Tag: Colors

06 Jul

Using HSL Colors In CSS

by TBSCategories: News

From my experience, most of the colors I see people using in CSS are hex and RGB. Recently, I’ve started seeing more usage of HSL colors, however, I still think that the full potential of HSL is overlooked. With the help of this article, I’d like to show you how HSL can truly help us work better with colors in CSS.

Introduction

Usually, we use hexadecimal color codes (hex colors) which are fine, but they have a couple of issues:

  • They are limiting;
  • They’re hard to understand from reading them.

By “limited”, I mean that it’s not easy to alter the color without opening a color wheel and picking a color yourself. Adding on that, it’s not easy to guess what color is from looking at the hex code.

Consider the following figure:

I picked a hex color for a sky blue, and a darker one. Notice that the hex colors are not related to each other. It’s hard to tell that they are both blue but with different shades.

In a real-life scenario, you might need to create a lighter or darker shade of a color to quickly test or validate something. With hex colors, this isn’t possible until you open the color picker.

Thankfully, HSL colors can help us in solving this specific problem, and it opens a lot of possibilities for us.

What Is HSL?

HSL stands for hue, saturation, and lightness. It’s based on the RGB color wheel. Each color has an angle and a percentage value for the saturation and lightness values.

Let’s take an example of the sky blue color that we discussed previously. First, we pick the color like we usually do from a color picker, and we make sure to get the HSL value for it.

Note: I’m using Sketch app, but you use whatever design tool you want.

Consider the following figure:

Notice that the HSL values in there. The first one is the angle, which represents the angle of the color we have. In this case, it’s sky blue. Once we have the angle, we can start tweaking the saturation and brightness as per our needs.

Saturation

Saturation controls how saturated the color should be. 0% is completely unsaturated, while 100% is fully saturated.

Lightness

As for lightness, it controls how light or dark the color is. 0% is is black, and 100% is white.

Consider the following figure:

With that, we have three values that are representing color, angle, saturation, and brightness. Here is how we can use the color in CSS:

.element {     background-color: hsl(196, 73%, 62%); }

By modifying the color angle, we can get colors that are similar in saturation and lightness to the base one. This is very useful when working on new brand colors as it can create a consistent set of secondary brand colors.

Consider the following figure:

Do you feel that the three colors are related to each other in terms of how the color is saturated, and how it’s dark or light it is? That has been achieved by only changing the color angle. This is what great about HSL colors. It’s more human-friendly to read and edit than any other color type.

Use Cases For HSL Colors

Changing Colors On Hover

When a color in a specific component needs to appear darker on hover, HSL colors can be perfect for this. It can be helpful for components like buttons and cards.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button:hover {   --primary-l: 54%; }

Notice how I combined CSS variables with HSL colors. On hover, I only need to alter the lightness value. Remember, the higher the value, the lighter. For a darker shade, we need to reduce the value.

A Combination Of Tinted Colors

HSL can be handy when we have a design that uses the same color but with different shades. Consider the following design:

The main header navigation has the primary color, while the secondary navigation has a lighter shade. With HSL, we can get the lighter shade easily by altering the lightness value.

This can be extremely useful while having a UI with multiple themes. I created two themes and switching from one to another only requires me to edit the hue degree.

First theme:

Second theme:

Color Palettes

By altering the lightness, we can create a set of shades for a color that can be used throughout the UI where possible.

This is useful for design systems where designers provide developers with the shades for each color of the brand.

Here is an interactive demo that shows that. The input slider only changes the hue value, and the rest of the shades change based on that.

Notice how the white on the right is too much. We can replace this with a custom white that is derived from a very light shade of the color we have. In my opinion, it’s much better.

Variations Of A Button

Another useful use case for HSL colors is when we have primary and secondary options that are from the same color but with different shades. In this example, the secondary button has a very light tint of the main color. HSL colors are perfect for that.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button--secondary {     --primary-l: 90%;     color: #222; }  .button--ghost {     --primary-l: 90%;     background-color: transparent;     border: 3px solid hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l));  }

Tweaking the primary button variations where fast and can be extended more for broader usage. Changing the hue value will change all the buttons’ themes.

