15 Design Blogs To Inspire Your Marketing Agency Jeanna Barrett Marketing teams have a fierce mission to develop original work for their clients or the brands they work for — whether that’s a piece of creative material, a memorable commercial, a cool Instagram post or a stellar re-brand. However, the market is so saturated with ideas, messaging and advertisements via any and every channel you could think of that it’s often more taxing to find that original concept that sets your agency and your client apart from the rest. We know an inspired team is a motivated and productive team, so without inspiration, it’s hard to get the work done at an impressive level. Well, we’re here to help. We built a list of blogs in various categories that will help ignite that spark of marketing inspiration again and knock out those next big projects. BRAND DESIGN A strong brand helps a consumer associate a business, product or service. To help a company sustain a positive and impactful brand is one of an agency’s most important marketing strategies. Below are five inspirational blogs that will help you create and support a top-notch brand. Brand New Brand New offers reviews and opinion pieces on other’s branding work. This blog is also a great resource to explain developments in the branding world — all according to their own opinion. The Dieline If you’re into packaging design — this blog is perfect for inspiration. It includes a wealth of materials such as articles, images, events, jobs and awards in the packaging design field. Adweek Although Adweek may be known more for sharing news related to the marketing and advertising industries, the publication also has a blog packed with articles, blog posts, galleries, videos and more. Adweek makes a habit of covering unique and creative campaigns when they launch, so it’s perfect for inspiration and keeping up on the industry’s biggest and best. Logo Design Love The importance of a logo cannot be understated. This blog is completely devoted to logos and how they associate with brand identity. Identity Designed This blog focuses on different types of brand identities throughout the world, focusing on different design and aesthetics from difficult cultures. PRINT DESIGN Even though digital design has become a major focus in the marketing industry these days, we can’t forget the importance of print design. If you need inspiration and ideas to help your clients attract new customers, expand offerings and grow brands offline through print design, below are a few blogs to help inspire you to do so. For Print Only For Print Only shows the latest printed projects, while writers get extremely detailed regarding the design and print production methods. PRINT Though this publication obviously comes in hard copy, the blog features interviews with some of today’s most renowned print designers. It also offers tips for skill-building within the realm of print design. Grain Edit It can be challenging to visualize print work while completing it on screen. This blog gives tons of tips and tutorials for building a beautiful print design. You the Designer This graphic design lifestyle blog often highlights the best in print design (it even includes comics!). This blog releases new articles almost daily and is filled with tips and tricks for print designers. InDesign Secrets InDesign is the most complicated, yet best-maintained software for print design and this blog provides a ton of information for designers who use this software. WEB DESIGN It’s a no-brainer that web presence is one of the most important pieces of your client’s overall marketing strategy and brand identity. We found five of the top blogs to help inspire and motivate you while you execute your next web-based deliverables. Httpster This blog features innovative and beautiful website designs made by designers everywhere. Webdesigner Depot Anything you need to know is at your fingertips with this blog — from UX ideas to color guides and typography — you can read and learn about it here. Designrfix Web designers need to bookmark this blog. The blog’s daily articles offer new ways to learn how to be more productive, new frameworks and methodologies, as well as design inspiration. A List Apart A List Apart is mainly a web design blog but also offers topics that discuss web standards and best practices in design, which is a MUST KNOW in the marketing field. UX Magazine UX is just as important as the design itself and should be done cohesively and with both in mind. This is an online magazine that offers the latest in UX strategy. Designers, writers, developers, and even account executives — any professional in the marketing industry should stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends — not just for the knowledge, but for the inspiration. You never know when blogs and examples just like the above will trigger a spark that fuels you to produce some of the best client work you’ve ever created. You might even find your brand being the next innovative feature on Adweek. AUTHOR BIO Jeanna Barrett is the Founder & Chief Strategist of First Page, an award-winning online marketer and an expat entrepreneur. Through content, social media and SEO, Jeanna uses the power of words and data to drive growth in brand awareness, organic traffic, leads, revenue and customer loyalty. She has a combined 12 years of inbound marketing experience at venture-backed startups, digital agencies and Fortune 500 companies, with an expertise focus on small business and technology. She’s been named ‘Top 40 Under 40’ of brand marketers and ‘Best in the West’ for financial technology marketing. In 2016, Jeanna left the U.S. to lay roots and build her business in Belize.