I’ve always been a little bit of a digital collector — not to say a hoarder — of images, links, articles and other materials. In the spirit of a new year, I’m trying to approach life more minimalistic. After cleaning some of the excesses, I gathered what only impacted in some form my current workflows.

After all these years I believe it’s time to share with whom might find it interesting some of the books and links I have used and read the most.

Disclaimer: I’m not being remunerated by any of these sites in any form, they are just a compilation of materials I’ve found very useful and interesting throughout the past years.

Links

3D

Refractive Index Database / P&P (IOR) / Filmetrics
Refraction indexes for all sorts of materials

Poliigon / Texture Haven
Amazing texture banks for materials

HDRI Haven / Location Textures (4k)
Free HDRIs

Three D / 3D Scans / Sculptures
Free 3D Scans

Textures.com / TextureNinja
Great texture reference

Render Render
A long catalogue of render farms available

Chris Brejon’s CG Cinematography Book Great reading about everything CG Cinematophy

 

DOF Simulator
Great for checking your camera comps

VFX Camera Database
All you need camera information

MattePaint.com
All kinds of photos for environment work

Shot on What
Large database filled with movie production specs

Pushing Pixels / Interface Love
Two awesome blogs about UI in Film and TV

The Art of the Title The name says it all, the best source when the subject is Main Title Design

Art of VFX
My favourite feed to check what’s happening in the VFX world

Movie Title Stills Collection
Huge collection of Movie Titles from the 1920s to present

IWLTBAP LUTs DeLOG
Convertion LUTs creator

Design

The Stocks
A link filled with the best royalty free stock photos

Programming Fonts
Search and test drive a large set of monospaced fonts

Fonts in Use
Great resource for finding out what fonts are trending

Typewolf / Trend List
Trends in design/typography

Practical Typography
A complete web book about typography

Papersizes.io
International paper sizes, dimensions and formats

Logobook
A large collection of Logos

Design.Watch
Great list of must-see documentaries

Calligraphy / Lettering

Calligrafile
Huge resource guide for hand lettering artists

Ductus 
Simple guide lines generator for calligraphers

Scribblers
Calligraphy supplies & resources

Rare Books
A collection of calligraphy rare books

IAMPETH’s Guide Sheets
Cooperplate/Script guide sheets

Sidebearings

Color Palettes

Adobe Color CC / Color Hunt

Colourcode / Paletton / Color Supply / Pigment
Alternatives to Adobe’s Color CC

Color Mind
Color scheme generator using deep learning

Grabient / Colorful Gradients / WebGradients
Gradient palettes

Google’s Material Design Color Tools

Directories

Design Notes

Illustration Tools

Dimensions Guide
Comprehensive reference database of dimensioned drawings

Books

Design

Grid Systems
Josef Müller-Brockmann

TD 63-73
Ben Bos

Flip the Script: A Guidebook for Aspiring Vandals & Typographers Christian P. Acker

Type: A Visual History of Typefaces & Graphic Styles
Cees W De Jong

The Information Design Handbook
Jenn Visocky O'Grady

Flashback: Retro Design in Contemporary Graphics
Victionary

The Making of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'
Piers Bizony

Production Pipeline Fundamentals for Film and Games Renee Dunlop

Fake Love Letters, Forged Telegrams, and Prison Escape Maps: Designing Graphic Props for Filmmaking Annie Atkins

Layout & Background (Walt Disney Animation Archives)
Disney Book Group

Animated Storytelling
Liz Blazer

The Animator’s Survival Kit
Richard Williams

The Noble Approach: 
Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design
Tod Polson

The Art of Pixar
Amid Amidi

Mastery
Robert Greene

The Power of Habit
Charles Duhigg

Psicologia para Criativos
Frank Berzbach

The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human
Johnathan Gottschall

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck

Last Updated
2021 — APR

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
― Albert Einstein