Can't crack that brief? This post might help you on your way.

I've said it before. The amount of admiration and respect I have for our creative brethren is nigh on limitless. Day after day we 'suits' serve them up problems and day after day they hand us back our solutions.

Almost always working under the pressure of steep deadlines, against limiting guidelines and increasingly lowering production budgets without them we'd be truly lost in a world of shouty retail spots and C Grade celebrity endorsements. Caught in a difficult spot between delivering 'metal' for the Agency, keeping on strategy and ensuring their outputs deliver to KPIs, I'm truly in awe of what they are able to do whilst sympathising with their plight.

Responding to an endless stream of briefs, often from the same Clients over multiple years I've often wondered where their ideas come from - how creatives stay 'on point' and sharp, and where they go to be inspired?

Inspiration is personal. Like any of the creative fields however, for some inspiration can be derived from shared experiences, overseas travel or cultural influences such as art or music. For others it might be technology, innovation and change.

But there can be times where I have observed that the cracking of a brief can seem insurmountable, where the answer simply will not reveal itself as the sand continues to pour through the hourglass.

Well fear not, for below I have assembled 100 of the web's best sources of potential creative inspiration. Techniques for looking at ideas differently, brainstorming tools/apps, advertising creativity blogs plus several of the coolest design, photography, art and cultural and digital focused sites from around the net - they're all here in this one post.

Now I am not a creative (as much as I like to think that I am) but I maintain that we suits play an integral part of the creative process. We too may seek out sources that we think might assist in or provide inspiration for cracking the brief. We're often told "ideas can come from anywhere" and it is our responsibility, nay duty to offer back-up support to our creative colleagues throughout the process of responding to a Client brief. Many of the below tools/sites might just offer the spark that ignites you and your team's thinking, setting you on your path to a brilliant creative idea. It might even just be your first steps towards the south of France next year!

Bookmark and visit these once a week (perhaps during a cookie break) or pass this article on to your creative colleagues. Sure they'll leer and scoff at you (heaven forbid you should know what good looks like!) but they might just find some of these helpful even if they won't admit it to you directly.

I've grouped these into categories for speed of navigation.

• 1 - 29: Design Inspiration
• 30 - 36: Advertising Inspiration
• 37 - 42: Creative thinking techniques
• 43 - 49: Brand Identity Inspiration
• 50 - 53: Modern Art Inspiration
• 54 - 67: Digital & Web Design Inspiration
• 68 - 83: Culture Inspiration
• 84 - 86: Packaging Inspiration
• 87 - 90: Photography Inspiration
• 91 - 92: Innovation Inspiration
• 93 - 97: Motion Inspiration
• 97- 100: Copy Inspiration

Bon chance:

Design Inspiration

1. Abduzeedo - one of the world’s most sought after blogs for inspiration, tutorials and articles about architecture, design, photography and UX.

2. Behance - discover creative work on the world's leading online platform for creative industries.

3. Made by Folk - Inspiration Everywhere - covering graphic design, illustration, photography, art & product design.

4. Designboom - unearth a selection of the most interesting aspects of contemporary culture, architecture, design, technology and art.

5. It's Nice That - championing the most exciting and engaging work online and in print.

6. WePresent - Unexpected stories about creative minds.

7. Fubiz - The latest creative news about art, design and pop-culture.

8. Create -  features innovative artists and shines a spotlight on creative work in photography, design, video, illustration, and more.

9. AisleOne - An inspirational resource focused on design, typography, minimalism and modernism.

10. Creative Bloq - a daily source of inspiration for creative people. Fresh thinking, expert tips and tutorials to supercharge your creative muscles.

11. Digital Synopsis - Design, Logo, Advertising & Creative Inspiration.

12. The Inspiration Grid - a gallery celebrating creative talent (including advertising, art, design, illustration, typography and more) from around the world.

13. AIGA Eye on Design - turns a well-trained eye on the best new work from the world’s most exciting emerging and established designers.

14. Plenty of Colour - a design blog devoted to celebrating all things colourful.

15. Design Cloud - a collective attempt to inspire and stimulate the minds of international readers by featuring the best of art, design and innovation from around the globe.  

16. Inspiration Hut - a design blog that shares creative inspiration, provides free and premium design assets like fonts, textures, and much more.

17. Yatzer - a global online destination that allows readers to both discover and follow the most engaging creative projects and people in art, fashion, design, architecture and hospitality from around the world.

