latter was launched two years following the former. The user-interface and web layout in them are remarkably similar. Identity Design is filled with a collection of logos from many different companies attached to an explanation about how the visual hints reflect the identities and values of the owners. The blog is simple, straightforward, and more importantly useful. Even non-designers would enjoy reading the contents as they try to figure out the implicit meaning of so many different logos and how a company often goes the extra mile to develop just the right design.
44. David Airey Blog
Some blogs are created simply to function as a digital notebook or diary where the author can pour their thoughts into the Internet. Take the David Airey Blog as an example: the layout is easy on the eyes, and the contents are valuable to read. David Airey also is the author of Logo Design Love, and you shouldn’t be surprised once you visit the blog. He does not discuss the book on the blog, but he gives practical tips and suggestions for all designers. There are only two major sections: Advice for Design Students which offers a lot of information that all beginners will find useful, and A Few Good Books filled with recommended reading materials. Behind its simplicity, David Airey Blog is a thoughtful blog as reflected by many articles including Reflections on Design Self-Employment, A Manifesto on Writing for Design, Be Brilliant At the Basics, and Quality vs. Quantity.
45. Women of Graphic Design
Whether or not you want to admit it, industrial design is a field still pretty much dominated by male professionals, and that’s why the blog focuses on featuring the works of female designers, mostly on books and posters. The blog compiles a lot of design creations from female professionals from all around the world in a celebratory style. Also, Women of Graphic Designs explores and exposes a lot of gender-equality issues in design education institutions.
46. The Book Design Blog
It is all about the design and arts poured into books, book covers, and magazines including the self-published ones. In the Recommended Design Book section, it gives you short introductions to great resources in various categories including Graphic Design in General, Print & Printmaking, Typography & Layout, Creativity, and Book Design & Self Publishing. Every recommended book is attached with a link that redirects you to a store where it is available. Most of the posts only come with short descriptions, but the images should be more than enough inspirational contents. An interesting “Everything Else” page features contents about book-like objects with interesting design choices.
47. Grain Edit
The amusing part of Grain Edit is how it focuses on old book designs from the previous decades, mainly between the 1950s and the 1970s. Contemporary designs are included too as long as they are inspired or based on those from the right period. There are plenty of rare, vintage designs to see here, in addition to articles and interviews to broaden your design perspective and knowledge. Unfortunately, the blog layout is not quite user-friendly, so you may have to do some scrolling to find what you’re looking for.
Conclusion
Industrial design is an increasingly saturated industry for new designers and innovations relentlessly entering the market at a rapid rate. The good thing is that the online world is not short on resources and inspirations to help you to stay sharp and full of ideas. Use this post as a form of free education to harness the knowledge to continue to improve and work to your potential.
Interested in working as a freelance industrial designer? Search our industrial design contests as a starting point for growing your skillset and portfolio.