Those with a focus on design now have a social networking site geared to their interests. Dribbble, a site by and for designers, came out of its private beta mode this past weekend. The service allowed members (or “players” as the site tends to incorporate a basketball metaphor) to upload “shots” (small images) that show works in progress. Members can tag and comment on shots, whether asking for feedback or simply sharing it with the rest of Dribbble.
Much like Twitter and other social networking sites, members are able to “follow” others whose work they like. For the time being, membership is limited to invite-only status. If you want to be a member, you’ll just have to wait for existing members to get invites issued to them. When they do, they’ll often post about it on Twitter or elsewhere and they’ll likely want to see samples of your design work.
This new social media service offers functions comparable to an image library, discussion area, and even a game where users can “rebound” image designs back and forth. They can show their work while connecting and sharing design inspiration with others. Although it is not yet a service available to everyone, it has the potential to be a big networking service for designers.
Attached is a YouTube clip of a review for Dribbble from the Unmatchedstyle Design Panel:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNZV6IsZAw[/youtube]
I think this is a really cool way for designers and artists to showcase their work in a Web 2.0 format. They used to just be able to showcase their work in galleries, which sometimes can’t reach a large amount of people. Dribbble is a great way for designers and artists to showcase their work and get instant feedback from fellow members. This shows how Web 2.0 can cover everything from the iPad to specialized websites.
As a graphic designer, I am EXTREMELY thrilled to read about this new social media networking site for other designers. I’m always perusing the Internet to for inspiration and usually just click on links that take me to other links. Two sites I go to often are http://www.deviantart.com and http://www.coroflot.com, but I must say, dribbble.com might be my new favorite. I’m going to go share this with all of my other designer friends and post it under websites on my Facebook right now!