BlogmyQuery – BMQ

We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. And as designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one — desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This creativity mission has been going on for almost two years now, and we are very thankful to all designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month.

We continue to nourish you with a monthly spoon of inspiration. This post features 30 free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for May 2011. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free. It’s time to freshen up your wallpaper!

Please note that:

• you can also download the Smashing Desktop Wallpaper Windows 7 Theme for May 2011.
• All images can be clicked on 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?

Mountains In May

"Mountains In May was inspired by the grandeur and beauty of the mountain ranges I visited on a journey in China. The lushness of the forest and the life growing around me reminded me of the beauty that mother nature privileges us with. With a quote in mind from Thomas Malory and my newfound awe with nature, I set about to create a wallpaper that will hopefully take you into the sights and experiences that I had. To feel the freshness of a morning and the beauty in each new day." Designed by Christian Casimir Teo from Singapore.

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

Explore. Dream. Discover.

"I have always loved this quote. Something very whimsical about it. Design inspiration from Anthropologie." Designed by Morgan Lofing from United States.

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• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Ranger

Designed by Jonathan Paul from Germany.

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• without calendar: 640×960, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

La Ensalada

Designed by Xenia Latii from USA.

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

Jewel Bug

"Truly a jewel captured on lens – the jewel bug!" Designed by Sureshsathanur from India.

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• with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

A Colorful May

"May is here, the winter is over, and it’s time to fill our creative pipes with new colors!" Designed by Ron Gilad from Israel.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 640×960, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1152, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600, 2560×2048
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 640×960, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1152, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600, 2560×2048

Forest Spring

"Forest Spring." Designed by Kakyaprovelleto from Ukraine.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Mr Fisherman And The Cat

"An old fisherman is having a nap nearby a lake. In the meantime a curious and hungry cat is trying to steal his fishes. Is it going to succeed?" Designed by Ester Liquori from Italy.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200

May Sun Brings Fun

"”Sunny holiday season is the time to play a lot of games and to have more fun. In addition to physical fitness, these Indian native games develop skills like aiming, concentration, basic mathematics, hand-eye co-ordination and also increases the bonding between generations. Happy Holidays guys!”." Designed by Narendar. N from India.

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• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 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, 2560×1440

Ready For The Summer

"You know summer is on its way when people start lounging on deck chairs! Picture taken on a beautiful day at Brighton." Designed by Suety Kwan from United Kingdom.

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

It’s Getting Fresh

Designed by Thomas Rutzer from Germany.

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Vintage Spring Impression

Designed by Pietje Precies from The Netherlands.

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• 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

From Springtospring

"I created this image as a gift for my girlfriend. Where together 11 months now and so I figured “Hey where back in the season that we got together”. Hans the title: FromSpringToSpring." Designed by Christian Benstein from Netherlands.

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

Mr. Mouse

Designed by Valerija Oslovcan from Croatia.

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• with calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

May Day

Designed by Vladimir Kudinov from Russia.

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• 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

Green

"Green and yellow – our favorite colors for may 2011." Designed by Lotum from Germany.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×960, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×960, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

The Freedom Of Colour

"We recently lauched our new website and branding with these cool colour strips. Many people have complimented us for the idea so we decided to create a wallpaper and share it with the world :)." Designed by Graham Holtshausen from South Africa.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Birdhouse Or Birthhouse…

"May may bring a lot of baby birds ;-)." Designed by Nathalie Lansbergen from The Netherlands.

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

Venetian Mask

"I have always been completely captivated by Venetian masks and fans. May is my birthday month and Iwanted to try and capture the masks’ haunting allure and beauty as a present for myself. I had never really used gradientmeshes in Illustrator before, so I challenged myself to learn the tool and use it to challenge my own artistic ideas.I’m very happy with the end result and I hope you guys enjoy it as well!" Designed by Jessica Midence from USA.

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• 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

Zombi Picnic

"Any company’s OK for a small picnic in May." Designed by Cheloveche.ru from Russia.

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• 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

Wood Work

Designed by Johanna Kempenaar from Sweden.

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

Muffy The Alien

"This wallpaper is based on our own comic character, Muffy, at Daily Overview. This cheeky kiddy alien loves playing tricks on others, and plans jokes way ahead just to get the last laugh. Put him on your desktop to brighten up your day!" Designed by Daily Overview from Malaysia.

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• with calendar: 800×480, 1280×720, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 800×480, 1280×720, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

May Hem

Designed by Lance Becker from USA.

