Stop Dribbling in Your Sleep

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Happy Friday everyone.

For Friday I figured I’d put together a list of my favourite “NOT DRIBBBLE” sites I use for inspo when I’m trying to design anything with Penfriend. Be it homepage, landing pages, blog designs, buttons, nav bar, the actual app.

These are the sites I hit when my creative brain needs a cold splash of water to the face.

The Gallery Sites You Should Be Bookmarking

• Httpster - Curated collection of sites that don't follow cookie-cutter templates. Found this gem when I was stuck on a project that needed to feel "premium but not pretentious" and it delivered.

• Godly - The name is spot on. These sites make you go "goddamn that's good." Filters by styles and components so you can find exactly what you need when a client asks for "something like that scrolly thing I saw once."

• Awwwards - Yeah, it's not super niche, but their Site of the Day still beats Dribbble for actual innovation. I've pulled more practical inspiration from here than anywhere else.

• Land-book - Focused on landing pages that actually convert. Not just pretty pictures but functional design that sells shit. Perfect when you need to convince clients that good design = good business.

• Mindsparkle Mag - More editorial and brand-focused. When I was transitioning from CAD to digital marketing, this site taught me how to think about visual hierarchy.

• Siteinspire - Oldie but goodie. Their curation is top-notch and you can filter by style, type, and subject. The "Weird" category is gold when you're bored of minimalism.

• Height - Not a gallery, but their own design is inspiration-worthy. Their information hierarchy makes complex data feel approachable. Honestly, just one of the best looking SaaS sites out there.

The "Different Perspective" Picks

• Brutalist Websites - The anti-Dribbble. Ugly-beautiful designs that throw conventional wisdom out the window. Great when you need to break out of safe design thinking.

• Hover States - Focuses on interactive and experimental web design. I've stolen so many hover effects from here it's not even funny.

• The FWA - Showcases sites with innovative tech and interactions. Not always practical but always interesting. Perfect for when clients say they want "something nobody's seen before."

• Design Systems Repo - Not traditional inspiration, but seeing how big brands systematize their design has improved my work more than any pretty picture gallery.

I go to these places when I'm genuinely stuck and need to see how other designers are solving real problems in interesting ways.

Any other underground inspiration spots I should know about? Always looking to expand the collection.

✌️ Tim "design-inspo-surfing at 3am while normal people dream" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

P.S. We’ve looking for people who want to get backlinks to their site, without the hassle of babysitting an inbox. Inge has this crazy system that’s taken us from 0-47 in the last 12 months, all without sending any outreach emails.

I’m trying to get her to run a masterclass on it because it’s blown my mind a bit.
Reply to this email if you’re interested.