The longer you work in design, the harder it can be to stay on top of trends and get new inspiration. It’s easy to just revert to what you’ve always known and what has always worked for you.

It can help a lot to simply pay more attention to the design you see every day, in magazines, on TV, online. But that is always a mix of the best and worst that design has to offer, and only exposes you to design within your locale and areas of interest. I’m not in the market for art classes in Mexico City, so how would I know about the gorgeous interactive experience at semillero.net?

Communication Arts’ Interactive Annual issue introduced me to semillero.net, a triumph of Flash, illustration, music, and interactivity.

After a several year subscribing hiatus, I recently resubscribed to Communication Arts, a magazine for print and interactive designers that you’ve likely come across from time to time. Each issue is practically a book, arriving in a box and printed on lovely stock. It feels nothing like receiving the latest issue of Popular Science… it feels like someone sent you a present.

Each issue features enlightening articles on design topics like advertising and typography, as well as opinion pieces from top designers, all with a very serious, professional slant. But what really makes Comm Arts (as it is often known) shine are its special annual editions. The Illustration Annual, Photography Annual, Interactive Annual, and Advertising Annual are packed from cover to cover with inspiration.

The annuals showcase the best and brightest in the design world, from emerging designers to multinational firms. Their work is not just inspirational, but trendsetting, and flipping through each annual helps you to see the direction color, typography, composition, and interactivity are headed. Out now is the Interactive Annual, presenting websites and other interactive experiences including self-promotion pieces, entertainment, advertising, and more, with insights from the creator of each winning piece that may just kickstart your creative energy.

The annuals, like the Interactive Annual out now, are a showcase of the best in design.

Issues of Comm Arts come out every other month, so while you’re waiting for your next one, it’s fun to check out commarts.com. Commarts.com is home to information about the magazine, Creative Hotlist (an excellent resource for job seekers), and Design Interact. Design Interact features a site of the week for more inspiration, and loads of information and articles just for web designers.

Communication Arts is not the only design magazine out there, but if its annual showcases (and website) don’t inspire you, nothing will.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.