The Many Shades Of July (2021 Desktop 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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Let’s welcome July with some fresh desktop wallpapers. Designed by artists and designers from around the world, they are available with and without a calendar. Enjoy!

Often, it’s the little things that inspire us and that we treasure most. The sky shining in the most beautiful colors as a seemingly endless summer day comes to an end, riding your bike through a light rain shower on a hot July afternoon, or maybe it’s a scoop of your favorite ice cream that refuels your batteries? No matter what big and small adventures July will have in store for you this year, our new batch of wallpapers is bound to cater for some inspiration along the way.

More than ten years ago, we started this wallpapers series to bring you a new selection of beautiful, unique, and inspiring wallpapers every month. It’s a community effort, made possible by artists and designers from all across the globe who challenge their creative skills to cater for some good vibes on your screens. And, well, it wasn’t any different this time around.

In this post, you’ll find their wallpapers for July 2021. All of them come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. A huge thank-you to everyone who submitted their artworks — we sincerely appreciate it! As a little bonus goodie, we also compiled some favorites from past July editions at the end of this post. Maybe you’ll discover one of your almost-forgotten favorites in there, too? Happy July!

  • You can click on every image to see a larger preview,
  • 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 through 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.

Submit your wallpaper

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Did you know that you could get featured in our next wallpapers post, too? We are always looking for creative talent! Join in! →

Against The Current

“‘I don’t care that they stole my idea. I care that they don’t have any of their own.’ July 10th marks 165 years since the birth of Nikola Tesla, inventor, engineer, and futurist who helped shape the world as we know it today. Tesla’s inventions brought electricity to all corners of the world, paved the way for wireless communication, and revolutionized energy production. But underneath all the discoveries and the good they brought, Tesla’s life is shrouded in mystery. His dream of free wireless energy, research on understanding the aether, and the enigmatic disappearance of his records leaves many questions unanswered.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

Against The Current
## Less Busy Work, More Fun!

Designed by ActiveCollab from the United States.

Less Busy Work, More Fun!
## Summer Season

“I’m an avid runner, and I have some beautiful natural views surrounding my city. The Smoky Mountains are a bit further east, so I took some liberties, but Tennessee’s nature is nothing short of beautiful and inspiring.” — Designed by Cam Elliott from Memphis, TN.

Summer Season
## Flamingos

“Well, if I think about the month July, the first thing what comes up is summer. So I wanted a theme about summer and I went looking on the internet for summer things. And after a few ideas, I saw a flamingo and I just started to draw some things. And I loved the idea that if you put two flamingos together like I did here, a heart shape will grow.” — Designed by Froukje from the Netherlands.

Flamingos
## Nightly Carnival

“July brings the yearly carnival near my hometown, so I decided to design a summer evening carnival.” — Designed by Bregje Damen from the Netherlands.

Nightly Carnival
## Surfer Cat

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Surfer Cat
## Space

“In July, the earth is farthest from the sun. That’s what inspired me to make a space-themed calendar for the month July.” — Designed by Rosalie Toorians from the Netherlands.

Space
## The Ancient Device

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

The Ancient Device
## Sweet As A Peach

“One of my favorite summer fruits for a few years now is the peach. It always reminds me of vacation and that brings me joy. Hope you all enjoy this month, too!” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.

Sweet As A Peach
## Independence Day

“When you hear the word ‘July’, what comes to your mind? For us, it’s the ‘Fourth of July’, so our design team made a stunning wallpaper in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.” — Designed by Ever Increasing Circles from the United Kingdom.

Independence Day
## Sun At Dawn

“I created a wallpaper that reminded me of late summer nights when the sun is slowly setting.” — Designed by Bibi Goelema from the Netherlands.

Sun At Dawn
## Ocean Full Of Stars

“I wanted to make something that reminded me of summer but I wanted to keep that dark and cozy vibe, so I decided to go with a whale swimming through space. Summer for me is a time to be free from responsibilities like school and to just hang around, which is what I wanted to make.” — Designed by Ilse van Dinther from the Netherlands.

Ocean Full Of Stars
## Artemis And Athena

“Artemis has the sign Cancer as a zodiac sign and this is also a zodiac sign in July. Athena was always celebrated during the month of July, in ancient Athens. Since I knew this, I decided to put those two together in a wallpaper. The way Athena and Artemis look are inspired by Lore Olympus.” — Designed by Gigi Kim from the Netherlands.

Artemis And Athena
## 4th Of July And Apollo 11

“I’m a huge space nerd and wanted to celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing in tandem with Independence Day.” — Designed by Jelle Guit from the Netherlands.

4th Of July And Apollo 11
## Roman Emperor

“The month of July was named after the famous Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and we like to think that if he lived in our time, he would use his vacation in the month named after him.” — Designed by LibraFire from Serbia.