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

Breathe In The Air

"Clean and light air. Breathe and feel life!" Designed by Fabio Toscani from Italy.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

May In Orange

"…an orange-retro wallpaper for you!" Designed by Marco Palma from Italy/Germany.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Obrero Del Pixel

"The pixel buddy is called “Obrero del pixel” in spanish is the buddy for my webpage." Designed by Carlos Carreno from Argentina.

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• 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

Fade To Black

Designed by Vinteum from Brazil.

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

Join in next month!

Please note that we respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience throughout their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

A big thank you to all designers for their participation. Join in next month!

What’s your favorite?

What’s your favorite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comment section below.

(ik) (vf)

© Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2011. | Permalink | Post a comment | Smashing Shop | Smashing Network | About Us
Post tags: Wallpapers

An attractive and compelling background adds depth to your graphics, banners or ads; and for this reason is of great importance. Sure there are some people who might not notice backgrounds, but the role they play in making the entire artwork look more interesting and visually alluring is paramount. They really do help to tie the entire piece together, no matter how simply or aggressively they are employed.

Here, we are showcasing some of the web’s truly amazing Abstract Background Design Photoshop Tutorials for our readers. Be you a PS enthusiast or junkie, you will surely want to take a look at the offerings we have compiled. Feel free to share your opinion with us.

Abstract Backgrounds Tutorials

Abstract Kaleidoscope Poster – Photoshop CS5
This tutorial lets you learn how to create an attention-grabbing kaleidoscope type poster in Photoshop CS5 by combining basic colors, shapes and brushes. A layered PSD file is included.

Abstract Starfield Background – Photoshop CS5
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a tremendous space scene in Photoshop CS5 by mixing different shapes, brushes and blending modes. A layered PSD file is included to help you get started!

Create Abstract Valentine’s Day Card
In this tutorial you will learn how to craft a vibrant Valentine’s Day card befitting of the day, by means of basic shapes and gradients in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Create Awesome Abstract Nebula Circle Shape in Photoshop
Here the artist will take you through the steps he took to create this stunning abstract design. This is an intermediate level tutorial so proceed with care and be prepared.

Create Artistic Abstract Shapes via the Powerful Warp Tool in Photoshop
This tutorial shows you how to bring warp tool plus into play to generate great looking abstract shapes to beautify your design. The steps are truly simple and the effect can be used in a wide range of occasions.

Easily create planetary ring via cloud and twirl filter in photoshop.
In this tutorial, using the cloud and twirl tools you will be able to easily create a planetary ring no galaxy would be complete without.

Create Simple Abstract Shining Wave Line
Want to get trained on how to recreate this simple yet alluring abstract background? Simply follow this helpful tut.

Create a Detailed Meteorite and Surrounding Space Environment in Photoshop
In this intermediate level tutorial, the artist will show you the steps he took to create this detailed meteorite and surrounding space environment in photoshop. Some steps can be bit trickey, but the payoff is worthwhile.

Chroma Wallpapers
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a great abstract work of art combining a 3D-looking base with some various added effects.

Create a Wavy Blackberry Style Wallpaper Design
Here, Fabio Sasso teaches you how to create an abstract background image using Photoshop alone to give a cool wavy pattern with some eye-catching lighting effects to your work.

Abstract Lines Background
This tutorial guides you step by step on how to create an abstract lines background in Photoshop. This one is a must!

Calculations And Colorization
This Photoshop tutorial shows the creation of an Alpha Channel by means of the calculations dialog that will create a truly amazing abstract colorized photo effect.

Creating the new retro
Learn to give retro-style graphics your individual modern-day spin with this tutorial shared by Graphic designer, James White.

Drawing an Abstract Lightbulb
In this tutorial, you will learn a couple of techniques that include glows using layer styles, stroking path, particles using brush dynamics, and bokeh effects.

Abstract lighting effects
This tutorial guides you through creating some lighting effects with colorful wave elements by using Photoshop CS4. You can achieve the same results even if you have other versions of the program.

Space Lighting Effects in 10 Steps
Here, the artist is showing you how to quickly give life to a space scene with some pleasant lighting effects.

How to Create Brilliant Light Streaks in Photoshop
This tutorial will teach you some simple techniques for creating dazzling light streaks which can be utilized in different manners to add movement and brightness to your designs.

