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Fantastic Wallpapers That Will Blow Your Desktop Away
We love desktop wallpapers. And we love beautiful ones most. And although we monthly publish desktop wallpapers of our readers (desktop wallpaper calendar feature), we thought that it would be nice to provide our contributors with some fresh inspiration and our readers with some nice wallpaper update for a lousy Monday.
The wallpapers for this post were selected over a long period of time; they cover mainly nature, abstract and digital art (further collections will be coming if you are interested). We’ve tried to pick only the most beautiful ones and hopefully you won’t be disappointed.
Below we present a showcase of over 50 fantastic wallpapers that will blow your desktop away. Most of them are in HD and will make your desktop look as nifty as it is possible. Because the resolutions are so high, if one doesn’t fit your screen, use your favorite image editor to refine its dimensions.
You may also be interested in the following related posts:
- Really Stunning Desktop Wallpapers
- More Wallpaper (drweb.de)
- 100 Beautiful iPhone Wallpapers
- 70 Beautiful Dual-Screen Desktop Wallpapers
[By the way, did you know there is a brand new Smashing Wordpress Book? Push WordPress past its limits and take the basic blog into an entirely new blogosphere.]
Fantastic Wallpapers That Will Blow Your Desktop Away
Bird on a branch
Available in various widescreen, fullscreen, HDTV and dualscreen resolutions.
Patrick Gunderson’s abstract artworks
Available in 1920×1080.
Unbrella Sky
1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900
Glacier Sunrise
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
The Dancing Nebula
1920×1200px.
Colors and An Animal
Available in various fullscreen resolutions.
Guara
Available in 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Strukt
Available in 1024×640, 2560×1600
Serenity
Available in 1440×900.
De La Haut
Available in various fullscreen resolutions.
Creamy Sky
Available in various widescreen, fullscreen, HDTV and dualscreen resolutions.
Chameleon
Available in various widescreen and fullscreen resolutions.
MacBook Pro
Available in various widescreen, fullscreen, HDTV and dualscreen resolutions.
Bello Nebula
Available in the resolution 1920×1200.
La Solitudine
Available in the resolution 1680×1050.
Super Silo
Available in various resolutions – widescreen, fullscreen and iPhone.
For A Thousand Years
Available in 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050.
Dreamer
A beautiful wallpaper created by Henrik Newstream, available in various full screen resolutions.
Equidistant
Available in the resolutions 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1900×1200 and in the iPhone-version.
Nova
Available in the resolution 1920×1200.
Eifel Tower
Available in the resolution 1600×1200.
Ee Venn’s wallpaper
Available in various resolutions – widescreen, fullscreen and iPhone.
Bokeh
Available in Dual & Single Display Screens (Wide/Full Screen)
Vladstudio’s wallpapers
Available in various fullscreen resolutions – 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1600×1200.
Cosmic Apple
Available in various wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Let if fly
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Swan
Available resolutions: 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Phalanx
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Autumn
Available in various full screen and wide screen resolutions – 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Chasing Dreams
Available in 1920×1080.
It’s Magic
Available in 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Influx
Available in resolutions 1280×1024, 1920×1200 and 2560×1600.
All Falls Down
Available in resolutions 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050 and 1920×1200.
Distorted 7 HD Wallpaper
Available in 1680×1050
Rooster’s Ranch
Available in 1440×900, designed by Andrea Andrade.
Electricmanja
Available in the resolutions 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200 and in the iPhone version.
Photons
Available in various themes in resolutions 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1920×1200.
Korean Star Paper
Available in the resolution 1920×1200.
a flower
Available in various resolutions 1600×1200 and 1920×1200.
The End, The Tsunami
Available in 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
depthCore Heist
Available in various resolutions – widescreen, fullscreen and iPhone.
Girl
Available in 1680×1050.
Mac Universe
Available in 1680×1050.
Twizted
Available in the resolution 2560×1600.
In a Whisper
Available in 1280×800
Fritrix
Available in 1280×1224, 1680×1050, 2600×1300
Gone Clubbing
Available in various resolutions: 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, 1280×800, but also fullscreen, HDTV and Mobile versions are available.
Route 66
1920×1200
The Dope Show
Available in 1680×1050 (up to)
Yellow Silk
Available in 1680×1050.
