BlogmyQuery – BMQ

Handy tool for creating pixel-based grid layout guides. Creator David Sleight explains, “tell Gridulator your layout width and the number of columns you want, and it’ll spit back all the possible grids that have nice, round integers.�

Tools like Firebug for Firefox, WebKit’s Web Inspector and Opera’s Dragonfly are indispensible tools for front-end Web developers, letting you view the DOM as the browser sees it.

And that’s where these tools can actually cause some problems, or at least a bit of confusion. When you choose “Inspect element� or otherwise bring up one your browser’s DOM inspector, what you’re looking at is the document tree after the browser has applied its error correction and after any JavaScripts have manipulated the DOM. It is not necessarily the same as what you see when you choose “View source�.

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Posted in (X)HTML, Browsers.

Received a beautiful pre-event package from Andy McMillan today. Very much looking forward to thanking him in person in November at the Build conference in Belfast.

In Web design, texture is one of those elements that are widely used by designers, yet often hardly noticed by users. We don’t see them is because they usually remain in the background and supporting the overall design. Used primarily for background images, they need to fit to the overall design making the content easier to perceive.

Textures are not necessarily used in fashion-related or grungy websites; more often they are applied subtly to lend a personal tone to otherwise lifeless and faceless design elements. Textures are also often be used in combination with other elements such as typography, lighting and colors. They are most common for backgrounds, but are also use to fresh up a flat and boring appearance of design elements. Texture adds dimension to virtually any style of design, if applied properly. They also add a certain level of realism, creating a less formal, more inviting and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere that reflects our environment — after all, plain flat surfaces rarely exist in reality.

In this post we present an overview of some useful, freely available textures that you can download and use in your personal and/or commercial projects. Please read the license agreements carefully before using the textures — the license can change from time to time.

You can find some examples of textures applied to webdesign in various texture design showcases.

Grunge Style

Metal & Metallic Texture

Wood Textures

Cloth & Fabric

Drains Textures

Wall Textures

Paper & Cardboard Textures

Tiles & Patterns Textures

Miscellaneous

Free Resources For Textures

Urban Dirty

Hybrid Genesis

Lost and Taken

Alice Grafixx

Grunge Textures

Free 3D Textures

CG Textures

Texture King

Desktop wallpapers can serve as an excellent source of inspiration. However, if you use some specific wallpaper for a long period of time, it becomes harder to draw inspiration out of it. That’s why we have decided to supply you with smashing wallpapers over 12 months. And to make them a little bit more distinctive from the usual crowd, we’ve decided to embed calendars for the upcoming month. So if you need to look up some date, isn’t it better to show off a nice wallpaper with a nice calendar instead of launching some default time application?

This post features 45 free desktop wallpapers, created by designers across the globe. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free.

Please notice:

• all images can be clicked and lead to the preview of the wallpaper;
• you can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our desktop wallpaper calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?

So what wallpapers have we received for October 2010?

[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that we are publishing a Smashing eBook Series? The brand new eBook #3 is Mastering Photoshop For Web Design, written by our Photoshop-expert Thomas Giannattasio.]

Liquifly

Designed by Nicolle Marie from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Any Browser

"I just wanna spread the message, “Use any browser, it doesn’t matter. But use the latest version!”." Designed by Minhaj Mohamed from Sri Lanka.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

October 2010 Wallpaper

"For October 2010, still with the summer in the head, I wanted to imagine a magic place where I can go sometimes far from work, far from the Earth." Designed by Benoit Chartron from France.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×640, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×640, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1600

Symbian World

"Scene from Symbian World." Designed by Anna Alfut from UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1020, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152
• without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1020, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152

The words I’ve never said to you

Designed by Matteo Palazzani – Palastar Photography from Italy.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

The Colours of October

"Colourful autumn leaves." Designed by Anna-Lena Lewerenz from Germany.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1200, 2560×1440

Breath of Fresh Air

"”Breathe in the cool air!” – if we can’t have summer, embrace the chilly air! :D Enjoy October everybody! Ps. thanks to Rosanna Bell for modelling." Designed by Olivia Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Turning Leaves

"It is a magical time of year when trees light up from the inside and dazzle us with colors. Feast for the soul!" Designed by Kim Carney from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 2560×1600

October Sentense

"Just motivating sentence for October :)" Designed by Temeshi from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Smart Crow

Designed by Sixlightyears from Reunion Island (France).

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1920×1080

10/10

"Enjoy the last sunrays in October, at least in Germany!" Designed by Marco Palma from Italy / Germany.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Sleeping Cowgirl

Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Chillin’ Gnomies

Designed by Pietje Precies from The Netherlands.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Time Intensity

"I was sorting out all my brushes in Photoshop and started playing around with loads of variations of brush strokes that I actually forgot I had. I was trying to create a cloudy hole and have a fetish with time and time traveling at the moment and it turned out to be something in between a black hole and some sort of disrupted void in the space time continuum. I liked it that much afterwards I thought I’d use it for my own desktop and then thought I’d share it on smashingmag :)" Designed by Rik Hopkinson from UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1680×1200, 1915×1274
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1680×1200, 1915×1274

Eerie October

Designed by Jennifer Leigh Holt from Canada.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Pumpkin Spice Spookster

"A spooky, fun, orange-tastic wall for Halloween lovers of all ages." Designed by Allen from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 480×272, 640×480, 640×960, 960×800, 960×854, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 480×272, 640×480, 640×960, 960×800, 960×854, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2560×1600

