We always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. 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 five years now, and we’re very thankful to all the designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month. This post features free desktop wallpapers created by artists across the globe for November 2013. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free. It’s time to freshen up your desktop wallpaper, folks!

Please note that:

• All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper,
• The wallpapers are also available as Windows 7/8 Pack Wallpapers,
• 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?

Me And the Key Three

“This wallpaper is based on screenshots from my latest browser game (I’m an indie games designer).” — Designed by Bart Bonte from Belgium.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Resolution Measurements

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Brazil.

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• with calendar: 640×960, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2880×1800
• without calendar: 640×960, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

It’s November!!!

“The various days that are to be remembered are yet to get noticed.” — Designed by Elvis from India.

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• with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Garden Party

Designed by Elise Vanoorbeek from Belgique.

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• with calendar: 640×480, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 640×480, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Movember Wallpaper

Designed by Will Barron from England.

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• with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440
• without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440

The Collection Of Birds

“The collection of birds are my travels. At each destination I buy a wood, bronze, stone bird, anything the local bazaars sell. I have all gathered at a modest vitrine in my house. I have so much loved my collection, that, after taking pictures of them I then designed each one, then created a wallpaper and overdressed a wall of my living room. Now my thought is making them as a desktop wallpaper and give them to you as a gift.” — Designed by Natasha Kamou from Greece.

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• with calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1800
• without calendar: 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

Red Leaves

Designed by Evacomics from Singapore.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

Acorns Of Autumn

“Autumn is such a beautiful time of year with every color of the rainbow surrounding us in nature. So for those of us who work desk jobs, this piece allows us to enjoy the vibrant colors indoors.” — Designed by Casey Hehner from United States.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050

Tapping The Maples

“Every year I set up my Christmas village the day after Thanksgiving, and during the fall months leading into the winter, I tend to enjoy the likes of apple cider and maple syrup. The figure set chosen for the month of November are the maple sugarers gathering sap during a light snowfall.” — Designed by Jonathan Shears from Massachusetts.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1920×1440, 1440×1080, 1680×1260, 2048×1536
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1920×1440, 1440×1080, 1680×1260, 2048×1536

The Fruits Of Harvest

“With autumn comes the joy of reaping the harvest. It’s a time when the fruits of our labors are materialized into sustenance–”fruits” that bring a sense of warmth and comfort. To me, fall is a time to slow down and sip a cup of cider as we reflect on this joyful time of year.” — Designed by Casey Hehner from United States.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200

The Little Reader

“Perhaps we don’t realize how important is lighting in a bedroom. Simple decisions like string lights, a cute lamp at the nightstand and a bulb inside a kids tent can make all the difference. A regular bedroom becomes a magic spot for kids to read, play and dream. Let there be lights!” — Designed by Carla Genovesio from United States.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2880×1800

Movember Like A Londoner

“Movember is a great opportunity to give and wear big and beautiful moustaches! Specially if your’re a londoner! :)” — Designed by Paula Rupolo from England.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 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, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Night City

Designed by Anna from Russia.

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• with calendar: 800×600, 1152×864, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1920×1440
• without calendar: 800×600, 1152×864, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1920×1440

November Trees

“I was inspired by the following quote by Ernest Dowson:

“AUTUMNAL

Pale amber sunlight falls across
The reddening October trees,
That hardly sway before a breeze
As soft as summer: summer’s loss
Seems little, dear! on days like these.

Let misty autumn be our part!
The twilight of the year is sweet:
Where shadow and the darkness meet
Our love, a twilight of the heart
Eludes a little time’s deceit.

Are we not better and at home
In dreamful Autumn, we who deem
No harvest joy is worth a dream?
A little while and night shall come,
A little while, then, let us dream.

Beyond the pearled horizons lie
Winter and night: awaiting these
We garner this poor hour of ease,
Until love turn from us and die
Beneath the drear November trees.”

― Ernest Dowson, The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson

” — Designed by Eve from Latvia, previously lived in Sweden and now in the UK.

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• with calendar: 640×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

A Cold One

“First day of real cool.” — Designed by Michal Wasilewski from Poland.

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• with calendar: 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Autumn Stream

“Fall is in the air, and mother nature has been generous. :)” — Designed by Jenn Garman from Canada.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 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, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Sun Concrete

“I like old city buildings” — Designed by Tomasz Gawlik from Poland.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440

The Best Of November

Designed by Brandi Redd from United States.

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• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1680×1200
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1680×1200

Fog In Ca’ Tron

“There’s always fog in the place where I live in and small animals show themselves every now and then. Sometimes it looks a bit creepy so I decided to ‘wallpaper’ how it feels to live there.” — Designed by Renata Biondi from Italy.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Rangoli

“For Diwali each year, Hindus create rangoli on their patios, courtyards, or indoor floors. These are vibrant designs using colored flour, rice, sand, or flower petals. Here’s an e-rangoli to celebrate the Indian new year.” — Designed by dangerbrain from USA.