The Lich King (Warcraft)
HD — 1900×1200
Diablo3
1024×768, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
Bulls on Parade
1100×778, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1280×1024, 1280×800, 1024×768
Last Click
Videogames Remakes Wallpapers
The French designer Mikaël Aguirre designs remakes of legendary video games such as Mario, Sonic, Gunstar Heroes and others. The wallpaper dimensions are up to 5000×2800 for printing. Incredible pieces of art.
Related posts
You may also be interested in the following related posts:
(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...- 108 Comments
- 1
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May 10th, 2009 11:23 pmi use Flow
it is great cause i can use it on my duel monitor desktop and my phone!
- 3May 10th, 2009 11:27 pm
This collection range from horrendous to beautiful.
But how could any visual professional work with this in front of them?
But my daughter will love it on her machine… - 4May 10th, 2009 11:32 pm
wow great collection!
- 5May 10th, 2009 11:32 pm
I might say, some of them are nice. I think my favorite is Square Elephant. Very nice concept.
- 6May 10th, 2009 11:47 pm
Beautiful collection!
- 7May 10th, 2009 11:51 pm
@WEBDEZINER.de I saw the Windows symbol… Look at Distorted 7 HD.
- 8May 10th, 2009 11:55 pm
Some are nice many are not !!
DKumar M
@instantShift - 9May 10th, 2009 11:57 pm
that’s just amazing… thanks SM … (bow)
- 10May 10th, 2009 11:57 pm
great photoshoping but the results are kitsch.
- 11May 10th, 2009 11:58 pm
Many of the wallpapers miss one criteria for a good wallpaper… you can’t see your icons on it.
- 12May 11th, 2009 12:10 am
For more awesome wallpapers check out http://WallpaperStock.net and http://Wallpapers.NET
- 13May 11th, 2009 12:32 am
Mann ist diese Site kitschig geworden … ich dachte, es wäre ein “Bug”, ist aber anscheinend ein “Feature”
- 14May 11th, 2009 12:33 am
Really great collection you’ve put together :) thanks for this
- 15May 11th, 2009 12:36 am
These are fantastic!
- 16May 11th, 2009 12:36 am
You may change these superlative titles at least when you only present kitsch … “amazing” ?
I am just amazed about your editorial decisions in the last couple of weeks, are you looking for readers other than designers, may be Tokyo Hotel Fans?
- 17May 11th, 2009 12:42 am
mostly rubbish!
- 18May 11th, 2009 12:49 am
Awesome ! Thanks ;-)
- 19May 11th, 2009 1:15 am
Thanks. Its about time to change wallpaper
- 20May 11th, 2009 1:23 am
Wow, some really gorgeous examples here! I’m always on the lookout for new wallpapers and this definitely sets me up for the next few weeks!
- 21May 11th, 2009 1:40 am
wow my desktop already blows when I used one of them. thank you for sharing
- 22May 11th, 2009 1:52 am
Pretty nice collection! :)
- 23May 11th, 2009 2:00 am
Hmm sorry.. Most of the time not my style. Gonna stick to the calendar wallpapers.
- 24May 11th, 2009 2:11 am
Great wallpapers & great post! Thank you for sharing these jewels!
- 25May 11th, 2009 2:41 am
Not really my kind of thing, but I was wondering about those Apple/Win desktops in there. No way they were chosen because they are “amazing”. You have to be a pretty brainless Apple/Mac zealot to put one of those on your desktop
- 26May 11th, 2009 2:59 am
awesome…thanks
- 27May 11th, 2009 3:08 am
Awesome!
- 28May 11th, 2009 3:27 am
Fantastic?
Good, maybe cool, artistic….but none of ‘em are really fan-tas-tic!I’m suspecting SM from using these superlatives on purpose to get more comments…and it’s working well, I suppose ;)
- 29May 11th, 2009 3:36 am
Some of them are really stunning.
But when I read something like “fantastic wallpapers that will blow your desktop away” I’m expecting something more than this collection -__-FYI: First visual container between headline and teasertext don’t work on Firefox Mac.
- 30May 11th, 2009 3:40 am
god there’s really too much kitsch in the world. why do people keep wasting their talents.
- 31May 11th, 2009 4:19 am
ugly.
- 32May 11th, 2009 4:45 am
very nice collection…
thank you
- 33May 11th, 2009 4:50 am
Desktop wallpapers are hard to please people with especially when there’s 100000 places on the web for them. If you aren’t using InterfaceLift for your backgrounds then you should look into it.
- 34May 11th, 2009 4:50 am
great selection, thanks!
