Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: January 2012
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)
Sarah Weeger
December 30th, 2011 3:55 pmI look forward to these calendars every month, to see what people come up with. These don’t disappoint… thanks!!! :)
Celso
January 10th, 2012 7:25 amI agree with you!!!
Dee
December 30th, 2011 7:26 pmGotta love ‘Soft wishes’ and also ‘Carry warmth carry each other’
Nice selection!
Bryan
December 30th, 2011 8:30 pmI like the design by Danijel Gajan – Thanks for sharing!
Danijel Gajan
January 9th, 2012 9:10 amYou are welcome :) Glad you like it.
Betty
December 30th, 2011 9:42 pmGreetings from Hungary!
It’s really really cool what you are showing and giving us: design and functionality.
Best wishes for 2012 to All your workers and readers!
My favs are Bonsai and Royal World.
Robin Humphreys
December 30th, 2011 11:33 pmCaucasian Mountains is the one for me! Thanks :)
mike ilz
December 31st, 2011 4:12 amRandom Question>>> Does anybody know of a tutorial online showing how to make the “ribbon” effect with the gradients like the “2012″ has in the main graphic of this post?
I know I’ve seen them in the past, but now that I actually need to create something similar for a project I can’t find any quality tutorial on the subject (searching for “ribbon gradient” brings up a bunch of junk”).. thanks for the help!!
Lina
December 31st, 2011 6:14 amHi mike ilz,
I think this should be a helpful tutorial to you:
http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/text-effects/origami-style-typography/
Hope that helps!
ptamaro
December 31st, 2011 1:58 pmAnother great batch, thanks – I’ll be using these:
1) The Year Of Dragon – Awesome! Fave :)
2) Royal World – Super cool…
3) A New Ending – Really well done…
maichan
December 31st, 2011 6:47 pmI really like “Red”. It will be my first wallpaper of the year. ^^
Diana Samoila
January 19th, 2012 3:31 pmThanks, glad you enjoy it :)
lisa
December 31st, 2011 8:20 pmIs there anyway to get the first 2 wallpapers in a 1920×1080?
Crystal
December 31st, 2011 9:28 pmMy fav is “Owl.” Thanks so much for these! :)
SueDee McClelland
December 31st, 2011 11:32 pmHi – I love all your wallpapers and look forward to seeing them each month. This New Year I like the one titled “A New Ending.” I love the saying quote: “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but everyone can start today and make a better Ending.”
Audrey
January 1st, 2012 6:49 amI like so much a new ending. I really would like to appreciate to u guys to give us nice desktop wallpapers every months.
happy new year 2012. :)
Joshua Tan
January 1st, 2012 8:16 amLovely wallpapers as usual. :)
shubelal
January 1st, 2012 10:31 amThanks for New Wallpaper, It’s really Very Beautiful Collection.
Karen
January 1st, 2012 11:32 pmA New Ending is definitely the one that resonates with me spiritually, mentally and hopefully physically in this year as I move forward with major changes. The bold colours give me inspiration! Great Job!
sherillalay
January 2nd, 2012 3:09 amI’m totally in for A New Ending, Red and The Year Of Dragon,
Jarjar
January 2nd, 2012 5:16 am“Memorize Me” interesting=D
But I’m confused to how the months go from April. It looks April the same as January. How about the half-half color on the 4th,11th,18th and 25th day?
AK
January 2nd, 2012 1:19 pmThe blog explains it all. And this year April is the same as January just like the half-half colored months.
Rae
January 2nd, 2012 5:21 amAs always a great collection – I prefer strip calendrs so I can see the dates by resizing other windows on my screen – last month was the first time I had found a vertical strip and it worked fabulously. I’d like tosee calendars from other parts of he world as here in Australia the seasonal vaireties are well out of sync :)
Chris
January 2nd, 2012 5:43 amA New Ending is great, thanks!
Imran
January 2nd, 2012 8:21 amI like “The Year Of Dragon”
Khim Thapa
January 2nd, 2012 1:28 pm“Back To Go To Work” – I like this one
Amy
January 2nd, 2012 2:19 pm“soft wishes” is beautiful – The sky colors remind me of the summer, which is nice. Usually I have photos of the beach as my wallpaper by the time the cold of January/February hits.
MarcoAix
January 2nd, 2012 2:54 pmSoft wishes is cool, inspiring and full of promises !
Grazie mille Katia :-)
Katia
January 2nd, 2012 7:31 pmThank you! I’m really glad you like it :)
Gavin
January 2nd, 2012 3:10 pmLove the wallpapers. I have a question about the calendars though… what’s the history/point behind putting calendars on wallpapers? Quick reminder how many days in the month/what days are weekends? Personally, I rarely even see my desktop anyway :P Guess I’m more curious how/why people like them… never seen the point myself.
