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For focused Dribbble inspiration, follow designers whose work matches the skill you want to study: Leo Leung for motion, Claire Coullon for lettering, Shawna X for illustration, or Aurelien Salomon for interaction and UI. This list brings together 12 individual designers and studios across those specialties. It is a guide to what their work can help you explore—not a current ranking by popularity.
How to use this list
Dribbble is a place to browse designers’ work and, through its current site, discover talent, create a project brief, receive proposals, hire designers, and accept payments (Dribbble). Use the accounts below as visual reference, then look beyond a single shot when evaluating a designer for a project. A polished image can show style and craft, but this list does not establish that every account documents its research process or demonstrates measured user-experience outcomes.
The follower counts mentioned in the original SitePoint article are historical snapshots from its 2017 publication, not current figures or a comparable present-day ranking. SitePoint later updated the article on November 6, 2024, but those older counts should not be read as current popularity measures (SitePoint’s list).
#1 Best Overall
Best accounts by specialty
| Designer or studio | Best for | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Leo Leung | Motion, web and app design | Animated work, motion graphics and front-end sensibility |
| Nick Slater | Graphic design, icons and branding | Color, clean line work, logos and illustration |
| Shawna X | Visual design and illustration | Vibrant, rich, flat-style imagery |
| Aurelien Salomon | Interaction and UI/UX | Interactive features, interface work and AR-motion interests |
| Claire Coullon | Lettering and typography | Original sketches, flowing scripts and sans-serif forms |
| Cosmin Capitanu | Web, UI, mobile and graphic design | Color choices and polished presentation |
| Emir Ayouni | Branding, identity and illustration | Bold lines, silhouettes, monochrome logos and colorful retro brands |
| Michael Spitz | Identity and logo design | Logo and icon design |
| Jeffrey Devey | Graphic design and lettering | Logo work and lettering |
| Fireart Studio | Illustration and web design | Studio work spanning illustration, branding and web design |
| Creative Mints | Illustration and UI | Illustration alongside interface design |
| Dan Cederholm | Design perspective | Work from a designer who co-founded Dribbble |
Who to follow for motion, interaction, and UI
Leo Leung: motion and web/app work
Leung combines web and app design with motion graphics and front-end development. SitePoint’s original article highlighted his smooth animated GIFs and motion work. Its 2017 snapshot listed more than 15,000 Dribbble followers; that is a historical figure, not a current count.
Aurelien Salomon: interaction and interface ideas
Salomon’s work spans interaction, UI/UX and web design. SitePoint called attention to interactive features and an interest in AR and motion, and cited Apple and Google among his clients. The article also noted occasional freebies and items for sale on Creative Market. Its 2017 snapshot listed more than 22,000 followers; it does not establish his current count.
Cosmin Capitanu: polished web and mobile design
SitePoint describes Capitanu as a Romanian freelance web and graphic designer and architect. For web, UI, mobile and graphic-design references, look at how he uses color and presents finished work. The 2017 article snapshot listed more than 62,000 followers, a historical rather than current figure.
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Creative Mints: illustration with UI
Creative Mints is a useful account to explore when you want illustration and interface design together. The SitePoint list gives those categories but offers fewer biographical details than it does for some of the individual designers.
Who to follow for typography, branding, and identity
Claire Coullon: lettering and type
Freelancer Claire Coullon, whom SitePoint identifies as being from Bath, works across lettering, typography and branding. Her range—from flowing scripts to sans-serif forms, including original sketches—makes the account relevant if you want to study how letterforms can shift in character. The original 2017 snapshot listed more than 14,000 followers, not a present-day count.
Emir Ayouni: expressive brand identities
SitePoint describes Ayouni as a brand strategist and identity designer at Forefathers. His work ranges from bold lines and silhouettes to black-and-white logos and colorful retro brands. The article’s 2017 snapshot listed more than 21,000 followers; no current count is established here.
Nick Slater: graphic design, icons, and logos
Slater’s listed specialties include graphic design, icon and logo design, branding, and illustration. SitePoint singled out his use of color, clean line work and frequent sharing. Its 2017 snapshot reported more than 66,000 followers, which should not be mistaken for a current leaderboard position.
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Michael Spitz: identity and logo work
SitePoint groups Spitz’s work around identity, logo and icon design. Follow him for examples in those categories; the source provides fewer biographical details than it does for several of the other accounts.
Jeffrey Devey: graphic design and lettering
Devey’s listed specialties are graphic design, logo design and lettering. That combination makes his account another option for exploring the relationship between letterforms and visual identity.
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Who to follow for illustration and visual design
Shawna X: vivid visual design
Shawna X works in visual design and illustration. SitePoint highlights vibrant, rich, flat-style visuals and names Adobe, Nike, Vice and Refinery29 among her clients. It also noted that she taught mobile design at Parsons at the time of the article’s original publication; that historical detail does not establish her current teaching role.
Fireart Studio: illustration, branding, and web
Fireart Studio is the studio account in this group, with work spanning illustration, branding and web design. Browse it when you want references across several disciplines rather than a single individual’s portfolio.
Emir Ayouni: illustration within identity work
Ayouni also belongs on an illustration list: SitePoint describes work that includes bold silhouettes and varied brand treatments. His account can be useful when you want to see illustration operating as part of a broader identity rather than in isolation.
Best Value
Dan Cederholm: a designer who co-founded Dribbble
Dan Cederholm is both a designer and a Dribbble co-founder. The SitePoint article includes him in its additional five accounts but supplies fewer details about his work than it does for the first seven names, so treat the recommendation as a starting point for browsing rather than a detailed specialty profile.
How to choose accounts for your project or practice
- For motion: start with Leo Leung.
- For UI and web: browse Aurelien Salomon, Cosmin Capitanu, Creative Mints and Leo Leung.
- For typography and lettering: start with Claire Coullon and Jeffrey Devey.
- For branding and identity: compare Emir Ayouni, Nick Slater and Michael Spitz.
- For illustration: explore Shawna X, Fireart Studio and Creative Mints.
If you are hiring rather than collecting references, Dribbble’s site currently presents a route to discover designers, submit a project brief, receive proposals, hire talent and handle payments (Dribbble). Review a candidate’s wider portfolio and project details to assess fit; the recommendations here are about the kinds of visual work the accounts are associated with, not a guarantee of process, availability or project outcomes.
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