Fresh Inspiration For March And A Smashing Winner (2021 Wallpapers Edition)

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Cosima has been an editor at SmashingMag since 2013. Whenever she’s not writing articles for the weekly Smashing Newsletter, she’s probably working on a … More about Cosima ↬

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Our wallpapers post this month is a special one: There’s not only a new collection of wallpapers created by creative folks from across the globe waiting for you, but we’ll also award a smashing prize to the best design.

More than ten years ago, we embarked on our monthly wallpapers adventure to provide you with new and inspiring wallpaper calendars each month anew. This month, the challenge came with a little twist: As we announced in the February wallpapers post, we’ll give away a smashing prize to the best March design today.

Artists and designers from across the globe tickled their creativity and designed unique and inspiring wallpapers for this occasion. As usual, you’ll find all artworks compiled below — together with some timeless March favorites from our archives that are just too good to be forgotten. But first, let’s take a look at the winning design, shall we? Drumrolls, please...

Submit your wallpaper

Did you know that you could get featured in one of our upcoming wallpapers posts, too? We are always looking for creative talent, so if you have an idea for a wallpaper for April, please don’t hesitate to submit it. We’d love to see what you’ll come up with. Join in! →

And The Winner Is…

Botanica

With Botanica, Vlad Gerasimov from Russia designed a wallpaper that beautifully plays with color, shapes, and texture to give botanical illustrations a modern twist:

“It’s been almost a year since I published a wallpaper. 2020 has been tough! Anyway, this is something I made just to get back in shape. And, I’ve been trying a new drawing app, Pixelmator Pro — excellent so far. Hope you like the picture!”

Botanica

Congratulations, dear Vlad, and thank you for sharing your artwork with us! You won a ticket for one of Vitaly’s upcoming online workshops (Designing The Perfect Navigation, New Adventures In Front-End, or Smart Interface Design Patterns) — we’ll get in touch with you shortly to sort out the details.

More Submissions

A huge thank-you also goes out to everyone who took on this little creativity challenge and submitted their wallpaper designs this month. We sincerely appreciate it!️ So without further ado, here they are. Enjoy!

March For Equality

“This March, we shine the spotlight on International Women’s Day, reflecting on the achieved and highlighting the necessity for a more equal and understanding world. These turbulent times that we are in require us to stand together unitedly and IWD aims to do that.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

March For Equality
### St. Patrick’s Day

“On the 17th March, raise a glass and toast St. Patrick on St. Patrick’s Day, the Patron Saint of Ireland.” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.

St. Patrick’s Day
### Spring In Moscow

“If you think of Moscow, you think of winter, snow… but why not spring?” — Designed by Veronica Valenzuela Jimenez from Spain.

Spring In Moscow
### Smells Like Spring Spirit

“We’re looking forward to springtime and cultivating a better future!” — Designed by Milica Aleksic from the United States.

Smells Like Spring Spirit
### Colorful March

“I used bold colors because it makes people smile and I integrated a handmade touch to humanize my wallpaper.” — Designed by Guylaine Couture from Canada.

Colorful March
### Earth Hour Day

“I think this is an important date, and this year there’s going to be more activity on social media during this hour. Climate change affects us more and more, so every important day that reminds us that we only have one planet and that we should do everything to help it is important.” — Designed by Pedro Gonçalves from Portugal.

Earth Hour Day
### BatPig

“BatPig isn’t as fast as Batman. That’s why there are so many messages on the Bat-Signal.” — Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

BatPig
### Stay Home

“The character is the Dungeon Master from the old TV series ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. The show focused on a group of six friends who were transported into the titular realm and followed their adventures as they tried to find a way home with the help of their guide, the Dungeon Master. He is happy because these days everybody says ‘Stay at home’.” — Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Stay Home
### Learn To Fight Alone

“I believe it’s very important that your family/friends lift you up in moments of success and in moments of doubts. The bond you create with them is very special. However you can’t rely on them to help reach your goals. You have to fight alone and this is how you become stronger every day.” — Designed by Hitesh Puri from India, Delhi.

Learn To Fight Alone
### Tacos To The Moon And Back

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Tacos To The Moon And Back
### Spring Awakens A New Hope

“With March comes spring, nature awakens, and along with it comes new hope that soon we will leave this difficult period behind and replace masks with smiles.” — Designed by LibraFire from Serbia.

