When starting a new website design project, there could be many solutions to the design problem at hand. As many designers I try and collect work examples from other designers that I like for reason or another. Not long ago, I found this article: Collecting for Design by Matthew Smith on Digital-Web magazine. This article talks about this subject. It says:

The ultimate goal for a web designer is to create a functional, interactive tool for the web user. We can add value to the site with creativity and visual stimulation, but I assert that good-looking design is useless unless weâ??re willing to conform to standard design patterns and accepted principles of user experience.

This article also leads you to design patterns collections by others that are good resources to check when starting your own web design project:

1. Factory Joeâ??s Collections
2. Patrick Haneyâ??s Web Design Inspiration
3. Clearleft Design Inspiration
4. Gustavo Pimentaâ??s Design Solutions

Updateâ??Here are a couple more useful resources:

• User Interface Design Patterns Library
• www.welie.com Patterns for Interaction Design