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 over 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 20 free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for January 2012. 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:

• 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?

A New Ending

"Wishing everyone a lucky and successful year 2012!" Designed by Lina Itskovitch from USA.

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

Red

"Photo taken at a friend’s house with one of her toys and my glass of rose wine. It’s perfect for a cold winter day, warmth for the soul and body." Designed by Diana Samoila from Romania.

• 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

Caucasian Mountains

"From Caucasus with love!" Designed by Ilona from Russia.

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

Bloody January

"Something to cure that New Year’s hangover." Designed by Suety Kwan from USA.

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

Back To Go To Work

Designed by Forsaken from France.

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

Royal World

"Our first submission to the Desktop Wallpapers. To start a great new year, we designed a world that represents our goals and aspirations for this new year." Designed by Javier Castillo from Guatemala.

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

Cold Flakes To Write Home About?

Designed by Marc James Productions from Sault Ste Marie, Canada.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1152×860, 1200×800, 1600×1200
• without calendar: 800×532, 1024×768, 1152×860

Winter Melancholy

Designed by Aleksandra Laczek from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

The Year Of Dragon

"Dragon is the legendary animal in the Chinese zodiac calendar." 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

Delicate Frost

"Don’t let Jack Frost nip too much at your nose but do let him decorate your windows!" Designed by Tirelessweaver from Canada.

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

Resolution Libs

"It’s time for New Year’s resolutions! And the best way to keep them is by writing them down and keeping track of your progress. So this wallpaper is a recreation of the chalkboard in my house." Designed by Illuum Design Team from Canada.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Carry Warmth Carry Each Other

Designed by Marika Smirnova From “oblako Studio” from Russia.

• 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

What’s On Your Mind?

"Sometimes it seems that girls are from another planet. I just can’t figure out, whats going on in their heads…" Designed by Kristjan Ait from Estonia.

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

Facts

"I was reminded of a simple fact while I was browsing for inspiration for this wallpaper. I’ve read on Wikipedia that January is the coldest month on most of the northern hemisphere and the hottest one on most of the southern hemisphere. I found it fascinating that someone in Australia is enjoying a surf while I am watching the first snowflakes of the winter. I was hoping to create a wallpaper that will serve as a reminder of the fact that we live in a fascinating world full of varieties and contrasts. The old-worn-out-encyclopedia style hopefully emphasizes the educational theme of the wallpaper :)." Designed by Danijel Gajan from Serbia.

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

Memorize Me

"This calendar has 4 sheets. Each sheet shows 4 months.The Sundays of these 4 months are colored in the order of the rainbow colors.If you commit these columns to memory, you won’t need to resort to any pocket calendar or electronic device to know when the next holiday is, to know the date of the first Monday of the next month…." Designed by Araz Kelian from Lebanon.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Soft Wishes

"Let yourself be carried away by the delicate desires of your heart…" Designed by Katia Piccinni from Italy.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×900
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×900

Bonsai

Designed by Marta Miazek from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1440
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1440

Owl

"The first month of phpfaber’s calendar for 2012 with our hero Owl." Designed by Katerina Bobkova from Ukraine.

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

What’s your favorite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comment section below! And Happy New Year 2012!

(il) (vf)

© Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2011.

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 over 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 20 free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for January 2012. 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:

• 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?

A New Ending

“Wishing everyone a lucky and successful year 2012!” Designed by Lina Itskovitch from USA.

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

Red

“Photo taken at a friend’s house with one of her toys and my glass of rose wine. It’s perfect for a cold winter day, warmth for the soul and body.” Designed by Diana Samoila from Romania.

• 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

Caucasian Mountains

“From Caucasus with love!” Designed by Ilona from Russia.

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

Bloody January

“Something to cure that New Year’s hangover.” Designed by Suety Kwan from USA.

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

Back To Go To Work

Designed by Forsaken from France.

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

Royal World

“Our first submission to the Desktop Wallpapers. To start a great new year, we designed a world that represents our goals and aspirations for this new year.” Designed by Javier Castillo from Guatemala.

