August Desktop Art from the Community

For more than nine years, Smashing Magazine has invited artists and designers worldwide to submit original artwork for our monthly wallpaper feature. The August 2020 collection follows that tradition, and as always, every submission is offered in two formats: with a calendar for tracking the month, and without, for those who prefer a clean backdrop even after August ends. All of the designs below were created entirely by their artists, with no thematic direction from us.

Themes range from playful and abstract to thoughtful and serene, reflecting each creator's personal style. Below you'll find a selection of our favorites this month.

We're All The Same

Designed by LibraFire from Serbia.

We’re All The Same

Click any image to see a larger preview. All artists retain full creative autonomy, and we're grateful for every submission that makes this collection possible. We're also always on the lookout for new talent — if you'd like to see your work featured in an upcoming post, submit your design for September.

A Milestone in Suffrage

August 26th marks Women’s Equality Day in the US, a commemoration of the constitutional amendment that removed sex as a barrier to voting. It serves as a reminder of the suffragists and trailblazers whose efforts in 1920 secured that fundamental right. This design, from Ever Increasing Circles in the United Kingdom, celebrates the occasion with a theme of honoring the vital change they championed.

Women’s Equality Day

Chasing the Season’s End

For many, August is a race against time. It’s a month for sunburnt days spent working the land, for long treks through wild forests, and for diving into warm, sunlit seas. The evenings are marked by gentle winds, conversation, and music as people try to hold on to every remaining day of summer before autumn’s murkiness sets in. The design from PopArt Studio in Serbia captures that pursuit of laughter, sunsets, and memories that define the month.

August Days

Looking Back, Looking Forward

August wallpapers often capture the last burst of summer energy. This year, the collection leans into quieter moments—imagining the memories we are making, and soaking up the calm of being at home. Below are three more designs from the August 2020 batch, each available for download with a resolution list that matches your screen.

Canine Calm

Westie Vibes, a designer from Portugal, found inspiration in an unlikely philosopher: a dog named Sami. The artist explains that Sami "lives in the moment and enjoys every second with a big smile on his face," and the design is a wish that we could all learn to enjoy life that way. The artwork serves as a reminder to embrace the present, a fitting sentiment as the summer winds down.

Live In The Moment

For this wallpaper, Tech Report has prepared versions in two sets: one featuring a calendar and one without. Download the preview to see the full artwork, then select from the provided sizes:

Sunny Recharge

Erin Ptah, from the United States, created a piece to help people mentally escape. With summer trips and festivals cancelled, the designer notes that "our pets don’t know that - they’re perfectly happy to lie around at home and soak up the sun." The art is meant to channel that placid energy, offering a calming visual for moments when the stress of 2020 feels overwhelming.

In A Sunbeam

This design is available in a broader spectrum of aspect ratios to cover older 4:3 screens and lighter-weight PNG files:

Minimalist Buzz

The collection also includes a contribution from Ricardo Gimenes, a designer based in Sweden. Titled "Creating Buzz," the piece is released without a designer commentary, letting the bold graphic speak for itself.

Creating Buzz

Gimenes’ design is provided in the widest range of resolutions in this batch, from small phones to high-density displays. A preview file is available, as are both calendar and non-calendar editions:

Seasonal Contrasts On Screen

August rarely means the same thing to everyone. Designer Dan Di from Italy captures that split sense of time with a wallpaper that acknowledges the coexistence of summer in one hemisphere and winter in the other. The design leans into that duality, making it an apt pick for anyone who wants their desktop to reflect the season they're actually experiencing.

August And A Half

Available in both calendar and clean versions, the set spans a practical range of resolutions. With the calendar, you can grab it from 320x480 all the way up to 2560x1440; without, the same size ladder applies. For specific aspect ratios and device compatibility, the full download list covers common laptop, monitor and tablet dimensions.

A Tribute In Tricolor

For those marking Independence Day in India, designer AufaitUX offers a wallpaper rooted in national memory. The artwork folds in the story of the country's struggle for independence, framing freedom as a value earned through sacrifice and courage. It's a more contemplative visual, meant to be both a reminder of the past and a celebration of the present.

Remembering The Freedom Struggle

This one also ships in calendar and no-calendar flavors, but with a leaner choice of resolutions: 1024x1024, 1280x720, 1680x1200, 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 cover the most common desktop setups. The preview provides a quick look before you commit to a download.

Archive Picks: August Wallpapers We Keep Coming Back To

Some of the best August wallpapers aren't from this month at all. Over the years, the design community has produced a rich library of August-themed artwork—from cozy camping scenes to vivid tributes to summer's final stretch. Here are standout selections from the archive. These designs are offered without calendars.

Nostalgia and Nature

August's visual identity often shifts between summer's warmth and the first hints of autumn. In "Colorful Summer," Hungary's Lívi pairs the season's last blooms with a poetic nod to Alice Hoffman's writing on the month's unpredictability. The artwork leans into vibrant hues and floral motifs that bridge the gap between sun-soaked days and the cooler evenings ahead.

Colorful Summer

Australia's Francesco Paratici took a more personal route with "Childhood Memories," while Chalermkiat Oncharoen from Thailand explored the season through typography in "Handwritten August." Both pieces are reminders of how personal inspiration shapes the month's design language.

Handwritten August

The natural world is well represented, too. Erkki Pung's "Estonian Summer Sun" captures the lingering light of Southern Estonia's summer nights—a rare glimpse of twilight in a region where darkness is scarce during the warmer months. Taiwan's Hong, Zi-Qing, documented the "Liqiu" festival in "Liqiu And Orange Daylily Season," a visual note on the golden daylily fields that blanket the East Rift Valley come August.

Festival Season and Whimsical Escapes

Pop Art Studio's "Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference" brings a playful, outdoorsy energy for anyone heading to the annual gathering of cryptid researchers, complete with campsite nights and starry skies. From the same studio, "Purple Haze" offers a music-inspired tribute—a character named Lucy who personifies their Jimi Hendrix Experience homage, soaking up California sunshine and beach vibes.

Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference

For those preferring a quieter month, Emily Haines' "Bee Happy!" is a gentle reminder that even with fall approaching, sweeter things lie ahead. Igor Izhik's "Psst, It's Camping Time…" leans into introspective August nights, where crackling fires and the play of heat against cold invite stillness. Igor's accompanying text framed the month as one of lingering dualities—a time to contemplate both everything and nothing at all.

Icons, Astronomy, and Cooler Colors

Religious and cultural celebrations carve their own space in the archive. "Happy Janmashtami" by Jaipur-based Damn Perfect is a minimalist rendering of Lord Krishna as a flute player, honoring the Hindu festival celebrated throughout the world each August.

Astronomy enthusiasts may find a kindred spirit in Verónica Valenzuela's "Saturn Among the Stars." The Spanish designer described spending the summer with a telescope and catching glimpses of Saturn, a fitting subject for a desktop backdrop.

Underwater themes show up in Wonderland Collective's "A Bloom of Jellyfish," a South African designer duo whose trip to uShaka Marine World inspired a vivid composition of deep purples and blazing magentas. The piece came with a happy linguistic discovery: jellyfish travel in groups called a bloom.

A Bloom Of Jellyfish

The archive closes with darker colors in "Colorstrike" by Germany's André Presser and Bulgaria's Maria Karapaunova in "I Love Summer," which blends palm trees with the soundtrack of beachfront parties and cricket songs.

Whether the imagery is nostalgic, whimsical, or purely graphic, these years-old designs remain a fit for any August desktop.