Spring Awakens A New Hope
### Sail The Night Sky

Designed by Hannah Joy Patterson from South Carolina, USA.

Sail The Night Sky
## Oldies But Goodies

Birds singing, flowers blooming, the great unknown, and, well, pizza — a lot of different things have inspired the community to design a March wallpaper in all those years that we’ve been running our monthly series. Below you’ll find some almost-forgotten favorites from the past. (Please note that these wallpapers don’t come with a calendar.)

Bunny O’Hare

“When I think of March, I immediately think of St. Patrick’s Day and my Irish heritage… and then my head fills with pub music! I had fun putting a twist on this month’s calendar starring my pet rabbit. Erin go Braugh.” — Designed by Heather Ozee from the United States.

Bunny O’Hare

Wake Up!

“Early spring in March is for me the time when the snow melts, everything isn’t very colorful. This is what I wanted to show. Everything comes to life slowly, as this bear. Flowers are banal, so instead of a purple crocus we have a purple bird-harbinger.” — Designed by Marek Kedzierski from Poland.

Wake Up!

Ballet

“A day, even a whole month, isn’t enough to show how much a woman should be appreciated. Dear ladies, any day or month are yours if you decide so.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

Ballet

Queen Bee

“Spring is coming! Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, bees are flying… Enjoy this month!” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.

Queen Bee

Questions

“Doodles are slowly becoming my trademark, so I just had to use them to express this phrase I’m fond of recently. A bit enigmatic, philosophical. Inspiring, isn’t it?” — Designed by Marta Paderewska from Poland.

Questions

The Unknown

“I made a connection, between the dark side and the unknown lighted and catchy area.” — Designed by Valentin Keleti from Romania.

The Unknown

Spring Bird

Designed by Nathalie Ouederni from France.

Spring Bird

Spring Is Inevitable!

“Spring is round the corner. And very soon plants will grow on some other planets too. Let’s be happy about a new cycle of life.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

Spring Is Inevitable!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

“March the 2nd marks the birthday of the most creative and extraordinary author ever, Dr. Seuss! I have included an inspirational quote about learning to encourage everyone to continue learning new things every day.” — Designed by Safia Begum from the United Kingdom.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Awakening

“I am the kind of person who prefers the cold but I do love spring since it’s the magical time when flowers and trees come back to life and fill the landscape with beautiful colors.” — Designed by Maria Keller from Mexico.

Wake up!

Marching Forward!

“If all you want is a little orange dinosaur MARCHing (okay, I think you get the pun) across your monitor, this wallpaper was made just for you! This little guy is my design buddy at the office and sits by (and sometimes on top of) my monitor. This is what happens when you have designer’s block and a DSLR.” — Designed by Paul Bupe Jr from Statesboro, GA.

MARCHing forward!

Let’s Spring!

“After some freezing months, it’s time to enjoy the sun and flowers. It’s party time, colours are coming, so let’s spring!” — Designed by Colorsfera from Spain.

Let's spring!

Pizza Time!

“Who needs an excuse to look at pizza all month?” — Designed by James Mitchell from the United Kingdom.

Pizza Time!

Sakura

Designed by Evacomics from Singapore.

Sakura

Keep Running Up That Hill

“Keep working towards those New Year’s resolutions! Be it getting a promotion, learning a skill or getting fit, whatever it is — keep running!” Designed by Andy Patrick from Canada.

Smashing Wallpaper - march 12

Never Leave Home Without Your Umbrella

“I thought it would be cute to feature holographic umbrellas in a rain-like pattern. I love patterned wallpapers, but I wanted to do something a little fun and fresh with a pattern that reminded me of rain and light bouncing off an umbrella!” — Designed by Bailey Zaputil from the United States.

Never Leave Home Without Your Umbrella

Colorful

“In some parts of the world there is the beauty of nature. This is one of the best beaches in the world: Ponta Negra in the North East of Brazil.” — Designed by Elisa de Castro Guerra from France.

Colorful

Daydream

“A daydream is a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.” Designed by Bruna Suligoj from Croatia.

Smashing Wallpaper - march 11

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