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

Cold Flakes To Write Home About?

Designed by Marc James Productions from Sault Ste Marie, Canada.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1152×860, 1200×800, 1600×1200
• without calendar: 800×532, 1024×768, 1152×860

Winter Melancholy

Designed by Aleksandra Laczek from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1366×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

The Year Of Dragon

“Dragon is the legendary animal in the Chinese zodiac calendar.” 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

Delicate Frost

“Don’t let Jack Frost nip too much at your nose but do let him decorate your windows!” Designed by Tirelessweaver from Canada.

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

Resolution Libs

“It’s time for New Year’s resolutions! And the best way to keep them is by writing them down and keeping track of your progress. So this wallpaper is a recreation of the chalkboard in my house.” Designed by Illuum Design Team from Canada.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1366×768, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Carry Warmth Carry Each Other

Designed by Marika Smirnova From “oblako Studio” from Russia.

• 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

What’s On Your Mind?

“Sometimes it seems that girls are from another planet. I just can’t figure out, whats going on in their heads…” Designed by Kristjan Ait from Estonia.

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

Facts

“I was reminded of a simple fact while I was browsing for inspiration for this wallpaper. I’ve read on Wikipedia that January is the coldest month on most of the northern hemisphere and the hottest one on most of the southern hemisphere. I found it fascinating that someone in Australia is enjoying a surf while I am watching the first snowflakes of the winter. I was hoping to create a wallpaper that will serve as a reminder of the fact that we live in a fascinating world full of varieties and contrasts. The old-worn-out-encyclopedia style hopefully emphasizes the educational theme of the wallpaper :).” Designed by Danijel Gajan from Serbia.

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

Memorize Me

“This calendar has 4 sheets. Each sheet shows 4 months.The Sundays of these 4 months are colored in the order of the rainbow colors.If you commit these columns to memory, you won’t need to resort to any pocket calendar or electronic device to know when the next holiday is, to know the date of the first Monday of the next month….” Designed by Araz Kelian from Lebanon.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Soft Wishes

“Let yourself be carried away by the delicate desires of your heart…” Designed by Katia Piccinni from Italy.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×900
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×900

Bonsai

Designed by Marta Miazek from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1440
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1440

Owl

“The first month of phpfaber’s calendar for 2012 with our hero Owl.” Designed by Katerina Bobkova from Ukraine.

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

What’s your favorite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comment section below! And Happy New Year 2012!

(il) (vf)

© Smashing Editorial Team for Smashing Magazine, 2011.

As the new year beckons, resolution time is upon the masses once more. For those who are wishing that they can keep themselves more productive in 2012, we have put together a list of apps for all those Android users (who some readers have suggested we have been neglecting) to help them keep their resolutions going all year long. We took to the reviews and looked around at the various suggestions offered around the web to find a range of apps that we hope can help cover all of your bases for staying on track.

With over 20 different free Android apps featured (some you have seen before and some you may have not), we are pretty sure that most of you will not be leaving this post without a few new apps in tow. Get ready to get more productive!

Apps to Increase Your Productivity

Evernote

How could we make a productivity list of apps and not include the ever-popular Evernote? Most of our readers are probably already a bit familiar with this helpful application, and may actually be using it on other devices. Now its power and organizational aids can be added to your Android mobile arsenal, complete with a handy widget.

Advanced Task Killer

While not necessarily needed for newer versions of the Android OS, some users still like having a quick and easy task manager for managing their apps and battery life. Advanced Task Killer is the one many users turn to for this added management and peace of mind.

Google Goggles

A timesaving way to search your surroundings and more using your phones built in camera. Google Goggles is an interesting new way for users to explore not only the web, but the world around them as well. From images to phrases and more, your camera can capture a wide range of information that will be automatically searched for (or translated) via Google.

Dropbox

Another definite oldie but goodie, Dropbox can allow Android users to now easily access their synced and saved data, without having to switch to a new device. Streamlining your workflow even more, by bringing one more area of connectivity between your devices for data sharing.

