No matter where you live and how you live, you are part of some community. As a creative, you are a part of the community of brilliant and passionate designers and developers just like yourself.
The creative community is certainly one of the strongest community there is, whether you realize it or not. Every creative has unique ideas, but those ideas are not simply kept within, but spread throughout the community. Designers are inspired by other’s works and are consistently spreading knowledge. On top of the spread of ideas, truly passionate designers are all very supportive of one another and help others.
Here I have over twenty popular bloggers, website owners, and studio owners to share with you exactly why they have come to love the design community. To make this even better, I’d love to hear from you, so I would like this to be an “open mike” post. You can add to the post by answering the question “Why do you love the creative community?” via comments.
I love the creative community because of the generosity shown between the members. The creative community is one of the best places to head for design inspiration as well as being a valuable resource for help and advice, there’s always an influx of suggestions when a technical question is put out to the community through services such as Twitter.
David Leggett – Tutorial9
The design community seems to understand internet culture making them a fun crowd to be a part of online. There’s always creativity and knowledge being shared… it’s all just very communal.
I love the creative community because everyone is helpful, positive, and uplifting to each other. Everyone helps everyone, and its just good karma all around. Whether it be help on a design, coding, whatever, there is always someone with a willing ear or a helping hand! Since I have became involved with the creative community I have grown(and hopefully have helped others grow) as a better designer/developer. I would like to thank all of you for your kindness and acceptance. I think of all of you as equals and friends. I am honored to be with such a great group of people.
David Perel – From the Couch
I would definitely say that the thing I love most is the fact that everyone is willing to help everyone. It’s not like the sport I came from where it is “dog eat dogâ€. Instead people are always willing to lend a hand, outsource and even punt your skills despite the fact that you are their competition.
I think that what we have is very unique and other communities out there could definitely learn from the way we all interact.
Their are a bunch of reasons why I think the design community rocks, but one in particular really sticks out. It’s just how far the people in the community will go to help one another. I can think of countless times when I’ve been helped by other designers through email, social media and forums. And just think of how many open-source apps you probably use daily. Add in all the helpful blogs and the good friends made and you got yourself a recipe for an awesome community.
In the past two years I have come to find a place that always seeks to lend a hand and share it’s knowledge with others. This place isn’t just under one roof, but it is the global locations of the design/creative community at large. From the likes of @vpieters (Veerle Pieters) in Belgium to @mayhemstudios (Calvin Lee) in Los Angeles to @collis (Collis Ta’eed) who works in Canada but has a team all over the world with the @envato network. These people are just a few who I would like to thank for helping me (either directly or indirectly) along my way to becoming a better designer/creator for the web. Being able to meet people through my blog and via twitter have really shown me the value of a community that works together. And that’s why I love the creative community.
There are so many reasons why, but to name a few I love the daily sources of inspiration. I love going into my feed reader and seeing new showcases and collections of inspirational work. I love how designers, developers, bloggers share so much. Sharing, tips, hacks, tutorials, plugins, themes and almost all of them are free, and in some cases if you pay.. they are always worth it.
These are the many reasons why I chose to start my blog, I wanted to share my thoughts and inspirations that I find, that some others might not have found.
The design community has provided me not only the opportunity to meet awesome people that I have similar passions as, but also some great new friends. I have lost count of the times that I have reached out for help with a design/code question, or some input/feedback on my blog and got great response. i love the idea that we are all trying to make something for ourselves, and we can help each other out along the way.
The creative community is like one big giant group of friends you can talk to anytime of the day or night. They are willing to help out with a digg, float or retweet. Also great in giving advise and critiques on projects or inspiration. The creative community is a tight knit group that is like family that watches out for each other.
Couple of years ago when I was in slow and drop times. I hurt my arm really bad and didn’t have any medical insurance or money to see a doctor. The HOW Design forum members chipped in and collected a little over $500 for me to go see a specialist and get an MRI done. In the end, everything worked. I’m grateful for the creative community because they CARE!
Liam McKay – Function
I think for me, one of the main reasons that the design community is such a strong unit is down to the fact that people are more than willing to share. This goes for anything from sharing freebies that might be useful to other designers, and sharing information, things such as tutorials, advice, and experience. If someone is willing to put in the time to help you improve yourself then you should have great respect for that person. When you have a whole community willing to give time to help you grow, then they deserve that same level of respect.
