As I’m doing research for Creative Opera, I come across lots of design-related websites, photos, and blog articles that I think are inspiring, educational, or just plain entertaining. I thought that I would start bookmarking those pages, and posting the links weekly for my readers. Here are my favorites for this week.

I’ve collected samples of well-done websites that rely heavily on illustration. The catch? None of them belong to illustrators. You may be surprised to see what types of companies are making good use of the illustration design trend.

I’ve put together this list of 25 portfolio sites that I think are exceptional. I tried to create a good mix of styles, choosing some sites for their creativity, some for their user-friendly navigation, some for their simplicity, and some for their innovation. Enjoy!

Like everyone else, I love to browse the web for news, entertainment, and information. But, there are a few design sites that I keep bookmarked as my favorites. Move over, YouTube! These sites will keep you busy for hours, and the best part is that they are actually educational.

For my first post, I thought it would make sense to give credit to the creative blogs that inspired me to start Creative Opera. There are a ton out there, and many of them are good. How did I choose my top 5? These are the the sites that I can’t pull myself away from once I start reading. These sites will keep you entertained for hours!