Dynamic Washed-Out Effects

In some cases, we might need a gradient to have a very light shade of the other color stop. With HSL, we can use the same color but with a different lightness value for the second one.

.section {   background: linear-gradient(to left, hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)), hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), 95%)); }  .section-2 {   --primary-h: 167; }

The gradient starts from the right with a solid color and then fades out to the lighter shade. This can be used for a decorative hero section, for example.

That’s all with the use cases. I hope that you learned something new and useful.

Conclusion

HSL colors are very powerful when we use them the right way. They can save us time and effort and even help us to explore options for how to apply color to design.

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

06 Jul

Using HSL Colors In CSS

by TBSCategories: News

From my experience, most of the colors I see people using in CSS are hex and RGB. Recently, I’ve started seeing more usage of HSL colors, however, I still think that the full potential of HSL is overlooked. With the help of this article, I’d like to show you how HSL can truly help us work better with colors in CSS.

Introduction

Usually, we use hexadecimal color codes (hex colors) which are fine, but they have a couple of issues:

  • They are limiting;
  • They’re hard to understand from reading them.

By “limited”, I mean that it’s not easy to alter the color without opening a color wheel and picking a color yourself. Adding on that, it’s not easy to guess what color is from looking at the hex code.

Consider the following figure:

I picked a hex color for a sky blue, and a darker one. Notice that the hex colors are not related to each other. It’s hard to tell that they are both blue but with different shades.

In a real-life scenario, you might need to create a lighter or darker shade of a color to quickly test or validate something. With hex colors, this isn’t possible until you open the color picker.

Thankfully, HSL colors can help us in solving this specific problem, and it opens a lot of possibilities for us.

What Is HSL?

HSL stands for hue, saturation, and lightness. It’s based on the RGB color wheel. Each color has an angle and a percentage value for the saturation and lightness values.

Let’s take an example of the sky blue color that we discussed previously. First, we pick the color like we usually do from a color picker, and we make sure to get the HSL value for it.

Note: I’m using Sketch app, but you use whatever design tool you want.

Consider the following figure:

Notice that the HSL values in there. The first one is the angle, which represents the angle of the color we have. In this case, it’s sky blue. Once we have the angle, we can start tweaking the saturation and brightness as per our needs.

Saturation

Saturation controls how saturated the color should be. 0% is completely unsaturated, while 100% is fully saturated.

Lightness

As for lightness, it controls how light or dark the color is. 0% is is black, and 100% is white.

Consider the following figure:

With that, we have three values that are representing color, angle, saturation, and brightness. Here is how we can use the color in CSS:

.element {     background-color: hsl(196, 73%, 62%); }

By modifying the color angle, we can get colors that are similar in saturation and lightness to the base one. This is very useful when working on new brand colors as it can create a consistent set of secondary brand colors.

Consider the following figure:

Do you feel that the three colors are related to each other in terms of how the color is saturated, and how it’s dark or light it is? That has been achieved by only changing the color angle. This is what great about HSL colors. It’s more human-friendly to read and edit than any other color type.

Use Cases For HSL Colors

Changing Colors On Hover

When a color in a specific component needs to appear darker on hover, HSL colors can be perfect for this. It can be helpful for components like buttons and cards.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button:hover {   --primary-l: 54%; }

Notice how I combined CSS variables with HSL colors. On hover, I only need to alter the lightness value. Remember, the higher the value, the lighter. For a darker shade, we need to reduce the value.

A Combination Of Tinted Colors

HSL can be handy when we have a design that uses the same color but with different shades. Consider the following design:

The main header navigation has the primary color, while the secondary navigation has a lighter shade. With HSL, we can get the lighter shade easily by altering the lightness value.

This can be extremely useful while having a UI with multiple themes. I created two themes and switching from one to another only requires me to edit the hue degree.

First theme:

Second theme:

Color Palettes

By altering the lightness, we can create a set of shades for a color that can be used throughout the UI where possible.

This is useful for design systems where designers provide developers with the shades for each color of the brand.

Here is an interactive demo that shows that. The input slider only changes the hue value, and the rest of the shades change based on that.

Notice how the white on the right is too much. We can replace this with a custom white that is derived from a very light shade of the color we have. In my opinion, it’s much better.

