Designers Tools

As designers in today's world, we are not only required to make aesthetically pleasing work, but conceptually amazing work as well. With the help of the internet at our fingertips, there is a little less pressure on our brains. The work load can be shifted to some of the greatest tools that make life as a designer a little easier. I decided to create a post with some of my favorite tools to share (and I'm sure there will be more posts along the way)...
1. http://wordover.com
This is a great tool when you need to find a word that starts with a certain letter(s), is a certain length, or fits a certain pattern. What a help!
2. http://www.visualthesaurus.com
Does some of the heavy lifting when it comes to brain storming. Have a word for a starting point? Let Visual Thesaurus carry you in a more creative direction!
3. http://www.graphicdesignblog.org
Need a little inspiration? Blogs are a great way to get the wheels rolling on your own design! There are TONS of them out there, but only a few that post regularly and actually have an eye for designs worth sharing. I'll include a few of my other favs:
http://www.youthedesigner.com
http://designobserver.com
http://www.mediabistro.com
http://new.typographica.org

Feeling overwhelmed by blogs? The best way to keep on top of your favorite blogs is using a reader that gathers all of your blogs new stories for you each day and give you snid-bits of each. My favorite is the Google Reader, but that's probably because I use iGoogle as my homepage, so I see the weather, my emails, my calendar and my blogs all on one page. Just a thought!