A Designer’s Playlist: 27 Songs that Inspire Me to Create Awesome Work

Do you like to listen to music while you work, or do you enjoy working in silence? Music is part of my design process. I do my best design work with my favorite playlist on in the background (or blaring, depending on my mood and level of focus). Some of these songs earned a spot on my playlist for no reason other than they’re fun to listen to, thus requiring no further explanation. For others, I have some commentary as to why I love them. Mostly, I am inspired by upbeat music, and I curate my playlist accordingly so I can focus on designing rather than skipping through songs. What songs are on your playlist? Comment below! I’m always looking for new music!

1.  One Foot—Walk The Moon
Try to be in a bad mood while listening to this song. I dare you. It’s impossible.

2.  3AM—Matchbox 20
Rob Thomas has my all-time favorite singing voice, and this is one of my favorite tracks from his band.

3.  Kiss This—The Struts

4.  Kiwi—Harry Styles

5.  Lola Montez—Volbeat
I can’t understand half of the words, but I sing along anyway…it’s hard to resist! Fun fact, this song is about an actual woman who lived in the 1800s. Her history is quite scandalous. https://allthatsinteresting.com/lola-montez​

6.  Slide—Goo Goo Dolls​
So much nostalgia is attached to this song. It takes me back to my childhood, listening to it on a tape in the car with my mom.

7.  Best Day of My Life—American Authors
Another good mood song!

8.  Move Along—All American Rejects

9.  Thunder—Imagine Dragons

10. Make You Mine—High Valley​​
Sometimes I stray away from the rock genre and enter into today's country genre. I love the folksy rhythm of this country song; it makes me want to dance.

11.  Make It Sweet—Old Dominion
It’s no secret; I love going to concerts. Old Dominion put on one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard, and I’m a huge fan of this band.

12.  Green Light—Lorde
Season 6 Finale of New Girl, anyone? I find a lot of new music on TV show soundtracks.

13.  Electric Love—Borns​

14.  The Wire—Haim

15.  Panic Attack—Glorious Sons
This song is anthemic, yet the lyrics describe the suffocating nature of a panic attack. It’s such an unexpected juxtaposition, and I love it.

16.  Come with Me Now—KONGOS

17.  Smells Like Teen Spirit—Nirvana
I will forever love Nirvana.

18.  New Politics—Harlem

19.  Get Up—Shinedown
Whenever I need a little motivation, this song helps me to find it.

20.  Never Comin’ Down—Keith Urban
This man can play guitar and banjo like you wouldn't believe, and he looks good doing it! If you've never been to a Keith performance, I highly recommend it!

21.  I Like Me Better—Lauv
Rarely do I dip my toes into today’s mainstream pop genre (I find most of it boring), but I’m inspired by the unique instrumentation of this song. I wish more songs sounded like this one.

22.  Why.2—Collective Soul

23. Any song by Blink-182​
Blink-182 is the sole reason I made it through all-nighters working in the design lab during my college years. It’s hard to fall asleep at 3:30 AM when Blink is blasting through the speakers.

24.  Drunk on a Plane—Dierks Bently

25.  I See the Sun—Tommy Henriksen

26.  Stay a Little Longer—Brothers Osborne

27.  Help—Papa Roach​
This was my favorite song for the entire year of 2017.
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There you have it! A playlist of songs that I find inspiring and enjoy listening to while I crank out designs. I hope you check some of them out; maybe you will want to add them to your own playlist. Don't forget to comment some of your favorite songs below!