Variations Of A Button

Another useful use case for HSL colors is when we have primary and secondary options that are from the same color but with different shades. In this example, the secondary button has a very light tint of the main color. HSL colors are perfect for that.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button--secondary {     --primary-l: 90%;     color: #222; }  .button--ghost {     --primary-l: 90%;     background-color: transparent;     border: 3px solid hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l));  }

Tweaking the primary button variations where fast and can be extended more for broader usage. Changing the hue value will change all the buttons’ themes.

Dynamic Washed-Out Effects

In some cases, we might need a gradient to have a very light shade of the other color stop. With HSL, we can use the same color but with a different lightness value for the second one.

.section {   background: linear-gradient(to left, hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)), hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), 95%)); }  .section-2 {   --primary-h: 167; }

The gradient starts from the right with a solid color and then fades out to the lighter shade. This can be used for a decorative hero section, for example.

That’s all with the use cases. I hope that you learned something new and useful.

Conclusion

HSL colors are very powerful when we use them the right way. They can save us time and effort and even help us to explore options for how to apply color to design.

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

05 Jul

Using HSL Colors In CSS

by TBSCategories: News

From my experience, most of the colors I see people using in CSS are hex and RGB. Recently, I’ve started seeing more usage of HSL colors, however, I still think that the full potential of HSL is overlooked. With the help of this article, I’d like to show you how HSL can truly help us work better with colors in CSS.

Introduction

Usually, we use hexadecimal color codes (hex colors) which are fine, but they have a couple of issues:

  • They are limiting;
  • They’re hard to understand from reading them.

By “limited”, I mean that it’s not easy to alter the color without opening a color wheel and picking a color yourself. Adding on that, it’s not easy to guess what color is from looking at the hex code.

Consider the following figure:

I picked a hex color for a sky blue, and a darker one. Notice that the hex colors are not related to each other. It’s hard to tell that they are both blue but with different shades.

In a real-life scenario, you might need to create a lighter or darker shade of a color to quickly test or validate something. With hex colors, this isn’t possible until you open the color picker.

Thankfully, HSL colors can help us in solving this specific problem, and it opens a lot of possibilities for us.

What Is HSL?

HSL stands for hue, saturation, and lightness. It’s based on the RGB color wheel. Each color has an angle and a percentage value for the saturation and lightness values.

Let’s take an example of the sky blue color that we discussed previously. First, we pick the color like we usually do from a color picker, and we make sure to get the HSL value for it.

Note: I’m using Sketch app, but you use whatever design tool you want.

Consider the following figure:

Notice that the HSL values in there. The first one is the angle, which represents the angle of the color we have. In this case, it’s sky blue. Once we have the angle, we can start tweaking the saturation and brightness as per our needs.

Saturation

Saturation controls how saturated the color should be. 0% is completely unsaturated, while 100% is fully saturated.

Lightness

As for lightness, it controls how light or dark the color is. 0% is is black, and 100% is white.

Consider the following figure:

With that, we have three values that are representing color, angle, saturation, and brightness. Here is how we can use the color in CSS:

.element {     background-color: hsl(196, 73%, 62%); }

By modifying the color angle, we can get colors that are similar in saturation and lightness to the base one. This is very useful when working on new brand colors as it can create a consistent set of secondary brand colors.

Consider the following figure:

Do you feel that the three colors are related to each other in terms of how the color is saturated, and how it’s dark or light it is? That has been achieved by only changing the color angle. This is what great about HSL colors. It’s more human-friendly to read and edit than any other color type.

Use Cases For HSL Colors

Changing Colors On Hover

When a color in a specific component needs to appear darker on hover, HSL colors can be perfect for this. It can be helpful for components like buttons and cards.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button:hover {   --primary-l: 54%; }

Notice how I combined CSS variables with HSL colors. On hover, I only need to alter the lightness value. Remember, the higher the value, the lighter. For a darker shade, we need to reduce the value.

A Combination Of Tinted Colors

HSL can be handy when we have a design that uses the same color but with different shades. Consider the following design:

The main header navigation has the primary color, while the secondary navigation has a lighter shade. With HSL, we can get the lighter shade easily by altering the lightness value.

This can be extremely useful while having a UI with multiple themes. I created two themes and switching from one to another only requires me to edit the hue degree.

