My favorite resource? Dribbble, of course.

Studying other artists is perhaps one of the biggest ways to grow as a designer.  Having work critiqued by other artists is also extremely valuable, but we aren't all blessed with a workplace full of designers willing to critique our work.  It's also fun just presenting work and getting more eyes on it.

There is where Dribbble (with 3 b's) comes into play.

Dribbble suggests this question: what are you working on?  Dribbble is a community of web designers, graphic designers, and various other designers that create small snapshots (shots) of their work in progress or at completion. Members can then comment or like the shots.  If you haven't figured it out yet, Dribbble has this basketball theme around it.

Anyway, it's a great way for designers to showcase their work.  Designers can provide critiques, which can help improve the work because a lot of content is a work in progress.  It's also a great way to get some inspiration, which is why I use it.  The world's leading designers are on Dribbble and it's amazing what people can accomplish.  It really helps you keep up to date because the most popular section is always flooded with the trending design elements.

Oh yeah, Dribbble is sort of private.  It requires an invite to become a member, but you can still browse the site without a membership.  Members just have the opportunity to contribute content, which is really fun.

The Main Page

The main page is where all of the recent shots of the people you follow appear.  Following people is pretty easy and it doesn't require an approval.  There is also a social media-like section which shows your recent activity, such as comments on your work.  Finally, there is a suggestions tab which suggests works that you might like based on the stuff you have favorited.

The Shot

Once you're looking at a shot, you can like or comment the work.  If you have a similar shot or the shot inspired you to create something based on that work, then you can rebound the shot by linking up to the original work.  You can also see how many views the shot has.  There is also a handy color palette tool that shows the colors the work primarily used, which I've used a few times to try to find a color palette for a project.  If you're a paying member, you can actually link the original file to the shot so that users can get the big picture.

Jobs

One of the awesome things about Dribbble is that it has created a section similar to LinkedIn or Indeed in that companys can post job openings. You can search by location, but I don't think there is an option to search by job position.  However, pretty much all of the jobs are design-related.  If the company is actively on Dribbble, then they can become a team, which is where multiple members post to.  If a team is advertising a job, then a little icon is placed beside the job opening.  This is usually a nice place to work at because Dribbble is a great resource.

Conclusion

Dribbble is a lot like Adobe's Behance, but to me,  Dribbble is more creative and professional.  For one, it requires an invite to become a member.  I also just love the entire theme of the site; the basketball thing is pretty funny.  I am always impressed with the content as well.  I don't think I have ever seen anything horribly designed on the site, which is impressive.  It's a great resource for getting inspiration.  Dribbble really is one of my best kept secrets, but I really think every designer should be a part of it.