Over the next week or so I’ll be releasing a few posts aimed to help those just getting started in the design/blogging world to give some suggestions on getting plugged in with the fantastic design community. This first post takes aim at one of the most important tools for community connection – Twitter. If you’re a designer and you don’t have a twitter account, you need to stop reading this and go grab one.  Twitter offers so much, I don’t even know where to begin.

I use Twitter on a daily basis to connect, share, and grow with the design community. I find countless amazing articles because of recommendations from others tweets. I share my own insights on design and gain valuable feedback from others I respect, even if I’ve never met them in person. Twitter is great for asking questions and even better for networking.

So where should you start? Start by following some of these great designers listed in this post. This is not an exclusive list so if you know of others or if I’ve left you off the list, feel free to add a link in the comments below.

Observe how these designers tweet and do as they do. Ask questions of them and answer questions of others. Share articles that would interest your potential readers. Become an active voice in the Twittersphere and you’ll start to gain followers of your own.

A couple words of warning before you get started. Don’t tweet exclusively about your blog. While self promotion is great and definitely appropriate, you should limit the amount of talk that’s directly related to your brand. The more helpful and open you are on twitter, the more others will start to promote and talk up your brand for you.

So go get started with these designers and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me on Twitter.