First theme:

Second theme:

Color Palettes

By altering the lightness, we can create a set of shades for a color that can be used throughout the UI where possible.

This is useful for design systems where designers provide developers with the shades for each color of the brand.

Here is an interactive demo that shows that. The input slider only changes the hue value, and the rest of the shades change based on that.

Notice how the white on the right is too much. We can replace this with a custom white that is derived from a very light shade of the color we have. In my opinion, it’s much better.

Variations Of A Button

Another useful use case for HSL colors is when we have primary and secondary options that are from the same color but with different shades. In this example, the secondary button has a very light tint of the main color. HSL colors are perfect for that.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button--secondary {     --primary-l: 90%;     color: #222; }  .button--ghost {     --primary-l: 90%;     background-color: transparent;     border: 3px solid hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l));  }

Tweaking the primary button variations where fast and can be extended more for broader usage. Changing the hue value will change all the buttons’ themes.

Dynamic Washed-Out Effects

In some cases, we might need a gradient to have a very light shade of the other color stop. With HSL, we can use the same color but with a different lightness value for the second one.

.section {   background: linear-gradient(to left, hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)), hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), 95%)); }  .section-2 {   --primary-h: 167; }

The gradient starts from the right with a solid color and then fades out to the lighter shade. This can be used for a decorative hero section, for example.

That’s all with the use cases. I hope that you learned something new and useful.

Conclusion

HSL colors are very powerful when we use them the right way. They can save us time and effort and even help us to explore options for how to apply color to design.

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

05 Jul

Using HSL Colors In CSS

by TBSCategories: News

From my experience, most of the colors I see people using in CSS are hex and RGB. Recently, I’ve started seeing more usage of HSL colors, however, I still think that the full potential of HSL is overlooked. With the help of this article, I’d like to show you how HSL can truly help us work better with colors in CSS.

Introduction

Usually, we use hexadecimal color codes (hex colors) which are fine, but they have a couple of issues:

  • They are limiting;
  • They’re hard to understand from reading them.

By “limited”, I mean that it’s not easy to alter the color without opening a color wheel and picking a color yourself. Adding on that, it’s not easy to guess what color is from looking at the hex code.

Consider the following figure:

I picked a hex color for a sky blue, and a darker one. Notice that the hex colors are not related to each other. It’s hard to tell that they are both blue but with different shades.

In a real-life scenario, you might need to create a lighter or darker shade of a color to quickly test or validate something. With hex colors, this isn’t possible until you open the color picker.

Thankfully, HSL colors can help us in solving this specific problem, and it opens a lot of possibilities for us.

What Is HSL?

HSL stands for hue, saturation, and lightness. It’s based on the RGB color wheel. Each color has an angle and a percentage value for the saturation and lightness values.

Let’s take an example of the sky blue color that we discussed previously. First, we pick the color like we usually do from a color picker, and we make sure to get the HSL value for it.

Note: I’m using Sketch app, but you use whatever design tool you want.

Consider the following figure:

Notice that the HSL values in there. The first one is the angle, which represents the angle of the color we have. In this case, it’s sky blue. Once we have the angle, we can start tweaking the saturation and brightness as per our needs.

Saturation

Saturation controls how saturated the color should be. 0% is completely unsaturated, while 100% is fully saturated.

Lightness

As for lightness, it controls how light or dark the color is. 0% is is black, and 100% is white.

Consider the following figure:

With that, we have three values that are representing color, angle, saturation, and brightness. Here is how we can use the color in CSS:

.element {     background-color: hsl(196, 73%, 62%); }

By modifying the color angle, we can get colors that are similar in saturation and lightness to the base one. This is very useful when working on new brand colors as it can create a consistent set of secondary brand colors.

Consider the following figure:

Do you feel that the three colors are related to each other in terms of how the color is saturated, and how it’s dark or light it is? That has been achieved by only changing the color angle. This is what great about HSL colors. It’s more human-friendly to read and edit than any other color type.

Use Cases For HSL Colors

Changing Colors On Hover

When a color in a specific component needs to appear darker on hover, HSL colors can be perfect for this. It can be helpful for components like buttons and cards.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button:hover {   --primary-l: 54%; }

Notice how I combined CSS variables with HSL colors. On hover, I only need to alter the lightness value. Remember, the higher the value, the lighter. For a darker shade, we need to reduce the value.