Create Abstract Colorful Balls illustration in Photoshop CS5
This drawing tutorial takes you through the formation of this abstract multicolored illustration with the use of simple tools and techniques like the Ellipse Tool, Brush Tool, Gradient Tool, Layer Style, etc. in CS5.

Create Abstract Background with Bokeh effect
Generate an abstract and vibrantly rich background with bokeh effects via Photoshop’s drawing tools, blending modes, and lighting techniques.

Luminescent Lines
A simple yet very powerful technique to create an abstract wallpaper or image that looks simply stunning and stylish.

Abstract Background of Colored Bars
An easy to follow and understand tutorial on how to design abstract backgrounds, wallpapers, greeting cards, designs, and all that other good stuff.

Abstract Image
Craft a fine-looking and amazing effect with just a few simple steps.

Cool abstract background
Here, the artist takes you through the steps employed to design abstract backgrounds from bubbles and waves using Photoshop.

Easy Abstract Photoshop Tutorial
Use a few brushes and effects to create a very simple abstract shape via the guiding hands of this tutorial.

Intense Solar Flare (Filter) Effect
In this tutorial you will learn how to create an outstanding abstract background using this intense solar flare effect.

Create a fantastic background texture
This tutorial lets you learn how to produce a fantastic background texture that you can customize for your own projects and purposes.

Abstract Airbrushing
In this tutorial you will learn how to create attractive abstract bursts of light for your renders.

Windows Vista Aurora Effect
A Photoshop tutorial which covers creating a Vista like background with aurora type effects.

Wallpaper Effect
This tutorial walks you through creating a warped effect that you can use to create artistic and profressional backgrounds and wallpapers.

TRENDY BACKGROUND
Simple technique by brush strokes for the creation of some fashionable backgrounds.

Digital Star Effect
In this tutorial you will learn how to give your work an effect reminiscent of shimmering sequins.

Mac-type background
This tutorial is focused on the subject of making a “mac” style background.

Signature Backgrounds
In this tutorial you will be taught how to create a nice abstract background that you are sure to become known for using.

Colourful Swirl
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a colorful swirl by using Adobe Photoshop.

Colorful Tornado
In this tutorial, you are being shown how to build a fine-looking vibrant tornado or pinwheel styled design in Photoshop.

Abstract Artsy Background
Here, you will learn how to create amazing abstract artsy backgrounds for any of your design works.

How to create abstract colorful rainbow background
Learn how to use Photoshop’s simple shapes, layer styles and gradients to generate a pleasant abstract rainbow background.

Aurora Borealis – North-South Polar Lights
In this tutorial, the artist is showing how you can recreate an Aurora Borealis type background by using Photoshop only.

Design Eye-catching Laser Particle Abstract Effect in Photoshop
Learn how easy it is in Photoshop to create these attention-grabbing laser particle effects. This is a beginner guide with simple and easy steps to follow.

Hexagon Bokeh Effect in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you will learn how to craft a digital bokeh effect using hexagons. Brush engine, patterns, blend modes and basic filters are used to accomplish this effect.

Creating Smoke
Learn to create a beautiful smoky effect for your designs by using Photoshop with the help of this tutorial.

Create a Rather Interesting, Wavy and Curving Abstract Shape Effect in Photoshop
This tutorial walks you through the formation of this somewhat appealing and colorful shape. A very detailed tutorial with large numbers of helpful screenshots.

Create beautiful hair-like abstract lines to decorate your design in photoshop.
Create stunning hair like line work and beautify your design with this easy to follow tutorial. This is novice level tutorial with the intention of teaching how to utilize the pen tool and dynamic brush setting.

Create Simple, Yet Elegant Abstract Spectrum Lines
Learn step by step how the artist has created this simple yet appealing abstract spectrum of lines that can be used for a wide range of purposes.

Create a Futuristic Abstract Wallpaper
Learn how to use various filters in PS to generate a wallpaper with a futuristic feel.

Creating a Stunning Digital Smoke Effect
This tutorial teaches you how to effortlessly create digital abstract smoke by means of both Illustrator and Photoshop. This technique is incredibly customizable and you can do it pretty swiftly.

How to Create an Interplay of Abstract Light Streaks
A detailed tutorial that will guide you through generating an series of abstract light streaks.

(rb)

What’s the latest and greatest on SEO, WordPress plugins, web hosting, and—my personal favorite—the best food in Austin?

I’ll keep you up to speed with that and maybe even drop a hint about Thesis 2 in this 9-minute video interview from PubCon South 2011.