Steph
January 3rd, 2012 1:31 pmI just get bored unless I change my wallpaper constantly so this way I get a few new ones every month. I don’t really reference the calendar much other than the fact that I just like having it there.
Mary
January 2nd, 2012 4:40 pmLove “Cold Flakes to write home about”…. huge leafy flakes on a wonderful wintry day :)
Jen98A
January 2nd, 2012 6:09 pmFavs this month are “Year of the Dragon” and “Bonsai” close behind Delicate Frost and Soft Wishes
NJ
January 2nd, 2012 6:37 pmI like “A New Ending”
Jourdan
January 2nd, 2012 9:37 pmWinter Melancholy is my favorite. Good collection!
Will Thompson
January 3rd, 2012 7:46 amIt’s a shame none of these are available in iPhone 4 resolution (640 x 960).
rmom352
January 4th, 2012 3:42 pmwow nice idea!!
Irshad Ahamed
January 3rd, 2012 11:15 amA New Ending, is a superb creation to start the new year, the colors used are bright and gives an energy for those who sees it. secondly Mountains attracted me well.
as someone in the list said, no disappointment for those who wait to see a wallpaper in a month.
Steph
January 3rd, 2012 1:27 pmAwesome batch this month. Putting almost all of them on rotation :)
Matt Smith
January 3rd, 2012 2:18 pmI think “Back To Go To Work” is terrific, especially after a holiday break, it demonstrates how our rigorous work kicks back in at the start of January.
Alex Novelli
January 3rd, 2012 3:11 pmI like “A New Ending”. Clean and beutiful.
Nandor
January 3rd, 2012 6:27 pmSuper great – talent rocks.
Anna Funk
January 3rd, 2012 6:41 pmI LOVE “Soft Wishes” but they’re all so TINY. Even the biggest one was only *Barely* big enough for my laptop, and none of them are a wide enough aspect ratio :(
Katia
January 3rd, 2012 11:09 pmI’m so sorry Anna :( I didn’t have the time to prepare enough resolutions, I don’t know if the Smashing Team can add some new files to those I sent. I can try and ask them, or you can e-mail me asking for the resolution you need (katia.piccinni@gmail.com). I’ll be glad to do a BIGGER Soft Wish for you! :D
Amber
January 21st, 2012 2:25 amLove this, too. Wish there was a widescreen version in higher resolution.
Christo
January 3rd, 2012 10:36 pmRED and FACTS are my favs!! Way to go :)
CWS
January 3rd, 2012 11:19 pm“Owl” Always love cute wallpapers, especially with animals in it. Could add more color and animals to transform the piece into an even more delightful wallpaper! But that’s just my taste. Making it simple is another great way, just like what you did!
- Happy New Year!
psddude
January 4th, 2012 8:04 amI have 2 favorites “The Year Of Dragon” and “Owl” ! Great work :)
Harmony Steel
January 4th, 2012 12:11 pmBeautiful :) My favourite is “Caucasian Mountains”.
rmom352
January 4th, 2012 3:41 pmI try to use these in my computer lab at school so I cannot choose the backgrounds with adult drink on them. Therefore my favorite is OWL!!
Klebson
January 6th, 2012 12:30 pmI always use your wallpapers. But this month they’re all too girly. I remember when this list was very big and tough too choose which one to pick.
Marie Elisa
January 6th, 2012 8:25 pm“Memorize Me” is really interesting!
CrystalSC
January 9th, 2012 7:26 pmMy favorites are A New Ending and Soft Wishes. Thanks for another great looking month! :)
Delia
January 10th, 2012 11:28 amSoft Wishes !!! Love it !
Andrew
January 11th, 2012 10:56 pmI still haven’t worked out “Memorize Me” yet, but I’ll work on it.
One other thing, I noticed that most of the calendars appear to line up with the northern hemisphere’s seasons. Is it possible to include some wallpapers that are suitable for the souther hemisphere’s seasons as well??
Krishna Iyer
January 12th, 2012 5:43 amDisappointing set of wallpapers.
There are a lot of places where snow does not fall and does not entirely define the month. Hope the editors will take note.
Grace
January 12th, 2012 4:36 pmReally like “Soft Wishes”, set it as wallpaper for home PC and laptop for work!!
Looking forward to these calendars every month, and never disappoint… download nice ones and distribute to friends every month, thanks!!! :)
Arthur Lucena
January 28th, 2012 10:07 pmReally great selections of wallpapers. Some really epics, such The Bonsai André The Winter Melancholy. It would be GREAT if you guys could publish some iPad and others tablets resolutions.