Fresh Designs for August Desktops

The monthly wallpaper collection returns with a new set of community-submitted artwork for August 2025. For over 14 years, designers and artists from around the world have contributed original pieces to this series, and this month continues that tradition with a variety of fresh visual themes alongside a curated selection of timeless favorites from the archives.

Every wallpaper in this collection was designed independently by its creator, with no thematic restrictions imposed — each artist was given full creative freedom to explore their own ideas and visual language. The results reflect that diversity, ranging from tranquil nature scenes to bold, abstract compositions.

All artworks are available as free downloads in multiple resolutions, with both calendar and non-calendar versions. Simply click any preview image to view a larger version, then download the file that matches your screen.

August Afloat

August Afloat

Libra Fire from Serbia captures the quiet atmosphere of late summer with a serene seascape. A wooden boat drifts across layered blue water, with lily pads scattered across the surface — a composition that emphasizes stillness and simplicity as August winds down.

August Wallpapers: A Pug’s Pool Party

Serbian studio PopArt Design brings a lighthearted scene to the desktop this month: a pug lounging in what appears to be an inflatable pool, phone in paw. The artwork leans into the idea of summer as a mental vacation — a reminder to switch off notifications, step away from the screen, and let the imagination drift.

Dive Into Summer Mode

The illustration is available in a wide range of resolutions. For desktop monitors, downloads span from 640x480 through 2560x1440, with widescreen options like 1280x800, 1440x900, and 1920x1080 covered. A gallery of tablet and mobile sizes is included as well, up to 1024x1024 and 800x480 respectively. Every resolution comes in two flavors: a version with the August 2025 calendar, and a clean variant without any date overlay for those who prefer a minimal look.

  • With calendar: all listed sizes from 320x480 up to 2560x1440.
  • Without calendar: the same full range of dimensions, from 320x480 to 2560x1440.

Nautical Whimsy On Your Screen

Caroline Boire imagines August as a leisurely boat cruise that sways to the rhythm of sea shanties. Her wallpaper, titled “Sea Shanties And Ears In The Wind,” shows the Smashing mascot enjoying the salty breeze while the summer sun warms its ears.

Sea Shanties And Ears In The Wind

The design is offered in both with calendar and without calendar variants, with downloadable resolutions ranging from 320x480 for mobile up to 2560x1440 for desktop displays.

Celebrating The Queen Of August

Ginger IT Solutions marks International Cat Day on August 8 with a special tribute. Their “Queen Of August” wallpaper treats the mascot as royalty — confident, calm, and entirely in control, as all cats tend to be.

Queen Of August

Like the sea shanties design, this one also includes calendar and no-calendar options, with a similar range of screen resolutions covering standard phone and monitor aspect ratios.

All wallpapers are available for free download from the Smashing Magazine file directory.

Happiness Happens in August

"Many people find August one of the happiest months of the year because of holidays. You can spend days sunbathing, swimming, birdwatching, listening to their joyful chirping, and indulging in sheer summer bliss. August 8th is also known as the Happiness Happens Day, so make it worthwhile." — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

Happiness Happens In August

Nostalgia

"August, the final breath of summer, brings with it a wistful nostalgia for a season not yet past." — Designed by Ami Totorean from Romania.

Nostalgia

Relax in Bora Bora

"As we have taken a liking to diving through the coral reefs, we'll also spend August diving and took the leap to Bora Bora. There we enjoy the sea and nature and above all, we rest to gain strength for the new course that is to come." — Designed by Veronica Valenzuela from Spain.

Relax In Bora Bora

Banana!

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Spain.

Banana!

Summer Day

Designed by Kasturi Palmal from India.

Summer Day

Hitting the Road and the Trails

One designer takes a nostalgic route with Retro Road Trip, by PopArt Studio from Serbia. The artwork shows a classic van parked for the night at a campsite bathed in moonlight or outside a picture-postcard motel, a rest stop for travelers before the next day's adventures.

Retro Road Trip

The wallpaper is offered in a preview version and in many resolutions without the calendar, from small phone-friendly sizes like 320x480 up to wide desktop formats such as 2560x1440. All downloads are in JPG format.

Spain's Ricardo Gimenes brings a different kind of evening scene with Spooky Campfire Stories. This one sets a more mysterious tone around the fire.

Spooky Campfire Stories

This design is available as a preview and in a range of no-calendar resolutions from 640x480 through extra-large displays like 3840x2160, with PNG files suitable for sharp text and graphics. A full set of common 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10 aspect ratios is included.

For a cheerier outlook, US-based designer Emily Haines offers Bee Happy!. The artist notes that because fall is near, the piece is meant as a reminder to stay positive even as summer winds down, with the message that sweeter times are on the way.

Bee Happy!

The "Bee Happy" downloads are available both as a preview and without a calendar in PNG format, covering resolutions from 640x480 up to 2560x1440 for typical laptop and monitor setups.

A Night in Paris

Verónica Valenzuela from Spain rounds out the selection with Oh La La… Paris’ Night. The piece reflects a simple, bright affection for the French capital after dark, as articulated in the artist’s accompanying comment.

Oh La La.... Paris’ Night

This wallpaper comes in JPG format without a calendar, spanning a more selective list of sizes from 800x480 up to 2560x1440 for both desktop and mobile use.

