Surely you’ve heard of Pinterest by now; it’s the social media website that allows users to virtually “pin” images and links that they find inspiring, from delicious looking recipes to captivating architectural masterpieces. Pinterest has provided both designers and homeowners a place to collect information and share it. You could create individual “boards” for specific projects that you’d like to do, whether renovating your current building or planning to design a new one. It has given the designer and client a modern new way to connect and link their ideas visually.
Make sure to follow EVstudio on Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/evstudioarch/
Another website commonly used by architects is Houzz.com. This site supports the creation of “Ideabooks” rather than pin-boards, and the entire site is centered on architecture and design. It is another great way to share the same visually inspiring information, and is also more focused on design, but also a very good place to learn about current trends on the professional side of design. Ideabooks can also be shared privately, so instead of opening it up to the public to view, it can be shared only between the parties involved.
With the rising popularity of social media as a platform for designers, several other options have started popping up, and if anything, it’s creating a plethora of places to find inspiration for your next project, or to find the perfect image to represent the idea that you just can’t convey with words alone. The following 3 social media sites provide many different ways to organize your thoughts, as well as provide you with inspiration.
DwellingGawker.com
If you’re a visual person looking for inspiring designs, you can also check out DwellingGawker.com, where you can organize links by project type or by room. It performs and looks similar to Pinterest, but is a great new way to organize your thoughts, and it is more specific to architecture and design, like Houzz.
ProjectDecor.com
If you’re less interested in the built structure, but are updating your spaces, check out projectdecor.com. Linked images on this site have the option to “Tear it” (and email a link to the item), “Share it” (on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or email) or “Buy it” (which actually adds it to your cart, so you can shop directly from this site). You can shop by room or item type (i.e. furniture or lighting), design custom creations from designer templates, or even sign up to sell your own products.
SpringPad.com
For a more comprehensive platform, you can check out Springpad.com; on this site you set up “Notebooks” and add “Springs” to them. Springpad seems to have the most control over privacy settings, as you can share your notebooks publicly, with certain people only, or keep them private. It also has the most types of media, as you can “spring” photos, audio, scan a barcode or save “nearby” places. You could use this site to save photos along with voice-clips of what you liked about them, and add notes about them too.
I’ve found I prefer to keep my activity on one or two of the above platforms, but I peruse the others when I’m looking for some visual stimulation. Enjoy surfing, and we can’t wait to see what you have to share on our next project!