18. Swiss Miss - a design blog and popular design journal with an average of 1 million unique visitors a month.

19. Designspiration - a tool for discovering great art, design, architecture, photography and web inspiration.

20. Dribbble - web designers, graphic designers, illustrators, icon artists, typographers, logo designers, and other creative types share small screenshots (shots) that show their work, process, and current projects.

21. NotCot - a daily source of inspiration with visually stunning imagery, the latest in international trends, and a passion for all things well designed.

22. Yellowtrace - design inspiration and resource for creative & curious minds.

23. Visuelle -  inspiring projects from graphic designers worldwide.

24. Baubau Haus -  feeds your daily need of design, illustration, photography, fashion and of all else art-related.

25. Mirador - curates and shares the most inspirational graphic design works out there.

26. Print.PM - daily inspiration posts for lovers of print.

27. Information is beautiful - Dedicated to distilling the world’s data, information and knowledge into beautiful, interesting and, above all, useful visualisations, infographics and diagrams.

28. Daily Infographic - curates the most interesting infographics on the web.

29. Hey Design - focuses on graphic design news & inspiration, marketing, advertising, social media and technology trends.

Advertising Inspiration

30. Canva - 71 brilliant, clever and inspirational ads (and techniques) that will change the way you think.

31. Adgoodness - showcases only the best advertising and design around the globe.

32. Creative Criminals - a daily selection of the most creative ads from across the globe.

33. Coloribus - a daily updated advertising archive, the biggest online collection of creative advertising pieces from all over the world.

34. Ads of the World - possibly the most comprehensive archive of ads anywhere.

35. Creativity Online - highlights the best in idea-centric communication, advertising, design, websites and interactive ideas along with the talent behind them.

36. World's Best Case Studies - highlights some of the World's Best Campaigns that delivered results & ROI over 15 different Industry segments.

Creative thinking techniques

37. Kickstart - a methodology for producing ideas (excerpt from Mario Pricken's 'Creative Advertising'), contains hundreds of questions encouraging creatives to stray from their usual path and explore new ways of looking for an idea.

38. Eyewire Creativity Cards - simple creative prompts for helping to get you our of your rut.

39. Scamper - a great method for generating creative thinking through a number of techniques or question types; (S) substitute, (C) combine, (A) adapt, (M) modify, (P) put to another use, (E) eliminate and (R) reverse. 

40. Mash Up - a method about bringing odd or unexpected things together to spark fresh ideas.

41. Trigger Me - an app (from Mario Pricken again) containing 3 helpful methods for finding new and creative solutions to your problems.

42. Brainsparker - free app that triggers an endless supply of fresh ideas via random prompt cards to overcome blocks, boost creative thinking, brainstorm new ideas, inspire creative writing/journaling and spark innovation.

Brand identity Inspiration

43. The Logo Smith - blog with a specialised focus on logo, font and brand identity design.

44. Logo Design Love - for those with an interest in logos and brand identity design.

45. Friends of Type - features original typographic design and lettering – fresh visual content

46. 8 Faces - Featuring inspirational typography, beautiful lettering, reviews, interviews with leading designers.

47. Typeroom - showcasing outstanding typographic works and featuring inspiring stories about the letterforms that matter.

48. Identity Designed - a showcase of brand identities from around the world.

49. I Love Typography - for those with a passion for typography, type design, and lettering, and for the pages, words, and letters born of those disciplines.

Modern Art Inspiration

50. Global Street Art - web-platform showcasing street and graffiti artists from over 100 countries.

51. The Jealous Curator - sharing/exposing the work of talented contemporary artists

52. Hi-Fructose - showcases an amalgamation of new contemporary, emerging as well distinguished artists, with a spotlight on awe inspiring spectacles from around the world.

53. Wrap - celebrates the very best in contemporary art, illustration, design and creative culture.

Digital & Web Design Inspiration

54. Rich Media Gallery - browse innovative digital creatives from top advertisers and agencies to inspire your next campaign.

55. Little Big Details - a daily does of UI inspiration.

56. Httpster - an inspiration resource showcasing totally rocking websites made by people from all over the world.

57. Hover States - an industry-leading blog showcasing the best in alternative digital design. Hover over the thumbnails of these awesome web designs and watch them come to life.

58. Codrops - a web design and development blog that publishes articles and lets you play with the latest web trends, techniques and new possibilities.