After you check out the video, be sure to take a look at the new DIYthemes Facebook page, where you can interact with other Thesis users and see hundreds of awesome Thesis customizations!

For me, an essential web development tool is Apache. Regardless of whether I’m working on something that will actually be deployed in an Apache environment or just prototyping something that will be built on some other platform, having Apache enabled and with support for virtual hosts, PHP, and SSI makes things so much easier.

All of these things come built-in with Mac OS X, which makes it a great web development platform. However, none of it is enabled by default, and there are some configuration changes I like to make. I find that when I set up a new Mac or explain to a colleague how to do it, I need to look up what to change and stuff like that. To make that a little bit easier I thought I’d write a post with step-by-step instructions for my own future reference.

Read full post

Posted in Mac, Productivity.

As Web designers, we face a daily struggle to keep pace with advances in technology, new standards and new user expectations. We spend a large part of our working life dipping in and out of recent developments in an attempt to stay both relevant and competitive, and while this is what makes our industry so exciting to be a part of, it often becomes all too easy to get caught up in the finer details. Responsive Web design, improved semantics and rich Web typography have all seen their fair share of the limelight over the last year, but two developments in particular mark true milestones in the maturation of the Web: “real-time data� and a more “personalized Web.�

Since the arrival of the new Web, we’ve been enraptured by social media. We share links, we “follow,� we “poke,� we’ve become accustomed to it all. Through no fault of our own, we’ve become lazy users. The likes of Google, Twitter and Netflix cater to our every desire, serving up instant personalized searches, offering recommendations based on behavioral data and tapping into the preferences of our peers and others with similar tastes. Businesses are beginning to realize that loyal visitors can become volunteer sales forces, and these “anti-defection� measures show a real shift in power toward the user.

Web gurus and industry analysts are simultaneously arriving at the same conclusion: we are entering a new chapter in the evolution of the Web. Many would argue that the future of the Web will be influenced by the growth of the mobile market and location services, and their beliefs would be correct. Both of these, however, are pieces of the bigger picture: personalization, instant data and real-time communication. In this article, I’ll explore how the best in the industry are already adapting to these changes and how Web designers can design for an ever-shortening attention span.

Welcome to the new era.

Real-Time Data

Serving up real-time data is an effective way to keep users interested and to persuade them to become return visitors. In large corporations, it shows transparency and accountability and can be a great way to facilitate trust and confidence in your brand.

The rise in browser support for the HTML5 canvas element provides the opportunity to display real-time data visualizations without the need for plug-ins—a technique admirably employed by Ben Sekulowicz-Barclay on his portfolio website (screenshot below). However, support for the element, and various other HTML5 features for that matter, is relatively limited, as full browser support is not yet here. While canvas can easily display relatively simple data visualizations and animations, it was never intended to replace the likes of Flash and Silverlight, which have more tutorials and learning resources and offer greater interactivity to the user.

When considering the implementation of a real-time data visualization, think of your users. For example, what browsers and devices do they use to view your website? What level of support for JavaScript and Flash are built into those browsers (see Google Analytics). Also, factor in the complexity of your visualization and the user’s need for interactivity before making your decision.

Tip:
When trying to locate the canvas element on the page, you will need to “Inspect element� instead of viewing the page source. When you choose “Inspect element,� you will see that the document tree after the JavaScript has manipulated the DOM and the tree after the browser has applied its corrections.

2010 saw the knives really come out for Flash, and while browser support for canvas is improving, Flash is still a significant force in real-time data delivery. Yes I Am Precious documented a charity bike ride across the US, during which the rider’s tweets, location, speed, temperature, humidity, grade and even cadence were all pulled together to form a great front-end experience. The implementation of an interactive history bar across the top of the website, which showed the status of the bike and the rider at various stages of the journey, let the user “roll backâ€� and “replayâ€� events. Consider this important feature when designing for real-time data; it gives context to the content. The emphasis, though, should always be on real time.

It is worth noting that using canvas or Flash for highly complex visualization or a lot of visualization can be taxing on the CPU and will be slower in browsers without hardware acceleration (which are still the majority).

Stefan Sagmeister’s newly redesigned website offers an interesting alternative: it uses JavaScript to show a real-time feed of his office, with floor-mounted vinyl stickers as the main navigational indicators.

Question: What do Google Analytics and printed newspapers have in common?

Answer: They’re both yesterday’s news.

Real-time data is making waves in Web analytics. This new breed of analytics presents owners with instant actionable data and enables them to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate threats.