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• with calendar: 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 640×960
• without calendar: 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 640×960

Clean And Colorful Diwali

“Diwali (festival of lights) is one of the most important festivals of the year in India, and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes.” — Designed by Zanetine Web Design from India.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1080, 1366×768
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440, 2880×1080, 1366×768

Movember!

“Bringing awareness to a good cause is always important, so get your grow on!” — Designed by Marshall Taylor from Canada.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050

Month Of The Man

“Movember is the month of the man. Mustaches and beer have come together as one beautiful design in this image. I pay homage to the Old Familiar Barbershop (OFBS) in Columbus Ohio as they have created the mustache comb bottle opener.” — Designed by Zack Aronson from Akron, OH.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Slap The Hipster

“We made this awesome game at work and really like how the design turned out.” — Designed by Catalin Ardelean from Romania.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 2560×1600

Change

“I was inspired to create this wallpaper by the change that November brings to the landscape around NY. The last of the green fades away and by month’s end we are entering the cold clutches of winter.” — Designed by Chris Macholz from New York, USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×960, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 1680×1260, 2048×1536
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×960, 1920×1440, 2560×1440, 1680×1260, 2048×1536

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 the designers for their participation. We encourage you to participate and join in next month!

What’s Your Favorite?

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

© The Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2013.

The British navy  has recently employed a new secret agent.

Step aside James Bond, Britney Spears is now serving Her Majesty.

British naval officers are starting to play Spears’ hits such as Oops! I Did It Again and Baby One More Time to scare of Somali pirates.

They hope to get “Lucky” using Britney Spears’ “Toxic” music to make all Somali Pirates say “I Wanna Go”. Enough with the song references….

Why Britney? Somali pirates who sail off the east coast of Africa hate western culture, and nothing says “American music” other than Spears’ poppy and dance tunes themselves.

Merchant navy officer Rachel Owens commented on the song selection by saying, “It’s so effective the ship’s security rarely needs to resort to firing guns”.

In other unlikely song partnerships, Barney’s “I Love You” theme song was often heard playing in Guantanamo Bay. It was used to persuade silent prisoners to talk. If that song doesn’t drive you crazy, I don’t know what will. 

We all have our favorite songs to hate. What tunes are on your list?

In his latest opinion column in The Baltimore Sun, Political Science Professor Thomas Schaller responds to an op-ed he wrote last month about the Western Maryland Initiative, an effort that calls for the state’s five western-most counties to secede from the state.

Schaller suggests that if people in those counties dislike Maryland’s politics, a solution is to move to a neighboring state that better reflects their ideology:

Among the blessings of our federal system are the variations across the 50 states. Conservatives usually champion these differences and states’ rights; indeed, they frequently employ the “vote with your feet” metaphor to encourage persons or businesses unhappy with one state’s political-electoral environment to find another state where they can start a business, buy a home or just gamble for a few hours. One of them, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, just stopped by Maryland to make that very point.

 

He also provides examples of people who recently moved from Western Maryland to West Virginia, including former Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.

You can read the full column Don’t secede; vote with your feet in The Baltimore Sun. 

The Web Applications Working Group has published a W3C Recommendation of Widget Interface. This specification defines an application programming interface (API) for widgets that provides, amongst other things, functionality for accessing a widget’s metadata and persistently storing data.

The Web Applications Working Group has also published a Last Call Working Draft of Pointer Lock. This specification defines an API that provides scripted access to raw mouse movement data while locking the target of mouse events to a single element and removing the cursor from view. This is an essential input mode for certain classes of applications, especially first person perspective 3D applications and 3D modelling software. Comments are welcome through 28 November.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.

The Web Performance Working Group has published two Proposed Recommendations and invites implementation of the Candidate Recommendation today:

• A Proposed Recommendations of User Timing, which defines an interface to help Web developers measure the performance of their applications by giving them access to high precision timestamps. Comments are welcome through 28 November.
• A Proposed Recommendation of Performance Timeline. This specification defines an unified interface to store and retrieve performance metric data. This specification does not cover individual performance metric interfaces. Comments are welcome through 28 November.
• A Candidate Recommendation of Timing control for script-based animations. This document defines an API web page authors can use to write script-based animations where the user agent is in control of limiting the update rate of the animation. The user agent is in a better position to determine the ideal animation rate based on whether the page is currently in a foreground or background tab, what the current load on the CPU is, and so on. Using this API should therefore result in more appropriate utilization of the CPU by the browser.

Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.