Are.na

“like tumblr to me”

“If Pinterest and tumblr had a baby that went to grad school. Seems to be popular with graphic designers and academics (I am neither) but I always find something interesting here that I wouldn’t see anywhere else.”

“I love it so much I pay money for it. A much better Pinterest. More useful. You can still create boards/collections and organize stuff. You can scroll other people's stuff for inspiration (better quality than Pinterest). But no ads. Not really a social platform. Almost worse than the ads on Pinterest are the incessant toddler birthday party ideas. This is not that.”

“I almost feel like I'm exposing a secret but are.na is the coolest site to exist even if it's nearly impossible to explain. If you like to collect internet artifacts like websites, photos, documents, resources, articles, digital gardens, and cool-ass homepages, and don't want things to be presented to you via an algorithm then you are (unfortunately) missing out! it does cost $$ to have more than 100 blocks, but by the time I got there, it became very clear the value of the tool, and that the money is going towards a good cause (the folks making the website, directly back into the website). There is something SO cool about the internet / html / digital garden / are.na / neocities community which is - so many people have created so many cool resources for you FOR FREE out of the goodness of their heart. Like are.na was fundamental in reminding me that the internet is actually Good! that so many people genuinely like sharing their knowledge with others because they love the thing they're doing, and want more folks to fall in love with it all too.”

“This app does have multiple user-made collections for those type of categories that may help you with any design related projects. There are collections of links for archives, museums, historical records, stickers, postcards, etc. that you may like to explore and bookmark.”

“I confess that sometimes I forget to use arena but then when I remember I am like “oh right this is amazing.””

“Are.na is my online research haven, my digital garden. I love it here.”

“favorite place to find design, photo and art inspo. feels like pinterest minus the ads and algorithms”

“My favorite site in the whole world! How I organize all my thoughts and visual languages. Serves so many purposes for me.”

“Like Pinterest, but for art school kids. Save your links and organize your inspiration and research visually.”

“a place to save content, create collections over time and connect ideas, privately or with other people.”

“inspo research and resources”

“amazing place for design inspo or amassing a collection pdfs of academic papers and books that you’d otherwise need to buy!”

“I'm obsessed with Are.na. It is my happy place on the internet. As a visually-oriented person, this way of curating and sharing is a delight. It's like if Pinterest had no ads, no algorithm, and the ability to add text blocks and links, and was about sharing ideas and information as opposed to getting you to buy stuff. Are.na has become a valuable part of my second brain ecosystem, a digital garden of delights. I can't recommend it highly enough.”

“An app for lovers of rabbit holes and organizing their thoughts. Digital moodboards without the algorithm. Another tool I use for discovery, new ideas, new websites, new things to read. Also love their yearly publication.”