- 35May 11th, 2009 5:10 am
I’m bored
- 36
- 37May 11th, 2009 5:49 am
Well these are pretty awesome! I’m definitely a fan of about half those! :D
- 38May 11th, 2009 6:03 am
Thank you!!! These are great!
- 39May 11th, 2009 6:18 am
Some really good ones.. Great!
- 40
- 41May 11th, 2009 6:40 am
Most of those are not my style…But i do like some: umbrella sky, super silo, Eifel Tower, Vladstudio’s wallpapers, yellow silk.
But I think I will stick to my Calendar Wallpapers…I just love them:) - 42May 11th, 2009 6:51 am
The link for Bokeh is broken. It is actually broken on deviantart, too.
- 43May 11th, 2009 7:05 am
excellent stuff … thank you.
- 44May 11th, 2009 7:11 am
Re: #12
Many of the wallpapers miss one criteria for a good wallpaper… you can’t see your icons on it.
Do yourself a favor… get a mac. you don’t need (or use) icons.
- 45May 11th, 2009 7:24 am
thank you so much !
- 46May 11th, 2009 8:34 am
Influx is going to be my new wallpaper – it’s simple, clean, and gorgeous. Thanks for the list. :)
- 47May 11th, 2009 8:52 am
How can you suggest these are “HD”.
You clearly have no idea what High Definition is. In the sense of images, HD is just a buzword for “High res”.
And why does putting a MAC logo on some easily created starry background make for an awesome wallpaper? Because it has an apple on it? OMG AN APPLE! sigh.
- 48May 11th, 2009 9:13 am
Oh My God! These were great. Divine. I’m praying for more. Please!
- 49May 11th, 2009 9:21 am
A great collection. I personally think you should have included links to David Lanham’s site as well as to National Geographic’s Photo of the Day, but maybe you’ll grab those on the next go-around.
- 50May 11th, 2009 9:29 am
My screen just exploded. Yikes
- 51May 11th, 2009 9:41 am
One more that deserves some attention…
Chocolate dreams by =NKeo
http://nkeo.deviantart.com/art/Chocolate-dreams-121060579 - 52May 11th, 2009 9:44 am
nice! Great collection~
I’ve had some - 53May 11th, 2009 10:01 am
those are hot.
- 54May 11th, 2009 10:59 am
Magnificent. I had seen only vladstudio’s before this.
- 55May 11th, 2009 1:11 pm
These kinda suck. The majority of these are stunningly uninspired and derivative. “Cosmic” designs are the ultimate kitsch, ask anybody who collects wallpapers. Most of the nature ones are colorful but lame, and nobody outside of high school uses those fantasy walls. Mind you, a small handful are pretty neat and interesting, but not enough for the post to deserve its title.
- 56May 11th, 2009 1:12 pm
Eifel Tower > Eiffel Tower :)
- 57May 11th, 2009 3:01 pm
Awesome! Thanks!
- 58May 11th, 2009 3:29 pm
I get mine for free @ desktopnexus dot com
Seriously, worth the visit.
- 59May 11th, 2009 4:49 pm
I like the “Autumn”, Thanks
- 60May 11th, 2009 6:32 pm
These are HORRIBLE and most break with good wallpaper design. Instead check this blogpost on good wallpapers and his images: http://blogs.msdn.com/mswanson/pages/HowIMakeMyWallpaperImages.aspx
- 61May 11th, 2009 8:18 pm
I like the “something like an astronomer ”
thx - 62May 11th, 2009 10:27 pm
Wrong selection (once again).
A fantastic wallpaper should be also useful. Finding your icons should be easy and not distracting. Too many of those “wallpapers” should be use as screensaver not wallpaper. They all have way too much contrast.
Bottom line : I stick with my basic, maybe boring but efficiant grey background and use the “periodic table of typefaces” as wallpaper on my secondary display.This article is not making my life easier. Please refrain yourself to put everything online everyday. Quality not quantity. Select only the USEFULL stuff (really).
- 63May 11th, 2009 11:44 pm
Really great walls to blow our desktops … :)
- 64May 12th, 2009 12:13 am
Thanks for pointing out someone who use a wallpaper of mine without permission.
- 65May 12th, 2009 1:03 am
the “bird on a branch” gets the prize.
- 66May 12th, 2009 3:22 am
superb Wallpapers I was really looking for some good ones but here I got lots of……….