Roman Emperor
## Colorful Summer

“Two weeks ago, I got the school assignment to make a wallpaper and send this to you. I have made this picture at Kronenburgerpark in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Since the coronavirus is on its way back, we can go back to the ‘old normal’ and do things we haven’t been able to do in over a year. So it will be a colorful summer. And that was my inspiration to take this picture and send it as a wallpaper.” — Designed by Jorn Meijs from the Netherlands.

Colorful Summer
## 4th Of July

“Our teacher told us about the Smashing Magazine wallpapers. So we participated with our class to make a wallpaper.” — Designed by Jarno van der Linden from the Netherlands.

4th Of July
## Bentley Bentayga Speed

“If everything goes according to plan, the Bentley Bentayga Speed will drop on the first of July. I made this Bentley because I wanted to make something that I’m interested in myself. In my spare time I like to make car illustrations so I knew immediately the style that I wanted to use. I’m personally very excited for the drop of the Bentley.” — Designed by Nick Geurds from the Netherlands.

Bentley Bentayga Speed
## Oldies But Goodies

To make your July even more colorful, we compiled some wallpaper goodies from past years’ editions below. Please note that these designs don’t come with a calendar.

Birdie July

Designed by Lívi Lénárt from Hungary.

Birdie July

Eternal Summer

“And once you let your imagination go, you find yourself surrounded by eternal summer, unexplored worlds and all-pervading warmth, where there are no rules of physics and colors tint the sky under your feet.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

Eternal Summer

Riding In The Drizzle

“Rain has come, showering the existence with new seeds of life. Everywhere life is blooming, as if they were asleep and the falling music of raindrops have awakened them. Feel the drops of rain. Feel this beautiful mystery of life. Listen to its music, melt into it.” — Designed by DMS Software from India.

Riding In The Drizzle

Summer Cannonball

“Summer is coming in the northern hemisphere and what better way to enjoy it than with watermelons and cannonballs.” — Designed by Maria Keller from Mexico.

Summer Cannonball

Strive For Progress, Not Perfection

“I created this wallpaper as a daily reminder that it’s better to take one small step towards my goal every day than to do nothing at all out of fear that it won’t be perfect. I hope you enjoy it and it helps you keep motivated every day!” — Designed by Andrew from the United States.

Strive For Progress, Not Perfection

Taste Like Summer!

“In times of clean eating and the world of superfoods there is one vegetable missing. An old, forgotten one. A flower actually. Rare and special. Once it had a royal reputation (I cheated a bit with the blue). The artichocke — this is my superhero in the garden! I am a food lover — you too? Enjoy it — dip it!” — Designed by Alexandra Tamgnoué from Germany.

Taste Like Summer!

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

Day Turns To Night

Designed by Xenia Latii from Germany.

Day Turns To Night

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!

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 United States.

Tropical Lilies

July Rocks!

Designed by Joana Moreira from Portugal.

July Rocks!

Alentejo Plain

“Based in the Alentejo region, in the south of Portugal, where there are large plains used for growing wheat. It thus represents the extensions of the fields of cultivation and their simplicity. Contrast of the plain with the few trees in the fields. Storks that at this time of year predominate in this region, being part of the Alentejo landscape and mentioned in the singing of Alentejo.” — Designed by José Guerra from Portugal.

Alentejo Plain

Fire Camp

“What’s better than a starry summer night with an (unexpected) friend around a fire camp with some marshmallows? Happy July!” — Designed by Etienne Mansard from the UK.

Fire Camp

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

Hot Air Balloon

Designed by Studcréa from France

Hot Air Balloon

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 UK.

Ice Cream vs. Hot Dog

Night Sky Magic

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Night Sky Magic

My July

Designed by Cátia Pereira from Portugal.

My July

Floral Thing

“The wallpaper which I created consists of my personal sketches of Polish herbs and flowers. I wanted it to be light and simple with a hint of romantic feeling. I hope you’ll enjoy it!” — Designed by Beata Kurek from Poland.

Smashing Desktop Wallpapers - July 2012

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  • without calendar: 1024x1024, 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 2560x1440

    • Sunset

    “I decided to create a wallpaper to bring this summer feeling to the desktop.” — Designed by Mladen Milinovic from Germany.

    Sunset

    Spectate

    Designed by Tekstografika from Russia.

    Spectate

    An Intrusion Of Cockroaches

    “Ever watched Joe’s Apartment when you were a kid? Well, that movie left a soft spot in my heart for the little critters. Don’t get me wrong: I won’t invite them over for dinner, but I won’t grab my flip flop and bring the wrath upon them when I see one running in the house. So there you have it… three roaches… bringing the smack down on that pesky human… ZZZZZZZAP!!” — Designed by Wonderland Collective from South Africa.

    An Intrusion Of Cockroaches

    Summer Never Ends!

    “July is a very special month to me — it’s the month of my birthday and of the best cherries.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

    Summer Never Ends!

    Melting July

    “July often brings summer heat and we all wish for something cold to take it away… If you take a closer look, you will see an ice cream melting from the sunset. Bon appetite!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

    Melting July

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