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Dec/11

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: January 2012

by Smashing Editorial Team under Feeds, Web Design

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, weâ€™ve discovered the best one â€” 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. Itâ€™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: 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—1440
without calendar: 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—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: 1024Ã—768, 1280Ã—800, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1200
without calendar: 1024Ã—768, 1280Ã—800, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1200

Caucasian Mountains

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

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

Bloody January

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

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

Back To Go To Work

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

Cold Flakes To Write Home About?

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

Winter Melancholy

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

The Year Of Dragon

“Dragon is the legendary animal in the Chinese zodiac calendar.” Designed by Cheloveche.ru from Russia.

preview
with calendar: 1024Ã—768, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1200
without calendar: 1024Ã—768, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—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: 320Ã—480, 640Ã—480, 800Ã—480, 800Ã—600, 1024Ã—768, 1024Ã—1024, 1152Ã—864, 1280Ã—720, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—960, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1440Ã—1050, 1600Ã—1200, 1680Ã—1050, 1680Ã—1200, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 1920Ã—1440, 2560Ã—1440
without calendar: 320Ã—480, 640Ã—480, 800Ã—480, 800Ã—600, 1024Ã—768, 1024Ã—1024, 1152Ã—864, 1280Ã—720, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—960, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1440Ã—1050, 1600Ã—1200, 1680Ã—1050, 1680Ã—1200, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 1920Ã—1440, 2560Ã—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: 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1366Ã—768, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—1440
without calendar: 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1366Ã—768, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—1440

Carry Warmth Carry Each Other

preview
with calendar: 320Ã—480, 1024Ã—768, 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—1440
without calendar: 320Ã—480, 1024Ã—768, 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—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: 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—1440
without calendar: 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—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: 320Ã—480, 1024Ã—768, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—1440
without calendar: 320Ã—480, 1024Ã—768, 1280Ã—800, 1280Ã—1024, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080, 1920Ã—1200, 2560Ã—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 wonâ€™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 monthâ€¦.” Designed by Araz Kelian from Lebanon.

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

Soft Wishes

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

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

Bonsai

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

Owl

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

preview
with calendar: 320Ã—480, 1024Ã—768, 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080
without calendar: 320Ã—480, 1024Ã—768, 1024Ã—1024, 1280Ã—800, 1440Ã—900, 1680Ã—1050, 1920Ã—1080

Join In Next Month!

Please note that we respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artistâ€™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 werenâ€™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!

Whatâ€™s Your Favourite?

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

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Dec/11

Freebie: Free Vector Web Icons (91 Icons)

by Smashing Editorial Team under Feeds, Freebies, Web Design

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 Magazineâ€Šâ€”â€Šno 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 effortâ€Šâ€”â€Šeffort 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!