Thank you very much
All are great designs by great designer- 67December 14th, 2009 9:05 pm
i like you meg
- 67
- 68May 12th, 2009 3:23 am
Congrats to the designer of “Birds on Branch”
- 69May 12th, 2009 4:14 am
Very nice sir.!! I Like
- 70May 12th, 2009 5:11 am
Very nice! Thanks so much, I’ll be using one of these at work to try and cheer myself up from my depressing job. Thanks!
- 71May 12th, 2009 5:23 am
Some of these wallpapers are nice. I’m using one now.
- 72May 12th, 2009 8:16 am
some really nice ones, grabbed the bokeh for dual setup…desktop is looking sexy hell now
- 73
- 74May 12th, 2009 1:38 pm
you guys/girls amaze me everyday! this post is brilliant.
thnx!
- 75May 12th, 2009 11:22 pm
A lot of these are poorly cropped digital paintings stolen from deviant art. Its really wrong to promote a website that uses someone else’s creative work not only without credit, but probably without permission, and on top of that they are making a profit from the stolen art with the ridiculous number of banner ads on every page. This is a definitely FAIL on your part, Smashing.
- 76May 13th, 2009 4:49 am
As you can see desktop art is in the hands of graphic designers …and thats not a good thing!
- 77
- 78May 14th, 2009 7:41 am
Amazing. I’m speechless.
- 79May 14th, 2009 2:35 pm
What I’m getting from the comments is that a lot of you have no taste at all. Sure, they’re not for everybody, but this spans a large range of styles and tastes.
“As you can see desktop art is in the hands of graphic designers …and thats not a good thing!”
Oh really? Who should it be in the hands of then? GRAPHIC DESIGNERS DESIGN GRAPHICS. If you want plain desktops, they already exist on every operating system–solid colors.
- 80May 15th, 2009 9:28 am
Thanks Smashing… I love the haters here…. go away if you dont like free lol.
- 81May 15th, 2009 10:36 am
amaizing! Thanks for my new wallpaper :)
- 82May 15th, 2009 10:21 pm
muy buenos wallpapers gracias!
- 83May 17th, 2009 2:08 am
wow, great wallpaper . like all…
- 84
- 85May 20th, 2009 7:18 am
dsfsdfdsfsf
- 86May 21st, 2009 4:06 am
Sensacional !
- 87May 22nd, 2009 10:41 am
papeis de parede!
- 88May 22nd, 2009 5:43 pm
Fantastic :-D
- 89May 27th, 2009 12:54 am
nice wallpapers, its simply amazing
- 90June 5th, 2009 9:37 am
OMG, Simply Amazing! Love It. Huge Thanks. Nicky
- 91November 28th, 2009 1:01 am
hello
how r u?
- 91
- 92June 10th, 2009 10:31 pm
Amazing pictures…..Great!!!
- 93June 16th, 2009 3:59 am
amazing work ……….
thanks a lot……
- 94June 23rd, 2009 7:17 am
Very nice! Thanks so much…. just dowload
- 95July 1st, 2009 10:09 pm
wonderful collection of wallpapers
- 96August 3rd, 2009 11:58 pm
wow soooooooooooooooo great!!!
Pierluigi Rotundo
- 97September 3rd, 2009 10:39 pm
Awesome
- 98September 14th, 2009 7:00 am
Too much noise for nothing!
HBA
- 99October 17th, 2009 7:57 am
amzing pictures
- 100November 2nd, 2009 1:21 am
amazing collections…
- 101November 21st, 2009 11:21 am
Awesome! Excellent collections.
Great job … - 102November 26th, 2009 1:21 am
fantastic
- 103November 27th, 2009 5:20 pm
Very nice collection :)
- 104December 7th, 2009 1:06 am
I’m really loving the haters here, more so as one of those wp’s is mine :P
Fact : haven’t been using icons on my desktop since 2003 and those were the times of XP. Now with 7 out, there is no excuse to have them cluttering up your desktop. If you use a calendar as your desktop wallpaper…you may not find what you want here…more so if you want something simple so that it’s not in the way, are you really looking at your desktop when you work? Does it help your workflow to stare at your desktop all the time? - 105December 10th, 2009 1:03 pm
A really nice collection I’ll use it right away!
- 106December 24th, 2009 10:15 pm
Thanks, you save my time in Designing=)
- 107February 5th, 2010 11:28 am
neek photuu hain sab lekin bachia(calf) ki photuu nai hai
- 108February 8th, 2010 2:53 am
looks beauty
- 00
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wow really great walls to blow our desktops ;) …