I kind of stumbled across this blog on one of those nights where you spend too long awake clicking link baits and find yourself on corners of the internet you didn't really know existed. I'm extremely glad I stayed awake that night to find this, though my body didn't appreciate it the next morning when I was awake at 7 for work.
Recently Rejected describes itself as a "curated graveyard of good and bad ideas, dedicated to unearthing previously unseen works by leading industry creatives." It features work by some of my favourite creatives, such as Craig + Karl and Leslie David.
We all know I love looking at curated blogs, seen in this post here. They are great for conducting research on: but recently rejected takes it one step further. What I love about the site is that it hits home that sometimes great work doesn't really hit the mark. Sometimes great designers don't hit the mark, and that's okay. As a student, that's something I find when my grades aren't what I expected, or what I wanted: but it's all a learning curve, and it clearly happens to the best of us.
Another thing I love about the site is that it shows the research and process of great designers, something that usually isn't in their portfolio. Not seeing them in their full, finished form, and seeing their workings out, sketches and research is really inspiring: I wish they published more of this in their portfolios. It feels more personal, you can see their thought process and it's a reminder that leading industry designers still use the same process as me. They still go through the good and the bad ideas, they still begin with hundreds of ideas and whittle them down to one, they still take that one idea and expand it until it's the best it can be. And they still get rejected. (And that reminder is nice when your struggling towards your deadline!)
This is definitely becoming one of my favourite websites. You can visit it here.
