About The Author

The Smashing team loves high-quality content and cares about the little details. Through our online articles, Smashing Books, eBooks as well as Smashing … More about The Smashing Editorial…

Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: July 2016

Quick Summary

To help you start into July freshly inspired, artists and designers from across the globe challenged their artistic abilities and created desktop wallpapers for you to indulge in. This monthly creativity mission has been going on for eight years now, and each month the enthusiastic work of the community brings forth interesting, beautiful, and unique results. Wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This post features their designs for July 2016. All wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. A big thank-you to everyone who contributed their ideas! Now could there be a better occasion to freshen up your desktop?

Table of Contents
Membership counter

Members support Smashing

Wonderful, friendly people who keep this lil' site alive — and get smarter every day.

Are you smashing, too? →

To help you start into July freshly inspired, artists and designers from across the globe challenged their artistic abilities and created desktop wallpapers for you to indulge in. This monthly creativity mission has been going on for eight years now, and each month the enthusiastic work of the community brings forth interesting, beautiful, and unique results. Wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd.

This post features their designs for July 2016. All wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. A big thank-you to everyone who contributed their ideas! Now could there be a better occasion to freshen up your desktop?

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

Good Vibes In July

“When I think of July, this is what I imagine: palm trees, swimming pools, colorful flowers… My favourite month — I was born in it! Every year, July is the month I look forward to most, so making this wallpaper was really fun. I did my best, and I hope you like it.” — Designed by Avelon Hermans from the Netherlands.

Good Vibes In July

Sand And Waves

“What do you do in summer? You go to the beach. Even if you can’t go - feel the waves and sand and sun through this funny wallpaper.” — Designed by Olga Lepaeva from Russia.

Sand And Waves

Captain Amphicar

“My son and I are obsessed with the Amphicar right now, so why not have a little fun with it?” — Designed by 3 Bicycles Creative from the United States.

Captain Amphicar

Summer Lovin’

“July reminds me of flamingos. These birds love the warm weather, hanging by the water (pool), the flock (pool party) and relaxing.” — Designed by Amanda McWhinney from the United States.

Summer Lovin’

Summertime

“Since I’m a big fan of mid-century Modern design, I changed George Nelson’s Starburst clock with 12 points — a fitting schematic of the sun with a spot-on summertime color palette — into a ‘sundial calendar’ with 31 points, one for each day of July. Illustrator’s Polar Grid tool helped get the spacing just right, and I retained the construction lines because the extra layer appealed to me. The warm yellow background is borrowed from his Kangaroo chair, and the typographic choice references the cover of Pentagram’s monograph, ‘George Nelson On Design.’” — Designed by Brian Frolo from Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Summertime

Tropical Lilies

“I enjoy creating tropical designs, they fuel my wanderlust and passion for the exotic. Instantaneously transporting me to a tropical destination.” — Designed by Tamsin Raslan from the USA.

Tropical Lilies

Day Turns To Night

Designed by Xenia Latii from Germany.

Day Turns To Night

Island River

“Make sure you have a refreshing source of ideas, plans and hopes this July. Especially if you are to escape from urban life for a while.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

Island River

Summermoon

Designed by Erik Neumann from Germany.

Summermoon

July Flavour

Designed by Natalia Szendzielorz from Poland.

July Flavour

Delicious July

Designed by Brainer from the Ukraine.

Delicious July

Splash Into Summer

“The temperature is rising, and so is our summer mood! Put on your swimwear and the widest smile you’ve got, throw your worries away, and dive into the deep blue sea of happiness. Hello, July!” — Designed by GraphicMama from Bulgaria.

Splash Into Summer

It’s A Smashing Summer

“The car wash down the street. I went to get my car washed for free and when the car entered the tunnel, the soap and the lights created some colorful and gorgeous images. I photographed them all. Car wash businesses remind me of my family. My Dad owned gas stations and my brother used to wash cars when he was young. Plus, back where I am originally from, car washing is done frequently because we have warm weather all year around.” — Designed by Alma Hoffmann from Puerto Rico, US.

It’s A Smashing Summer

Stay Cool

“I was inspired to create this wallpaper one hot summer day when I was hanging out with my dog on our patio. Through this bright and colorful illustration, I want to stress the importance of keeping pets safe from the heat by providing them with plenty of water and ways to cool down.” — Designed by Coley Lind from the USA.

Stay Cool

Too Hot On Earth!

“Because it is too hot on Earth, the cat went to the moon to catch a breeze.” — Designed by Roxi Nastase from Romania.

Too Hot On Earth!

Ice Cream vs. Hot Dog

“It’s both ‘National Ice Cream Month’ and ‘National Hot Dog Month’ over in the US, which got me thinking - which is better? With this as your wallpaper, you can ponder the question all month!” — Designed by James Mitchell from the United Kingdom.

Ice Cream vs. Hot Dog

The Fortnight In July

“July is the month when all eyes are set to Wimbledon courts, the holy grail in the world of tennis. We will ecstatically eyeball our country’s pride on the championships during the fortnight with a bowl of strawberries and cream.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

The Fortnight In July

Best Friends

“July is the month where I celebrate the birthday of my sister. For this month’s theme I made a simple illustration of sister pigs, my sister’s favorite animal.” — Designed by Maria Keller from Mexico.

Best Friends

Plates Please?

“It’s winter in Australia, and these plates make me think of warm, cosy nights, eating home-made soups and stews… and I love the deep teal colour of the background!” — Designed by Carol Bouwer from Australia.

Plates Please?

Camping On The Moon

“Summer is here! So you can start enjoying the days, but especially the starry nights. Wait for your shooting star and make a wish!” — Designed by Verónica Valenzuela from Spain.

Camping On The Moon

The Cottage At Cliff’s End

“The New England shoreline in July means cottages perched high on cliffs with hydrangeas spilling out of window boxes. Hot summer nights and fireflies, schooners gliding on sunsets and a month-long fiesta of fireworks as far the eye can see.” — Designed by Lourdes Irizarry from Puerto Rico.

The Cottage at Cliff's End

Just Chill

“I was just thinking what do I like about summer? Swimming, no school, no work, sun, my birthday and just doing nothing. The thing I do most often in summer is swimming, so I wanted something with water. The float stands for chilling out and just doing the things you like, with a cold glass of water to stop the thirst. It looks refreshing and that’s what you need on a hot summer day.” — Designed by Denise van der Heijden from the Netherlands.

Just Chill

Go Cloud Watching

“When did you last go cloud watching? Just take a minute out of your day, look up into the sky and find that bunny rabbit.” — Designed by Diane from South Africa.

Go Cloud Watching

Man First Walked On The Moon

“Neil Armstrong became the first man walking on the Moon’s surface. His mission accelerated the development of science and technology. The success of Neil Armstrong and his team opened a new era in the exploration of outer space and in the development of the airspace industry. This is my small tribute to him.” — Designed by Nutan Doiphode from India.

Man First Walked On The Moon

Happy Independence Day

“‘Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.’ (Herbert Hoover)” — Designed by Dipanjan Karmakar from India.

Happy Independence Day

Friends

Designed by Ilene Nieuwkoop from the Netherlands.

Friends

Tiger

Designed by Anne van den Heuvel from the Netherlands.

Tiger

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 Favorite?

What’s your favorite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comment section below.

Smashing Editorial (cm)