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Blast. I have fallen so very, very far behind on my design blog. The poor thing began with such promise, but is now my neglected child (much like some of my school projects). It's difficult to keep up with such things when school work needs to be completed and tables need to be served. I suppose I'm currently suffering from a general lack of inspiration when it comes to design. Firstly comes rent, which must be paid, secondly comes school work, which more often than not this quarter is finished hastily and last minute, and lastly comes the pet projects I would so love to nurture; illustrations, graphic design, a website. I always have grand delusions of working on all of this while on co-op, but the money in my pocket and the bars across the street always seem to stand in the way.

Bah.

Anyways, I wonder how designers can maintain excitement about their work- or about design in general- even when they are overworked. Viewing inspirational work always kicks me into gear. Here are a couple of sites I generally reference when the need presents itself:

behance I'm sorry, but I'm a snob. I know core77 is an industry standard for student work, and I know it's better-known than behance, but in comparison it's the redheaded stepchild of the design community. Behance is just sleeker, the layout more legible, and the general quality of the work seems to be a bit more professional.

design21 design network with a focus on social design

thedieline the one, the only, the awesome collection of bomb-ass packaging.

ok, fine. If you can sift through all the crap: coroflot