59. Awwwards - celebrates design, creativity and innovation on the internet.

60. Muzli - UI design inspiration, news, and trends, curated exactly to your tastes.

61. UI Movement - the best UI design inspiration, every day.

62. Site Inspire - a showcase of the finest web and interactive design

63. Best Website Gallery - boasts an expansive, high-quality, curated gallery complete with search and a robust tagging system.

64. CSS Nectar - the web designs here are hand-picked by experts via a three-stage curation process bringing the cream of the crop to the top.

65. Brutalist Websites - offers an intriguing glimpse of what the web can be when creativity needn’t concern itself with conversions.

66. Admire the Web - features daily web design inspiration from around the web specialising in minimal, clean and responsive websites.

67. Calltoidea - features web design inspiration in categories for almost every page a designer might come across in her career. 

Cultural Inspiration

68. The Inspiration - a blog about Advertising, Goodvertising, Architecture, Art, Graphics, Design, Movies, Music, Photography and Fashion and everything else that inspires the curators.

69. Juxtapoz - packed with inspiring street art, painting, photography, and more. 

70. From Up North - inspiration galleries pushing out the very best from creative fields like Graphic Design, Advertising, Print Design, Illustration, Typography, Photography, Motion Graphics, Web Design and more. 

71. Bored Panda - a leading art, design and photography community for creative people.

72. The Curious Brain - a collection of ads, trends, images, illustrations, designs and other cool stuff uploaded daily.

73. Cool Hunter - one of the world’s most widely read design and pop-culture sites, a leading authority on all things creative and a truly global hub for what’s cool, thoughtful, innovative and original.

74. DeMilked - the best, most vibrant sources of inspiration including Art, design, photography and more.

75. Creative Review - delivers the sharpest opinion, analysis and advice on life in the creative industries, with a focus on insight, leadership, process and inspiration.

76. Colossal - one of web's largest visual art, design, and culture blogs featuring thousands of articles & images on fine art, crafts, design, animation, photography, street art, illustration, architecture, and nature.

77. My Modern Met - Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.

78. Ambalag - one of the world’s most influential sites for design inspiration, engaging creative thinkers and doers globally.

79. Mindsparkle - showcases the finest selection of websites, graphic design, branding, photography, art, interior, product design and architecture.

80. The Fox is Black - A place for design, art, lifestyle, and inspiration.

81. Lost at E Minor - a collection of visually inspiring content for creative people, allowing them to live a life more inspired.

82. Ideas.Ted - provides daily coverage of the world of ideas from the people who bring you TED Talks.

83. Can you Actually - curates some of the most interesting content from around the web covering a variety of different topics including art, design, travel, culture, photography, and technology.

Packaging Inspiration

84. The Dieline - Recognises the absolute best in packaging design worldwide and brings awareness to the immense value that lies in well-designed brand packaging.

85. Lovely Package - curates the very best in packaging design from across the globe.

86. Packaging of the World -a package design inspiration archive showcasing the best, most interesting and creative work worldwide.

Photograhy Inspiration

87. Unsplash - a source for beautiful, free images and photos that you can download and use for any project. Better than any royalty free or stock photos.

88. Flickr - one of the largest image libraries on the planet with of 87 million registered members and more than 3.5 million new images uploaded daily.

89. 500px - where passionate photographers connect, get inspired, and grow their skills. 

90. National Geographic photography - All the National Geographic editors' favourite photos posted every day.

Innovation Inspiration

91. BBC Click - offering the best debate on global technology, social media and the internet, as well as the latest gadgets, websites, games and computer industry news.

92. Trendhunter - the world's largest, most popular trend community leveraging big data, human researchers and AI to identify consumer insights and deep dive opportunities for the world's most innovative companies.

Motion Inspiration

93. Shots - showcases the world's most creative advertising, TV commercials, music videos, short films and animation. 

94. Motionographer - a source of inspiration and insight for designers, animators and storytellers of all stripes.

95. Vimeo Staff Picks - a page on the Vimeo site where staff members handpick their favourite videos of the thousands uploaded each month

96. Rocketstock - the best collection of Video Elements and After Effects templates from the world's leading designers.

97. Video Hive - a marketplace containing thousands of motion graphic, video effects & after effects templates which can be previewed by hovering over each thumbnail.

Copy Inspiration

98. Copywriting - a blog featuring writing tips and advice for copywriters of all levels.

99. ABC Copywriting - a blog that offers tips, commentary and explores the ins and outs of copywriting.

100. Best Copy ads - a blog that celebrates great copywriting.

And that's my list!

Have I missed any out? What websites or online tools/resources are your sources of inspiration? Share in the comments below...