Surf, Sleep, and Sentiment: More August Desktop Art

The August wallpaper roundup continues with a set of designs that range from bold surf references to quiet, personal tributes. Each entry below offers a downloadable preview, with full-resolution files available in a variety of aspect ratios. For those who prefer a cleaner look, every wallpaper also comes in a version without the calendar.

Cowabunga

Ricardo Gimenes from Spain leans into a playful, energetic theme with this piece.

Cowabunga

Childhood Memories

Francesco Paratici of Australia looks back with a nostalgic piece for the month.

Childhood Memories

Summer Nap

Dorvan Davoudi from Canada captures the lazy, hazy quietude of an August afternoon.

Summer Nap

Live In The Moment

“My dog Sami inspired me for this one. He lives in the moment and enjoys every second with a big smile on his face. I wish we could learn to enjoy life like he does! Happy August everyone!” — Westie Vibes from Portugal, inspired by their pet.

Live In The Moment

Handwritten August

“I love typography handwritten style.” — Chalermkiat Oncharoen from Thailand presents a desktop with a focus on script lettering.

Handwritten August

Long Nights, Warm Fires

Igor Izhik from Canada captures the essence of mid-August evenings with a design centered on camping. Izhik notes that August brings a unique blend of heat and cold that invites quiet reflection, a mood reflected in the artwork’s depiction of a crackling fire under a deep night sky. Wallpapers are available in sizes from 1024x768 up to 2560x1440, with a version without the calendar also offered.

Psst, It’s Camping Time...

A Cool Winter Send-Off

In the Southern Hemisphere, August marks the tail end of winter. Tazi, a designer based in Melbourne, Australia, illustrates the anticipation of warmer days ahead with the aptly named “Hello Again.” The design is offered in a wider range of smaller portrait and landscape resolutions, from 320x480 to 2560x1440, with calendar-free options included.

Hello Again

Taking a Moment

Ricardo Gimenes from Spain offers a playful illustration for the essential mid-day pause. The design supports a comprehensive list of display sizes without a calendar, from 320x480 to 2560x1440, making it suitable for phones, tablets, and various monitors.

Coffee Break Time

Muted Summer Botanicals

MasterBundles from Ukraine took a less vibrant approach to a summer theme. Rather than bright colors, the designers focused on something more subtle, drawing inspiration from chamomile, which is abundant in Ukraine and evokes memories of a summer field. The result is a delicate floral design available in a wide selection of resolutions, with and without the calendar.

Subtle August Chamomiles

Midnight Celebrations and Jellyfish Glows

Teodora Vasileva’s contribution captures the festive spirit of August with a scene built around the sea, moonlight, and music. The wallpaper uses saturated, vibrant color to bring a sense of summer nightlife to the desktop.

Party Night Under The Stars

Download options, with and without a calendar, range from 640x480 up to 2560x1440:

Wonderland Collective’s design draws from trips to the aquarium, particularly the displays where jellyfish shift between intense magenta and deep purple under colored lights. The piece is titled after the collective noun for jellyfish and applies bold tones meant to warm up a screen and evoke the feeling of being submerged in a light-filled tank.

A Bloom Of Jellyfish

Download sizes for "A Bloom Of Jellyfish" span 320x480 to 2560x1440:

Late-Summer Brights and Particle Physics

Designer Lívi from Hungary drew on prose from Alice Hoffman for Colorful Summer. The quote touches on August’s unpredictability and the advice to keep mint on a windowsill to keep flies out, and the wallpaper answers with a dense arrangement of bright, warm colors.

Colorful Summer

Available resolutions for the piece run from 800x480 up to a vertical 3475x4633:

Vlad Gerasimov takes a playful approach to August’s spectacle with a light-hearted cosmology: a scientist hard at work “searching for the Higgs boson” in the month heat.

Monthly Quality Desktop Wallpaper - August 2012

Wallpaper files without a calendar are offered in a wide range of aspect ratios and resolutions, up to 2560x1600:

A Note on Sizes and Formats

Ricardo Gimenes’ Freak Show Vol. 1 provides 1920x1440 and 3840x2160 downloads for no-calendar options, which are offered in a broader range that includes aspect ratios for ultrawide setups:

Freak Show Vol. 1

Downloads for "Freak Show Vol. 1" are available in PNG format from 640x480:

Designs From Down Under and the Midwest

Two community wallpapers capture distinct seasonal moods. Tazi Design in Australia offers “Grow Where You Are Planted,” a reflection on making the most of your current circumstances. As the designer puts it, “Every experience is a building block on your own life journey, so try to make the most of where you are in life and get the most out of each day.”

Grow Where You Are Planted

The wallpaper is available in a wide range of resolutions without a calendar, starting at 320x480 and scaling up to 2560x1440.

Denise Johnson from Chicago responds to the summer heat with “Chill Out.” The design speaks to a city in the throes of summer, with an invitation to slow down and cool off.

Chill Out

Non-calendar versions of the Chicago-inspired artwork are offered in resolutions from 1024x768 through 1920x1200.

A Northern Summer Night

Erkki Pung captures a distinctly different summer experience with “Estonian Summer Sun.” The piece is drawn from a moment in Southern Estonia, showcasing the region’s luminous summer nights, when the sky barely darkens.

Estonian Summer Sun

This scenic option is provided without a calendar in sizes ranging from 320x480 to 1920x1200.