Although the web is a great place to look for quick inspiration for a project, nothing can beat going on a long walk in nature.

The summer brings us sunny days, fields full of crops and plenty of insects and wildlife, whereas the winter brings us rain, icy roads and snow.

When Christmas comes around we often find people looking at plastic tree decorations saying "snowflakes don't look like that!". That, of course, is where they are all wrong.

With a decent camera and zoom or macro lens, things we wouldn't normally pay too much attention to become a complete world in themselves, making them a magnificent source of inspiration for artists and designers all over the world.

Below we have collected some incredible close-up/macro shots of snowflakes to really get the arty-side of you in full flow this Christmas season.

Compiled exclusively for WDD by Callum Chapman, a freelance designer from Cambridge, UK. He is the creative mind behind Circlebox Creative and Circlebox Blog, and can often be found writing for design related blogs.

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