Chartbeat is one of the best examples of real-time analytics around. Its “bells and whistles� interface is backed up by an alert system that, via SMS, email or its very own iPhone app, informs the publisher of traffic spikes and downtime. The interface presents actionable data to the user, highlighted through the “F�-style layout. Color shades are consistent, headers are clear, and changes in data are designed to be easily recognizable. These are all excellent features to include when designing for real-time data.

Observing the way users interact with your website in real time is one thing, but acting on your findings is another. One option is to implement a Twitter widget like Monitter, which doesn’t require a page refresh to update the feed. Monitter uses jQuery to deliver an asynchronous Twitter feed that you can easily implement on your website. It isn’t “real� real-time, but it’s pretty close, and with the surge in popularity of similar services, it won’t be long before truly real-time APIs and widgets are available. This use of a real-time Twitter widget allows publishers to communicate rapidly with their users and show what people are saying about their product or service.

For the last two years, Collecta has provided a real-time search engine, offering free embeddable APIs and publisher widgets. However, Collecta has recently stated that it is shuttering its main product and is now looking in a new direction in the real-time data market. When asked about their reasons for switching direction, CEO Gerry Campbell spoke about what he learned from their two years in business:

“First, there is a huge need for real-time information, Second, a destination site is not the correct vehicle for reaching people. Third, new behaviors, specifically with Facebook and mobile, are growing.”

— Gerry Campbell, Collecta

Interestingly, Collecta’s main competitor, OneRiot, has also recently changed directions, shelving its search engine and moving into online advertisements.

This highlights an important point for the API consumer: always have a back-up plan in case your API provider pulls the plug (as Collecta and OneRiot have done).

Another proclaimed casualty of last year was the RSS feed, partly due to Twitter’s new-found purpose as a news distribution service. However, many believe that RSS is evolving to meet rising user expectations in the new Web climate. PubSubHubbub, in addition to being quite a mouthful, is an instant publishing and subscription protocol that adds real-time capabilities to your RSS feed. PushPress is a particularly useful plug-in that adds PubSubHubbub support to your WordPress RSS feed and allows your push subscribers to receive updates instantly.

One of the main advantages of PubSubHubbub is that it “pushes� new content to your users without the need for crawlers to “poll� (i.e. regularly visit to check for new content) your feed, thus saving CPU and bandwidth. While services such as Ping-O-Matic provide a similar service, subscribers still need visit the URL, which is where PubSubHubbub shines because it requires your server to do less work.

It is important to recognize that the successful delivery of real-time data relies heavily on the integrity of the data. While vetting and backing up data are sound practices for any publisher (real time or not), serving up data in real time increases the importance of their adoption. The need to curate and filter data is also important when considering your website’s performance. When delivering real-time data, you want to keep client-side processing to a minimum and do whatever processing you can on your server. This way, you are only sending the user data that is useful to them, and you are optimizing the speed of your website.

On smaller shared servers, you will need to keep the volume of data small to adhere to bandwidth limits and ensure that your server isn’t spending too much time processing data in order to save CPU. If this limits your options, you could always upgrade your hosting package or use a third-party service such as Kwwika, which will keep processing off your server.

A More Personalized Web

Every two days, we create as much information as we did up to 2003.

– Eric Schmidt, then-CEO of Google

Although there are many positives to the rapid growth of user-generated content over the last few years, there are of course some corollary effects of the “content tiger.� Users are quickly becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information being presented to them, with the increase in real-time data further weakening the “signal-to-noise� ratio. In an attempt to alleviate these problems and better organize the mass of information and data available, developers and content providers of the future will thrive by making relevant information find the user, as opposed to the user having to find the information relevant to them (bringing the mountain to Mohammad).

While catering to unique visitor segments and personalizing user experience is nothing new, its relevance has never been more important, and the technologies available to us have never been better. As the user becomes even more accustomed to these personalized touches, the bar of user expectation will once again rise, leaving behind sluggish publishers and retailers that are slow to adapt their online strategy.

Not only is this further shift towards a more personalized user experience becoming a necessity for our bombarded user, it also demonstrates, more interestingly, a measurable shift in consumer behavior. I presume that most of you will get your hair cut a few times this year. How many of you go to a particular salon or barber shop? How many of you even have a preferred hairdresser at that location? I know I do, and I return to this particular hairdresser month after month not for the complimentary light literature and cup of coffee, nor even for the quality of the haircut. I return because the service is personalized—a concept lost on some businesses.

