I joined the amazing @Pinterest last week and I’m addicted already. It’s one of those things that you didn’t realise you needed until it comes along; but the concept is brilliant and completely essential for anyone living a visual life, creative or otherwise.
It’s basically a visual bookmarking site, which lets you ‘pin’ images you find online to your own boards – people have different boards for different interests. People can also follow you (much like twitter) and ‘repin’ things to their own boards; thus it works simultaneously as a great curating tool for your finds as well as something to facilitate the finding as well.
I’m intrigued by this ‘Digital Scrapbooking’ culture that seems to be evolving; it seems there’s a shift in how creative/visual people are finding, arranging and curating their inspiration, mainly in that the humble scrapbook/sketchbook is being shelved for digital counterparts, such as Pinterest, Ffffound!, Tumblr, etc. Good for the environment, perhaps, but I’m still undecided what this means for our visual culture and future ephemera. I think it stems from the rise in computers (of course), the saving of jpgs to desktop, screen grabbing, blogging, reblogging, the rise of the Facebook ‘Like’ button as a single gesture of approval; instant visual gratification.
So on that note, on to what I have found this week that’s made it on to my Pinterest. I want this to become a weekly roundup as I don’t share what inspires me enough, I don’t think. Until Pinterest came along….
From my board Illustration Inspiration
From my board Design Inspiration
From my board For the Home
From my board Fashion Lust
From my board Nom Nom Nom
I also have boards for my Garden Inspiration, Workspaces & Studios and Books I Want. These don’t have as much in them (yet) but I’m sure I’ll fill them in no time.
What’s great is that the original places the images are pinned from is always kept, so you can refer back and find new things all the time. It’s been so useful for my (work) work and (illustration) work already; and I love having somewhere I can save all these amazing images that isn’t my already-crammed desktop. The danger of course is spending so much time finding pretty things on pinterest that you never get any of it done!
So if you’re on Pinterest, do give me a follow, and if not; it’s invite-only at the moment but anyone who comments can ask for an invite off me, no problem :)
4 comments
Dean says:
Apr 18, 2011
This looks really good, and a nice passage about digital scrapbooking.
I’ve been looking for something like this for a while, as right now I’ve just got hundreds of images in a folder for whenever I come across something I like, but it’s difficult to view these images if your not on your own computer, so I love the idea you can view these from anywhere.
Also categorising them makes it so much easier if your looking for earlier inspiration on a specific area.
If you can, I would love an invite to this, keep up the nice work.
Rachel says:
Apr 18, 2011
Hey Dean, have emailed you an invite! I agree, being able to categorise things makes it great for researching certain projects, and keeping everything organised. And yes, that you can access from anywhere is great too… I pin from work and at home on weekends so it’s really useful.
Thanks for your comment! :)
Dean says:
Apr 20, 2011
Thanks for the invite!! Haven’t had time to get myself on it just yet, but will shortly.. and hopefully it will give me a good chance to get organised with everything that’s an inspiration.. Keep up the nice blog, it’s always a good read!
Rachel P says:
Apr 18, 2011
I’m slightly obsessed with pinterest at the min, its genius! I now have somewhere to put all the pictures I find, rather than filling up my bookmarks yay!