Mr. Joe Payton : Web Designer, UI, Frontend development, UX, Javascript, jQuery guy in Columbus, Ohio!

Typically when someone asks what I do for a living, the answer is preceded with one of two questions. It’s either, “…So, I’ve had this idea for a site! It will make so much money we could buy google. How much would it cost to build it?”. or “How do you keep up?”. The first question never ends with happiness, so, I’ll try to answer the second. There will be much more joy involved. I promise.

Here is a run-down on the places I frequent on a steady basis. Some are used weekly. Some are visited multiple times a day.

#1. Think Vitamin – http://carsonified.com/blog/

Think Vitamin is the blog of Carsonified, a web design/dev firm based out of Bath,UK. These are the guys that put on the Future of Web Design & Future of Web Apps conferences; along with Stack Overflow.

They are also the group requested by Twitter to put on the Chirp conference and create the promotional work, such as http://chirp.twitter.com. Their work is amazing, which reflects in their articles. as of January 21, 2010, they have began Think Vitamin Radio, a podcast hosted by Keir Whitaker, and joined by Ryan Carson and Mike Kus hovering aroung three main themes; web design, web development and web entrepreneurship. Read the Blog listen to the podcast. seriously.

#2. Noupe – http://noupe.com/

Noupe has been around for a while, and recently enveloped by the Smashing Media GmbH. Noupe has always been a site for very relevant fringe articles. Very niche and specific, perfectly relevant to the current trends and breakthroughs.

#3. Nettuts+ – http://net.tutsplus.com/

Nettuts+ is a site aimed at web developers and designers offering tutorials and articles on technologies, skills and techniques to improve how you design and build websites. The blog covers topics such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, CMS’s, PHP and Ruby on Rails.

There are alway great articles available, but at anytime you have the option to subscribe to the Tuts Premium. Premium content is available to Premium members only. These tutorials are extra-special, geared towards teaching professional and high-end techniques you won’t find in the free content. It’s totally worth the money.

#4. Boagworld – http://boagworld.com/

Boagworld is the blog of web strategist Paul Boag who lives in the heart of rural Dorset,UK. He produces a weekly podcast with UX consultant Marcus Lillington on building and running websites. They also run the web design agency Headscape.

The most wonderful thing about boagworld is the podcast. I have listened to just about every episode and have learned and grown so much from them. My 40 minute commute as always brightened by their podcast. Complimenting the podcast are the show notes on the site. Full of resources.

#5. Abduzeedo – http://abduzeedo.com/

Abduzeedo is a blog about design. There are all sorts of articles for those who want to look for inspiration. Also you will find very useful tutorials for the most used applications out there, with a special selection of Photoshop Tutorials and Illustrator Tutorials. Of course there are other softwares conteplated like Pixelmator, Fireworks, and web design tutorials.

Abduzeedo is an open channel to the design community, encouraging feedback. The Daily Inspiration is a proof of that, everybody can send images that inspired them so they can be shared with the community.

The blog’s name means “abducted” in Portuguese. The founder, Fabio Sasso, changed its spelling from “abduzido” to “abduzeedo” so I could add the name of his web studio company “ZEE”.

Some of the most off the wall and beautiful inspiration on the web.

#6. A List Apart – http://www.alistapart.com/

All you need to know is that this is the design blog founded by Jeffery Zeldman. The spearhead of the Web Standards Project. If you are associated with the web, I should not have to tell you to read this amazing resource.

#7. Six Revisions – http://sixrevisions.com/

Six Revisions is a website that publishes practical and useful articles for designers and web developers. They present exceptional, noteworthy tips, tutorials, and resources that the modern web professional will appreciate.

Six Revisions was launched in February 2008 by professional web developer/designer Jacob Gube. Articles are written by talented professionals from around the globe, and a high emphasis on quality, comprehensiveness, and usefulness goes into each of the articles published.

#8. Creattica – http://creattica.com/

Creattica is a gallery of great design and inspirational imagery. Anyone can submit their work for consideration and voting on items is open to one and all. The best work is accepted and featured in the gallery which receives thousands of visitors every day.

The Galleries cover every aspect of media such as 3D modeling, Advertising, Business Cards, CSS, Flash, Logos, Motion, Photos, Photoshop, and Posters. Probably my favorite site for inspiration.

#9. UX Booth – http://www.uxbooth.com/

Great resource for all that is User Experience and Usability. Everything from Research pieces on eye-tracking to great tools for helping streamline your UX processes.

#10. Smashing Magazine – http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

Smashing Magazine is, in my humble opinion, the El Dorado of design blogs. They not only have a large library of articles covering every aspect of web design, the facebook and twitter feeds constantly have a stream of amazing resources external to the site.

I swear that whenever I run into a problem I am basting in, the next morning there will always be a smashing article on that exact solution. Somewhere in the universe of quantum mechanics, I have a particle in sync with smashing.

Honorable Mentions

The above list reflects my most frequented haunts, but here are a few honorable mentions of sites I find useful to have in my RSS reader:

• 24 Ways to Impress Your Friends: An annual holiday blog, with posts written by the most influential web designers and web developers in the industry.
• Boxes and Arrows: Great articles and case studies.
• Design Informer: the new blog on the block, kicking some serious ass.
• Woorkup: web community created by Antonio Lupetti about Web Design, Tech News and Digital Inspiration that delivers tutorials, resources, documentation and tech news for web designers and developers.
• Colour Lovers: An amazing site to create
  and share colors, palettes and patterns. I love the community here and contribute.
• I Love Typography: The title pretty much explains the purpose of this site. Great articles. Great inspiration.

I’m sure there are tons that I have overlooked. Where do you haunt? Fill me in!