Keeping up to date on the latest trends and innovations is an essential part of our industry. Whether you’re a designer, developer, marketer, or in any related field, understanding the tools and techniques available helps you to create better solutions. However, best practices are constantly changing and improving, and it’s all too easy to fall behind. Luckily, there are a countless number of resources out there to help you stay connected and current, find inspiration, and explore new ideas.

If you aren’t sure where to start or are just looking for some fresh resources to add to your collection, we’ve put together a list of the TBH Creative team’s favorite go-to blogs for staying current and learning new things. Check it out!
TBH Creative Reading List 2017

Web Design & Development

A List Apart: Here you’ll find articles about a variety of topics, such as design, development, and general best practices for the web.

CSS Tricks: CSS Tricks explores the latest trends and newest techniques in web development, and includes an active community forum as well.

Codrops: Codrops is popular for its round-ups of style inspiration, tutorials, and freebies, making it a great resource for both designers and developers.

InVision: InVision doesn’t only offer an awesome prototyping tool, but also a great blog with articles exploring user experience, product design, and web design.

Medium: Browse through the design category on Medium to find a wide variety of articles, case studies, and more from its community of authors.

Site Point: On the Site Point website, you’ll find high-quality tutorials and other resources primarily focused around web development, touching on HTML, PHP, Javascript, and more.

Smashing Magazine: Smashing Magazine is one of the most popular industry blogs for a reason. It generates high-quality content within a variety of categories, including design, development, mobile, and user experience.

TreeHouse: TreeHouse is known for its tutorial library, but it also runs a helpful blog with resources, tutorials, and other industry-related articles.

Tuts+: If you’re looking for tutorials, the Tuts+ community should be your first stop. They manage multiple blogs, each focused on a different area of the creative industry, with premium content available as well.

UX Myths: UXMyths provides a collection of the “most frequent user experience misconceptions”, debunking each one. Whether you’re just starting out in UX design or are an experienced professional, you’ll find some great information here.

Web Designer Depot: Web Designer Depot is another popular industry blog, serving up a little bit of everything. Check it out for articles on trends, tools, resources, and more.
Web development is constantly evolving, with new technologies and tools popping up all the time. Following blogs that share news and insights from top developers is crucial in keeping up with the latest techniques and best practices.
– Kayleigh Circle, Web Developer

Digital Marketing

Business2Community: The Business 2 Community website is a one stop shop for articles about all facets of business. Their Digital & Social category covers a variety of inbound marketing topics and is a great resource for keeping up with the latest news and trends.

Content Marketing Institute: Check out the CMI website for a blog dedicated to the ins and outs of content marketing, as well as content marketing research and resources.

Entrepreneur: The marketing section of the Entrepreneur website is a great resource for keeping up with marketing news and best practices, covering a variety of marketing types.

HubSpot: It’s no surprise that HubSpot, one of the biggest leaders in marketing software, would run a high-quality marketing blog as well. It’s a great resource for those that work with inbound marketing on a regular basis.

Moz: The primary focus of the Moz blog is SEO marketing, but it also include articles about all facets of online marketing.

PEW Research: The PEW Research website offers reports, data, and other information centered around technology and the internet, making it a useful resource for marketers.

Reading lots of different materials helps me write in different tones and styles, and keeps my mind fresh. I like to take short reading breaks between projects just to shake off one style and get ready for the next.
– Barb Ruess, Project Manager/Content Editor

Inspiration

If you are looking for inspiration for website, graphics, emails, or other digital marketing materials, look no further than the following website:

Awwwards: Awwwards organizes their gallery of websites by category and tags, making it easy to find inspiration for specific types of projects.

Dribbble: Search through Dribbble for a huge variety of design samples from designers all over the world.

Pinterest: Pinterest is the perfect place to find inspiration for anything, including website designs, graphics, digital marketing materials, and more.

Digging into current marketing trends and best practices really helps our team to bring fresh perspective and ideas to the table. By periodically checking in with the latest in marketing and tech news, we are continually inspired by the work others are doing in the industry.
– Sarah Matlock, Digital Marketing Assistant
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