Abyaneh

"Abyaneh is a beautiful city in Iran." Designed by Soodabeh Amirakbari from Iran.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Smoked

"Personal tribute to Winchester School of Art." Designed by Wirdy Hamidy from Brunei.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1680×1050

Harvest Sunset

Designed by Kellie Gave from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×1024, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×1024, 1920×1200

Ghostober

"I made this wallpaper a year ago, but i didntcame on time to send it to Smashing magazine.Serching other files i found it, and decide to finish it and post it, halloween is coming, hope you like this ghostsperms hehe!" Designed by Ricardo Delgado from México City.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 2560×1440

Purple Fall

"Fall is coming, and that means cool mornings, hot tea, warm jackets, and purple." Designed by Daisy Gillam from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050

Touch Autumn

"Summer is over, enjoy autumn!" Designed by Martin from Latvia.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Jump into Fall

Designed by Kristin G Jackson from USA.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Marissa & Liloo

"Let’s bring back authentic made by hand illustration, and follow Marissa & Liloo in their cute world. /Fr/ Retour ? l’authentique illustration faite main gr?ce ? ces adorables personnages Marisssa et Liloo." Designed by 23 Graphic Design from France.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Halloween

"Designed by Violeta Dabija from Moldova." Designed by Violeta Dabija from Moldova.



• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Montana Moon

Designed by Emily Shirley from USA.



• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Happy Halloween

Designed by Salma Ali from United Arab Emirates..



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Love In Autumn

"I love autumn, all the leaves on the ground and the first few frosts – it can be quite gorgeous. But I’m still holding onto a bit of summer, so in this design I tried to have a bit of autumn along with a bit of summery colours!" Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Childish

"Children day is celebrated in October…in many countries around the world ..They are the future..
The hope for a brighter tomorrow…" Designed by Nishith from India.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Trick or Treat

"As night falls there’s magic and mischief in the air." Designed by Jason Knight (nativeBrand) from UK.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Creepy Ice-cream

"To all ice-cream lovers, let’s get creepy this October!" Designed by Carmen Ng from Singapore.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Halloween

"Halloween, the time of candies, ghosts, witches and fun." Designed by cheloveche.ru from Russia.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Happy Birthday, Nigeria!

"50 Years ago, Nigeria gained her independence from the United Kingdom. By October 1st, a golden jubilee celebration will kick-start and in a bid to commemorate this historical day, I dedicate my wallpaper to Nigerias Independence day.Happy Birthday, Nigeria." Designed by Aroyewun Babajide from Nigeria.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Don’t forget to buy eggs!

"This wallpaper is a constant reminder to buy eggs, because you know you’ll run out of eggs when you least expect. Also, I try to use free fonts in my personal projects as much as I can so this was a nice opportunity to play with Piron." Designed by Lucijan Blagonic from Croatia.



• preview
• with calendar: 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Above The Clouds

Designed by Eugenie Huard from California, USA.



• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

This Month Rocks

Designed by Pixel Pundits from India.



• preview
• with calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

First leave

"The first leave of winter flyout of the tree. Then the winter begin." Designed by Anh Nguyet Tran from Vietnam.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050

Trick or treat

"It’s almost Halloween time falks. We wish You loads of treats." Designed by Ewa Starzyk/2PPL from Poland.



• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Mahatma Gandhi

"Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday in India celebrated on 2nd October. This day is celebrated in the honor of the birthday of the Father of the nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapuji." Designed by Manish Jinwal from India.



• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200

Heavy Equipment

"Loosening, loading, transporting and installing of equipment with a single machine – The Caterpillar 627 G Scraper is an all-rounder old-timer in construction field. The Caterpillar 627 G Scraper is the October motif of the Heavy Equipment Calendar 2010. Weight: 25,8 Tons/ Performance: 246kW (330 PS) / Motor: Caterpillar with capacity 15,2 l (Front) & 8,8 l (Heck) / Location: Sinsheim, Deutschland" Designed by Bauforum24 from Germany.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

3d October Calendar

Designed by web-gab from Romania.



• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×640, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1600

Under the Sea

"I should have posted this wallpaper in August. Just like you should have gone to the sea when it was a little warmer. But it doesn’t matter if you love the sea." Designed by Jade Cheng from USA.



• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1440×1024, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1440×1024, 1680×1050

Dead Night

"The month the dead walk (apparently). For everyone who celebrates Halloween, with costumes, trick or treats or just a simple desktop wallpaper." Designed by Bogdan Lazar from Romania.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Jack O Cal

"Jack O Lantern with 2010 October Calender in mouth. spooky halloween surrounding background" Designed by Lindsey Kellis from USA.



• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Hibernating

"I think everyone has their moments when all you want to do is hide under the warm duvet covers! Have a wonderful October whatever weather you have! Ps. thanks to Rosanna Bell for modelling." Designed by Olivia Bell from England, UK.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Alien Invaders

"They’re coming…" Designed by Misti Kenison from USA.



• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Join in next month!

Please notice that we respect the ideas and motivation behind artists’ work which is why we’ve given artists full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. And this is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Thanks to all designers for participation. Join in next month!

What’s your favorite?

What’s your favourite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comments! And have a smashing October, folks!

(vf)
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© Vitaly Friedman for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
Post tags: Wallpapers