Instead of looking after existing clientele, these businesses choose to put all their resources into pursuing new business. The method of targeting individual users based on their profile histories and the profiles of others has been fervently exploited by the e-commerce market. Savvy companies realize that traditional marketing and advertising methods no longer exclusively drive consumer behavior, and they are instead turning their attention to personalizing their services and investing in word of mouth. These companies are giving users both the inspiration and tools to talk about their products and share them across various social networks. Seth Godin coined a term for this process: flipping the funnel.

Netflix was one of the first to implement a recommendations engine on its website. In addition to recommendations, there’s a “Friendsâ€� tab where the user can see what their friends are watching in order to compare interests. Recommendation engines use specific types of information filtering to present items (movies, products, etc.) that are likely to interest the user. When implementing such a mechanism, you must first understand the data, content and user’s intent. Recommended results should be visually defined and supplemented with a clear marketing message, and you should always be aware of data-shift issues. Although this type of technology may seem out of reach to small businesses and their developers, it is still possible on a smaller budget.

Programming Collective Intelligence is probably a good staring point for anyone looking to implement such functionality.

In June of last year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented at London’s Barbican Centre on the potential of “products built around peopleâ€� and spoke of the company’s “aggressive expansionâ€� into the “personal Web.â€� Facebook’s “Connectâ€� APIs allow websites to connect with a Facebook user’s identity, profile information and even information about the user’s friends. These APIs provide an alternative to the sign-up process, social context, personalized content and other means of customer service communication.

Allowing users to share content across a variety of social platforms is an effective way to reach a large targeted audience. Social “sign-ins,� commenting, content sharing, widgets and APIs are all effective methods of optimization. Social optimization is beginning to rival search engine optimization in importance in the world of online marketing. A recent survey by Pew found that 75% of news consumed online was via links on social networking websites or in email.

The new BBC website is one of my favorite examples of a personalized user experience. The user can drag and drop various news widgets around the home page, remove them completely or customize the content that each widget serves. The website is optimized for social networks, but I feel that the sharing utilities could be slightly more user-friendly. Another step some companies have taken is to re-arrange content and navigation based on user profiles. While this can be convenient for the user, it can also put them off and have a negative effect on usability. For this type of personalization to work effectively, publishers should ensure that they build comprehensive customer profiles before creating rules to target user preferences.

Reviews and comments are another way to engage and empower visitors. If your business delivers a good product or service, then they allow users to share their reviews over numerous social platforms. It’s the perfect breeding ground for customer evangelism.

In addition to optimizing your website for mobile use or creating an app, personalize your service by targeting users according to their location. Recently, Google’s Marissa Mayer told Media Bistro that Google’s focus at the local level is to use location to help searchers find what they’re looking for. Google’s interest in the local market led to an attempted acquisition of Groupon, a discount provider that has been particularly successful in targeting users by location and socially optimizing its services.

Summary

While this cataclysmic shift in the evolution of the Web and the role of the user is welcomed by most, others argue that focusing on providing a personalized Web experience creates an echo chamber of information, opinions and ideas. Is the outsider’s perspective getting lost? Are user expectations of “real time� becoming unrealistic? And could pandering to these expectations contribute to our own downfall? Regardless of the continuing importance of a static Web presence and the infancy of these new technologies, serving up the same stale content to everyone is, without question, no longer enough.

Other Resources

Real-Time Data:

• “Real-Time Data Visualization Using Flexâ€�
• “Real-Time Heat Map Example With JavaScript and HTML Canvasâ€�
• jQuery-accessible charts
• Chartbeat’s design process
• “Weekend Project: Add PubSubHubbub Syndication to Your Website or Blogâ€�
• Phil Leggetter, real-time data evangelist

A Personalized Web:

• “HTML5 Apps: Positioning With Geolocationâ€�
• Word of Mouth Marketing Association blog
• “Social + Algorithms = Personalized Webâ€�
• “How to: Integrating Facebook in Your Websiteâ€�
• “5 Predictions for APIs in 2011â€�
• “Facebook eCommerce Successâ€�

Related Articles

You might want to read the following related articles as well:

• Designing For The Future Web
• Holistic Web Browsing: Trends Of The Future

(al)

© Sam Quayle for Smashing Magazine, 2011. | Permalink | Post a comment | Smashing Shop | Smashing Network | About Us
Post tags: personalized web, real-time data