Not long ago, I regularly browsed online design galleries to aid in finding inspiration when starting a new project. While I occasionally benefited from this kind of research, I realized that I was paying a dangerous amount of attention to momentary trends rather than actual design decisions. Gallery websites offer eye candy and that’s it, no in-depth analysis or critical discussions. Dribbble, on the other hand, encourages helpful feedback for design authors, which in turn teaches other viewers what went right or wrong in a particular design.

However, Dribbble is still young and is not perfect (nor should such be expected of it). For example, I’ve noticed that there are very distinct designer cliques that tend to hog the ball a lot. These designers can post shots of just about anything, even if the quality is mediocre or worse, and still receive praise of the highest sort. This isn’t really a problem with Dribbble though and has more to do with too many designers trying to be water boy for the all-stars.

To help level the playing field, I’ve done a couple things: First, I started checking out more shots from the “everyone” category instead of only those deemed “popular”. You’d be surprised at how many quality pieces go unnoticed because they weren’t fortunate enough to receive hundreds of likes. Secondly, I’ve tried to spread the word about any talented designers I find on Dribbble who I think deserve more recognition than they’re getting.

So, without further ado, here are some of latest favorites:

Seriousron has a unique artistic style with excellent use of solid shapes and grunge textures. Brutal Bands design remains one of my favorite shots on Dribbble.

Rick Murphy posts some really cool shots that always remind me of vintage posters. The colors and textures he uses are outstanding.

Michael Spitz is, hands down, one of the best logo designers I’ve found on Dribbble. He has an incredible knack for portraying a company’s target message using only what is essential to the design.

Martin Karasek is one of the more recent Dribbblers I’ve stumbled across and I’m really impressed with his GUI work. Whether it’s icons, an app, or a website, it looks like Martin can handle it all.

Matthew Skiles continually cranks out very clean designs that are usually different than the normal trends, which is awesome. His most recent shots have featured a beautiful exploration in textures and also icons.

Today, Rareview launched the latest version of their website, boasting their signature style and impressive Flash and Javascript enhancements. The work section, in particular, was creatively organized and includes notes for certain work screenshots. The blog was also updated and I lent a hand in creating the new WordPress theme.

Check out the new Rareview site and their latest projects. I guarantee it is unlike any other agency you’ve seen before.

• 9rules Live – expanded to give readers more options for viewing 9rules member content
• 9rules Member Site Profile – each 9rules member has a dedicated page for their site
• Topics – Find information quickly on popular topics
• my.9rules – customize your experience on 9rules

The way I see it, humans are centered around communcation. A deer in the woods makes all of its decisions based on instinct, from the moment it is born. Farmers see this all the time. A baby calf doesn’t need the milk bottled, warmed, and stuck between it’s lips; nature takes care of that from day one. If you think about most animals, this is how they live their lives, from innate knowledge and instinct. People have the added ability to reason, to process information, imagine, dream, and conjure up a slew of powerful ideas called “emotions.” Are we smarter than a deer for that? I don’t think so, but it does make things more complicated. With the power of choice, a person can actually say yes or no to their inner feelings. My gut might tell me a beefy Hummer would be more safe while my head might say I can’t afford the gas and am going to buy a plastic hybrid that fits in my back pocket.

I think where design comes in is that humans aren’t centered around survival of the fittest; it’s more like survival of the smartest. Nature eliminates the weak deer when they can’t outrun a coyote or aren’t tough enough to last a harsh winter. When it’s mating season, bucks duel other bucks to win the females, ensuring strong bloodlines since only the larger, healthier deer can impregnate. It’s a different story when it comes to humans. The wealthiest person might be the most feeble and live the longest because he or she has the funds for the best food, housing, medical support, etc.

We strive to use media to better ourselves. Think about the average American’s dose of news. People watch current events to be well informed and better decide how they want to live their lives and prepare for the future. Rarely do people wake up and turn on the t.v. in search of tragedy just for the heck of it, but they do keep up-to-date and seek information that may help their daily routine. If you’re watching a tsunami engulf Florida, you’re probably not going to order plane tickets to Disney World the next day.

Tying these two together, designers can use media (simply communication) to better their own “survival of the smartest” status. Although I might not enjoy every college assignment, I’ll probably try my best so that I can earn the grade and better myself. This isn’t necessarily feeding false work to the professors, but I wouldn’t say it is me being entirely honest either. There are times when I could have cared less about one of my class projects, but I did it anyway because of my future goals. That grade will hopefully lead to my graduation, to a job that requires college diploma, to a salary that will support a family…

So is “selling design” wrong? As with most things in life, it depends on the situation. There was a man who got in trouble for hauling a trailer of generators down to Katrina victims and selling them at a premium. Was he wrong? I don’t think so. He did not force anyone to buy his product and without his efforts, their wouldn’t have been any generators at all for the people who did buy them. I think the key is to find your own set of values and stick by them. If you’re creating a website to promote cancer research and an appreciative onlooker donates $5k, then congratulations. If you’re advertising a false miracle cure and taking money for it, you’re probably a bad person and deserve to be treated as such.

Two tests, the first I came up with in recent weeks and the second we’ve all been asked before:

1. If you had to choose losing your sight or hearing, which would it be?
   If you opt to lose hearing, you’re most likely an independent thinker who is less concerned for interaction with the rest of the world than you are for maintaining your own view. If you give up sight, you can still maintain a social connection, despite your loss of vision. While it is true deaf people have effective means of communicating, the person who chose to give up hearing would need many months or even years of learning these methods (sign language) before they could fluently communicate again.
2. If you made a million dollars tomorrow, what you do with the money?
   The answer is directly related to the above design concerns regarding ethical practice. The majority of people who would buy expensive toys, more houses than needed, and material goods for the themselves, are often the same people who would cut throats in business. If you’re spending spree includes gifts for loved ones and friends, you probably have decent values and would not use design other than to communicate a benign message.

Tutorials:

• Webdogpro
• Grey Cobra
• Pixel2life
• Bluesfear
• Spoono
• Photoshop Nation
• Shiver7
• Snecx
• The Web Machine
• Depiction
• Tutorialman
• FlashKit
• UltraShock
• Kirupa
• 3d Cafe

Artists

• Deviant Art
• Craig Mullens
• Feng Zhu
• Thomas Suurland
• Allstarr

Inspiration

• 2Advanced
• DigitalFussion
• Gizmo-Designs
• PixelRanger
• AdvanceFlash