CamScanner – Phone PDF Creator

An extremely handy little app that turns your smartphone into something of a compact document scanner and PDF creator. CamScanner brings even more functionality to your mobile devices, giving that extra punch of productivity on the go without having to lug around any extra equipment.

Vlingo Virtual Assistant

iPhone users have been very responsive to Siri, but Android users are not short of their own alternatives. Vlingo is one of the more popular Siri alternatives currently on the market. Its a wonderfully useful app that transforms your Android into your very own personal assistant.

Easy Uninstaller

While the Android OS has a fairly user friendly app manager, Easy Uninstaller gives users even more power to control their devices. With the ability to do batch uninstalls, search for files and get detailed file info, easy uninstaller is a helpful addition to anyone’s app arsenal. The one drawback is that you cannot uninstall any of the apps that came pre-installed.

Voice Recorder

For those looking for a simpler app for dictating notes than say the much more loaded Evernote, Voice Recorder is the app for you. Easy to use, and manage the files. What more can you ask for from a simple recorder?

Astrid Task/Todo List

If you are looking for a todo list that is both fun and feature rich, then look no further, Astrid Task/Todo List is the perfect app for you. Complete with reminders, syncing options, task sharing and much more, Astrid allows users to get more done on the run with their Android device. Even has a widget for quick and easy access.

WiFi Manager

When on the go, and needing to spare your data plan, use WiFi Manager to quickly find an access point and get online to access or share the files you need. Uploading and downloading files can become quite costly if your provider is a little less than forgiving when it comes to overages, so finding a usable WiFi hotspot is a good way to keep things economical and accessible.

Cloud Print

If you are looking to be able to print from apps on your smartphone, but do not have a wireless ready printer, Cloud Print is there to the rescue. Using a new service from Google, there is a slight setup that one has to go through to make this work smoothly with the PC your printer is hooked up to (unless you happen to already have a Cloud Print or HP E-Print ready printer), but the guide is pretty straightforward.

Springpad

Being able to take notes on the go is important for many of our readers, and while we have featured Evernote, we wanted to provide our users with more options. And while there are many options out there, another popular one that many users have turned to for all of their mobile notetaking (plus) needs is Springpad. Allows you to save notes, locations, products and more, and even automatically organizes them for you.

SanDisk Memory Zone (Beta)

When it comes to managing the data stored on your Android, SD card, and even select online cloud services SanDisk Memory Zone is a powerful and easy to use tool that should definitely be on your radar. Though it is still in beta, this promising new app is a powerful memory and data manager.

My Work Clock

Perfect for those who need to be able to keep track of the time spent on their projects for more precise billing and client reporting. Work Clock lets you punch-in and out just like you were working a standard 9 to 5 job. Comes with its own dashboard widget for easy tracking, plus supports multiple jobs at a time.

SwipePad: Hyperspace Jump

Multitasking like a boss is how some would describe this shortcut creator. SwipePad allows you to quickly and easily access your apps no matter what is running or where you are in your phone. Shortcuts made near effortlessly intuitive and simple.

Remember the Milk

For those fans of the online version of this popular todo list service, now you can have all of the organizational power of Remember the Milk on your Android. Get synced and organized on the go, with the service that millions of users have trusted for years.

handyCalc Calculator

With many practical uses, handyCalc Calculator is a useful little app to have, well, handy. Especially if you find yourself freelancing, it can assist you with its currency converter when you are dealing with clients from other countries and needing to ensure proper pricing for reasonable quotes.

Package Buddy

With the web allowing for widespread connectivity, shipping remains an important part of keeping our businesses running smoothly, especially for all of those less than instantly and digitally transmittable deliveries. Package Buddy takes so much of the headache and time out of tracking those packages through a huge range of international shippers.

Advanced Task Accelerator

Battery drain is a huge problem for smartphone users, and Android devices are not immune. Using Advanced Task Accelerator can help you keep those unused background apps from draining important phone resources. Simulates a reboot to keep your main apps running without unnecessary sluggishness.