I love the creative community because no one is out to put anyone else down. Everyone is really passion
Tagged as: blogs, community, designers
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{ 23 comments }
That reads beautifully
. Its nice to know what people think, people who are a vital part of the community. I recently just discovered this amazing network of creative souls and I was instantly blown away by how humble everyone is. I mean, they are sensational in every single way .. the way they think, the way they visualise, the way they create … and yet they think nothing of it. Their love for what they do is hard to miss and is very infectious. I love that the creative community draws you into being one of their own, no questions asked!
A great post!! I feel honored to be apart of a community that is so open and sharing. This post just makes you realize how special of an industry we are in. No matter what your specialty is or where you are from, everyone is welcome. Plus it’s nice to be with people who can understand the madness!! :^)
Hey Matt! Great feeling to be in there alongside such great designers! Thanks!
Great post! Thanks for allowing me to be a part of it.
Thanks for the feature! You and everyone else listed here are great! The community rocks. Honored as always to take part!
Wow, I love how you got so many industry professionals input. Communities are a great way to learn things that you never knew existed. I love learning new and interesting tools/features/advances/etc everyday! Even more: I love sharing those with other industry professionals.
Hi Matt! Thank you so much for including me in this great list. It is an honour for me as I adore many of the other designers. All the best for everyone!
It works well, like having a studio filled with thousands of helpful/ resourceful individuals and a few very funny ones!!!!
Nice post Matt! Thanks for including me. A post like this is yet another reason why the design community rocks!
This is an amazing article and I feel honoured to be part of it. The design community is so special. It’s great to read all these positive statements and I can relate to all of them!
I am very much a newbie and I am truly inspired to find such a helpful group of people wiling to share their knowledge and expertise. Hopefully I will soon be able to return the favor.
Thanks for including my statement in this post Matt, appreciated. There’s some good and interesting responses to your original question…
It’s you, in this Creative Community, sharing ideas freely, opening doors for others — people you don’t and probably won’t ever personally know, like the kids in my media arts classes, some of whom have literally come into their own, finding themselves through creative expression — it’s you whom I thank and honor with these words.
As an old-timer who entered the community with pencil and paper, pen and ink, parallel rule and Borco Board, and countless No. 11 X-ACTO blades, it’s a joy to teach in the midst of this Digital Renaissance.
I’ve made my own small contributions via the Web and am happy to have wandered amongst yet another group of inspirational individuals this morning. You’ve touched my life with your ideas and ideals, and through this post, you’ll reach another 250 kids next week. Well, some of them at least.
Awesome post, Matt! Thanks for including me
I love seeing everyone’s responses.
Oh, and I totally agree with Niki; I love b*tching about bad design with people who understand design!
I love the creative community because everyone is passionate about what they do. Whether it’s in graphic design, photography, fashion, etc, everyone loves what they do and you can hear it in the way they speak and see it in the way they present themselves. Everyone’s an inspiration for each other.
I was a little late in submitting my contribution to this post, so Matt had already published it before I sent him my answer.
I made sure I didn’t read anyone else’s answers before I replied, so that I wasn’t influenced by them, and I’m amazed (OK, not that amazed — it makes sense) that most of those replies are saying pretty much the same thing.
Pretty much everyone touches upon the generousity and helpfulness of others, which I fully back-up too.
If it weren’t for the online design community, I’d not be in the healthy business position I am now.
I say my thanks also to be a part of this article – interesting to read so many opinions from very well known people in design community.
Love this post. It’s great to read and hear about everybody’s experience with the design/creative community. Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of it.
Thanks so much for this post, great idea!
Just continually amazed at how supportive everyone is in the design community!
I love the creative community because without them, all web pages wouldn’t look the way they do now. Creative artist help with the visual part of the design. Also, for the fact that everyone shares their knowledge with everyone just shows the generosity of each individual and as a creative community itself.
Without the creative community, I wouldn’t be able to learn and gain as much knowledge about design as I am now.
pher
The design community really rocks! Feels so great to be part of this community…
@3drockz
I love the community because it it always willing to help designers grow and learn more all the time.
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