There are times that a developer or designer loses inspiration or motivation.  I have never met anyone in the creative realm who has not lost that passion, at least for a little bit.  Fortunately, in the tech world, there are always new technologies to inspire and drive us toward creating a better product.

Front End / User Interface

  1. jQuery is your friend.  There are a ton of resources out there for learning jQuery.  This javascript library makes animation and effects in javascript 100x easier.  And for those of you who worry about loading times, jQuery is pretty light when packed and gzipped.  I have read some books on jQuery, but the best place to get started is just by downloading the library and reading through the docs.
  2. When redesigning a website, it is important that you find out what is working and what is not working.  While a bit of change is usually a good thing, presenting a totally new look and feel can cause users to feel uncomfortable with the site.  Heatmap applications will help you do your research before you make changes.  Check this one out.
  3. Twitter connects you to peers. While this resource will not guarantee that you will find great designs, it will help to inspire you.  Twitter boasts of connecting to millions of users.  It is super easy to find people that have similar tastes as you, so get to know them and see how they stay focussed.  If you are having a difficult time finding people, start with my feed.
  4. Design galleries. There are a ton of different galleries out there.  Browsing galleries submitted by your peers (and usually placed into categories) cannot help but to inspire you.  The galleries that I spend time on are CSS Elite, CSS Drive, and CSS Beauty.
  5. Find the impossible. There is nothing that motivates more than being told that “it can’t be done.”  It’s like when parents tell their children to not do something.  That child is now more interested than ever and is going to find a way to make it work.  Want a start?  Try developing rounded, gradiented buttons that work perfectly in every browser.  (No images, no hacks).  There are a ton of issues out there.  Find one and tackle it.

Back End / Database

  1. Learn from mistakes. See I did not say to learn from YOUR mistakes, but to learn from mistakes.  Don’t just be critical of other developers.  We know that they are not as good as you are.  So what.  Learn from what they do wrong.  Learn from what you do wrong.  Be willing to listen to others who may not agree with your style.  It will only improve your skills.
  2. Tackle a language. Don’t just learn a language that is similar to a language that you are strong in.  Learn a language that is really going to challenge you.  If you are great at PHP, learn ColdFusion.  If ColdFusion is your forte, learn Ruby (and then pick up the Rails framework).  Learning a new language will make you better at all languages.
  3. Open source projects. Not only do open source projects benefit the community as a whole, but open source projects also allow you to become a much better programmer.  You will work with developers from all over the world, getting used to their programming styles.  Take a look at Source Forge for a great start.
  4. Open up old projects. This can be scary, but can also prove to be very motivating.  Sometimes I feel like I am not making any progress as a developer.  Then I open up projects that I worked on six months or a year ago.  The second that I open up those files I know that I have come a long way.  You feel terrible about the old projects, but you know that your skills have improved greatly.
  5. Write a blog. Blogs benefit the entire community, but a blog, if you make the commitment, will also cause you to really spend time researching and growing as a developer.  Free blogs can be created at WordPress, or you can get in touch with me and I will provide my CMS to you (shameless plug).

Everyone Together Now

  1. Take a break. I played tennis all throughout highscool, and one of the things that I noticed time and time again was that I would actually be an improved player when I took a break for a while.  I often played (and pushed myself) for 3-4 hours per day.  I became a pretty decent player, but after time would begin to struggle.  Taking a break allowed my mind to relax and the play to become natural again.  When I came back I was usually  a much stronger player.  Web designers and developers spend way too much time working.  Take a break.  Your projects will thank you for it.
  2. Think Big. The biggest names in the development world didn’t just get there because they are good.  Often there are developers that are better than them.  They just thought about being the biggest and the best.  It is not always the skill, but almost always the desire.
  3. Word hard. It is really easy to settle for the easy money.  We all know that we can throw together a website in a couple of hours, place some ads, collect e-mails, and make some money.  If money is what you are after, then go for it.  If becoming better at your trade is your goal, then it is going to take hard work.  There is enjoyment and motivation in hard work.
  4. Connections, connections, connections. Finding people who will challenge you as a designer or developer is critical to your success.  Get plugged into a user group, read a blog daily (and comment on it), and/or go to conferences.  Adobe is always having conferences, so save up the money and head on over.
  5. Envato Network. Envato is behind Nettuts, PSDtuts, and so much more.  With tutorials posted on about every technical topic, quality learning is inevitable.  Reading the tutorials is a good start.  Spend some time and write your own tutorials and make some money ($150 each) while you advance as a designer/developer.

Linkage

Here are some sites/resources that I visit that inspire me each and every time-

  1. Ben Nadel. Ben is a ColdFusion guru and a blogging machine.  His expertise is ColdFusion, but he is solid in javascript (and the jQuery library), and has skills in pretty much any language that you can throw at him (and his Regex advice is priceless).
  2. Stumble Upon. If you aren’t using Stumble Upon then you are missing out.  Stumble Upon is a plugin for Firefox that connects to a central database and provides you with sites that you are interested in.  (Caution: can be addicting)
  3. Six Apart.  These are the guys (and gals) that created Type Pad.  They are really smart and have a lot of great stuff to say.  Most of their blog is about their blogging engine, but just learning about that has helped me grow.
  4. 37 Signals.  From the creators of Backpack and Basecamp comes this great blog that gives great business and programming tips.  Can’t live without it.
  5. Mark Cuban.  Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.  I hate the team (Go Warriors!), but the ramblings of Mark on his blog are priceless when it comes to growing in the business realm.  He talks about usability, monetization, and so much more.  After all, he did make his fortunes through the internet.