Recycle Bin

If you are familiar with the problem of deleting an app and later wishing that you could get it back; and even one step further along this route is the problem of having issues recalling just what the app was called in the first place, then this app is right up your alley. With Recycle Bin logging the apps you delete from your phone, you can reacquire them with a click.

DroidEdit Free

For many web design and developers, being able to access and quickly modify source code from our mobile devices is the dream. Okay so maybe less of a dream, and more of a necessary evil at times. Rather than discovering the problem on a mobile device and waiting until you can access your computer, just being able to get the job done quick and easy. With DroidEdit Free that dream is brought within reach.

B-Folders Secure Organizer

Cloudless and secure syncing and sharing of all of your important data is not always an easy thing to find, especially in such a feature rich and optimized fashion. However, B-Folders rises to meet this challenge head-on, and in rare form too.

Root Uninstall

A quick and easy way to remove the bloatware apps from your phone, even those system apps the phone doesn’t want you to unload. One click and they are now gone with the help of Root Uninstall. A very handy app to have at your disposal. Pun completely intended…

Seesmic for Android

Most of our readers are probably already familiar with this old favorite, but we had to include this handy app for managing your social networking all in one place without having to run multiple apps at a time. Especially when focusing on productivity. Seesmic is known around the community, and their reputation stands with their extension to Android devices. Reliable and solid as ever.

That’s a Wrap

That concludes this showcase of free Android apps to keep your new year on a more productive track. What are some of your favorites that were not included? Which ones featured have you tried, and what are your thoughts on them? Feel free to share them and more with us in the comment section below.

(rb)

Today’s freebie may be the last one for this year, but that doesn’t mean it will be the last of our freebies on Smashing Magazine — no siree! Before this year does come to an end, we are happy to present to you a fresh new Web UI set includig 91 icons created by August Interactive for the holiday season. The set is a collection of widely used UI elements, including volume, zoom, player, view, and download controls.

Designed by Tomas Gajar, the set was developed using Adobe Fireworks and has been exported as a fully editable layered Photoshop file as well. The set is clean, pixel perfect, and meant to full your everyday needs for UI design.

Download the Set for Free!

This freebie offers vectors, all scalable, Adobe Photoshop PSDs as well as Fireworks PNGs. The icon set is completely free to use for commercial or personal applications without any restrictions. Please link to this article if you want to spread the word.

• large preview
• download the free icon set (.zip, 3,4 Mb)

Behind the Design

As always, here are some insights from the designers:

“For us, the end of the year usually brings some precious time to reflect on our work and how our love for design remains relevant to the user interface design community. Our revelation this year is that clean, pixel perfect vector icons have become immensely important to our work. This means we typically spend the extra time to develop the icons that fit the specific need of the job at hand. As you can imagine, this ‘extra’ time takes considerable effort — effort that is often not a part of a clients’ original scope of work.

These holidays, we decided that the best gift we could offer our friends and colleagues is free access to some of our favorite custom UI icons. They are available in Adobe Photoshop PSDs, and for our really special friends, Fireworks PNGs. All vector, all scalable, all free to use for commercial or personal applications. Stay tuned for more in 2012!”

Thank you, Tomas Gajar and August Interactive. We appreciate your work and your good intentions!

(il) (vf)

© Smashing Editorial Team for Smashing Magazine, 2011.

As I sat in my local co-working space, shoulder-deep in a design problem on my MacBook Air, I could hear him. He was on the phone, offering screen-by-screen design recommendations to his client for the project they were working on. When this acquaintance of mine arrived at the subject of a particularly hairy task flow, he said, “Well, these aren’t going to be very savvy users, so we should probably put some instructions there.� He followed this by rattling off some dry, slightly too formal line intended to clear up any confusion about the page.

Image Source: Robb North

It was an act that reflected his apparent belief that some savvier type of user is out there who would immediately understand the screen and could live without the instructive text. I cringed. I’ve heard the same suggestion on far too many phone calls, and it’s been wrong every time. To shed light on my reaction to it and to illustrate why such a suggestion is problematic, let’s consider a quick tale of two users.

