Themery: Steampunk
Starting with the theme Steampunk as the first official installment of this category is mainly due to my own 
obsession with the genre, plus my own inability to stop reading Girl Genius (awesome comic by the way). The dirtier Victorian overall feel really does inspire me, and the look for general design is fun and relatively easy to accomplish.
Designing either real world pieces or even some digital pieces isn’t too hard when working with a Steampunk theme, while one can get bonus points for making something that has a real use, it’s doesn’t necessarily have to do much more than look awesome. From gearings to web design, it’s a look that may be a bit limited (one may not necessarily be able to use it for more corporate uses), but is amazing when done correctly.
The leanings toward brass and darker cherry woodwork that one tends to see in Steampunk designs looks elegant. You can also find designs with a ‘dirtier’ feel to them to highlight the lower social classes found in many art and writing involving the genre, which really does serve to contrast the rich coloring of the higher ‘social class’ themed designs. Some designers find some incredible ways to incorporate it all into a piece that is visually stunning.
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Inspired?
From fonts to Photoshop brushes, creating simple Steampunk designs isn’t too difficult (and as you can see in the banner for this post) it’s an attractive look that can be combined with other elements for a few different purposes. Steampunk has been going through it’s own resurgence lately, and while there are some incredible pieces out there, the things below are all to help you make something a bit simpler.
Dr Wicked: Suggestions for a Steampunk typography.
Instructables: Some projects to get your creative gears flowing.
Steampunk Workshop / Steampunk Magazine: Articles and information on Steampunk, great for some more inspiration.
So, what was missed? Have a great resource or more information? Post it up in the comments.