A Tale Of Two Users

First up is the type of user who my acquaintance thought he was trying to help. Let’s call him John.

John is a guy with little experience using the Web beyond the typical. He pays a few bills, Facebooks a few friends, buys the occasional bauble, but he has found himself having to use this fancy new internal Web app as part of his job, the one designed by the person in my co-working area.

At the next desk over is Jane, a tech-savvy user who spends nine hours a day doing one thing or another on a variety of screens — her laptop, her phone, her tablet — and whose hobby is loading up on as many apps as she can find. She’s never met a problem the Internet couldn’t solve. She has chops, and she loves to use them.

When John approaches this complicated Web app, he knows a couple of things: that he has to learn to use the thing in order to do his job, and that he often struggles to understand the complicated interfaces that seem to come at him from every direction these days. He’s not excited about having to cope with this one, too.

Jane, on the other hand, is a “producer.� She gets things done, and she pushes this app’s buttons without hesitation. The list in her to-do app has a hundred things on it, and doing work on this app is just one of a slew of tasks whose ass she’ll kick before even heading out for lunch.

John and Jane both see the same screen, but they see different things there. Their understanding and familiarity with it are not the same; their confidence in conquering it is at different levels; and different psychological factors are at play when they interact with it. For John, the pressure is in figuring out how to do this part of his job so that he can get back to nervously doing the others. For Jane, the pressure is in cranking through this so that she can devour the next item on her list.

Identical Needs

Now comes the part that too few people who make design decisions realize: while John and Jane have different problems and are different types of users, their needs are identical. In short, they both want to get the hell off this screen. John is unconfident, and Jane has other things to do. They both need the screen to make sense. They both need the task flow to be obvious. They both need to just get past it.

So, which user was my acquaintance helping by adding instructions to the page? In truth, the answer is probably neither.

The only reason a line of instruction would help John is because the screen was designed for Jane, whose vast experience helps her decipher the purpose, benefit and flow of this task. And that’s exactly the problem. Jane, though perhaps more likely to work her way through the screen with some success, has better things to do than struggle with it. She may have more technological experience, but she’s in a hurry. Besides, a poorly designed screen can make Jane feel as much of a moron as John feels. Her experience means nothing against a screen that wholly fails to explain itself.

John is less likely to recognize design patterns or to be able to parlay his previous experiences to this one. Jane is more likely to recognize patterns, but only if they’re used in ways she’s familiar with or can quickly adapt to (although weak designs are weak usually because established design patterns have been misused). John’s lack of confidence pitted against a tough design might kill his desire to ever work with it again. And Jane, despite being ready and willing to fight through it, will not be any more loyal after the battle.

In short, Jane is just as likely as John to walk away from this screen frustrated. And no line of instruction will compensate for a bad design.

Frustration Is Frustration

Despite hearing it all the time from designers and executives alike, the notion that tech-savvy users will be more amenable to difficult interfaces is, in a word, crazy. Yes, some users, when asked, would prioritize user control over ease of use (and vice versa: unconfident users would prioritize ease of use over control), but does this mean that the tech-addicted among us will more readily understand an unclear message, tolerate a poor task flow, or swear by a product that they themselves have trouble using? Heck no. Complexity can be managed, control can be beneficial, but frustration is never a good business strategy.

It doesn’t matter how savvy your users are, better design benefits everyone. Having a proficient audience is no excuse to slack off. You’re still designing for human beings, and human beings, one and all, have better things to do than try to make sense of a weak design.

You’re A Jane

If you’re reading this, odds are that you’re a Jane. You are a tech-savvy, confident user who jams those buttons down like there’s no tomorrow, fearlessly marching your way through whatever task stands in your way. When was the last time you had the time and willingness to put up with a poor interface from a company that thought it could get away with it because you’re an experienced user? When was the last time you liked it? When was the last time you recommended an app with such a design?

The next time you’re designing for John, remember that you’re also designing for the Janes of the world, too. Their to-do lists will be the better for it.

(al)

© Robert Hoekman Jr for Smashing Magazine, 2011.