A Combination Of Tinted Colors

HSL can be handy when we have a design that uses the same color but with different shades. Consider the following design:

The main header navigation has the primary color, while the secondary navigation has a lighter shade. With HSL, we can get the lighter shade easily by altering the lightness value.

This can be extremely useful while having a UI with multiple themes. I created two themes and switching from one to another only requires me to edit the hue degree.

First theme:

Second theme:

Color Palettes

By altering the lightness, we can create a set of shades for a color that can be used throughout the UI where possible.

This is useful for design systems where designers provide developers with the shades for each color of the brand.

Here is an interactive demo that shows that. The input slider only changes the hue value, and the rest of the shades change based on that.

Notice how the white on the right is too much. We can replace this with a custom white that is derived from a very light shade of the color we have. In my opinion, it’s much better.

Variations Of A Button

Another useful use case for HSL colors is when we have primary and secondary options that are from the same color but with different shades. In this example, the secondary button has a very light tint of the main color. HSL colors are perfect for that.

:root {   --primary-h: 221;   --primary-s: 72%;   --primary-l: 62%; }  .button {   background-color: hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)); }  .button--secondary {     --primary-l: 90%;     color: #222; }  .button--ghost {     --primary-l: 90%;     background-color: transparent;     border: 3px solid hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l));  }

Tweaking the primary button variations where fast and can be extended more for broader usage. Changing the hue value will change all the buttons’ themes.

Dynamic Washed-Out Effects

In some cases, we might need a gradient to have a very light shade of the other color stop. With HSL, we can use the same color but with a different lightness value for the second one.

.section {   background: linear-gradient(to left, hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), var(--primary-l)), hsl(var(--primary-h), var(--primary-s), 95%)); }  .section-2 {   --primary-h: 167; }

The gradient starts from the right with a solid color and then fades out to the lighter shade. This can be used for a decorative hero section, for example.

That’s all with the use cases. I hope that you learned something new and useful.

Conclusion

HSL colors are very powerful when we use them the right way. They can save us time and effort and even help us to explore options for how to apply color to design.

Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

apr-19-dreaming-preview
31 Mar

Blooming Colors And April Adventures (2019 Wallpapers Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

Blooming Colors And April Adventures (2019 Wallpapers Edition)

Blooming Colors And April Adventures (2019 Wallpapers Edition)

Cosima Mielke

Starting off the new month with an inspiration boost, that’s the idea behind our monthly wallpapers series which has been going on for more than nine years already. What makes it special: the wallpapers are created by the community for the community, and everyone who has an idea for a wallpaper design is welcome to submit it — no matter if they are experienced designers or aspiring artists.

For this April edition, people from across the globe once again took on the creative challenge to cater for some variety on your screens. The result: a colorful collection of unique and inspiring wallpapers dedicated to the big and small joys of April. All wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. Thank you to everyone who participated!

As a bonus goodie, you’ll also find a little April best-of at the end of this post. Please note that these wallpapers come from our archives, and, thus, are only available without a calendar. Enjoy!

Please note that:

  • All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper,
  • 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?

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

Dreaming

“The moment when you just walk and your imagination fills up your mind with thoughts.” — Designed by Gal Shir from Israel.

Dreaming

Inspiring Blossom

“‘Sweet spring is your time is my time is our time for springtime is lovetime and viva sweet love’, wrote E. E. Cummings. And we have a question for you. Is there anything more refreshing, reviving, and recharging than nature in blossom? Don’t wait. Go outside and enjoy this lovely flourishing season. Let it inspire us all to rise up, hold our heads high, and show the world what we are made of. It’s time to bloom!” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

Inspiring Blossom

April Showers

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

April Showers

Gentle Blooming

“After so many months of grey winter weather, I can’t wait to feel the warmth of sun rays on my skin, to see and smell the flavor of blooming flowers and trees… Thinking about all this inspired me to create these blooming flowers in gentle warm colors.” — Designed by Yuliia Bahniuk from Ukraine.

Gentle Blooming

Spring Serenity

“My inspiration was the arrival of spring that transmits a sense of calmness and happiness through its beautiful colors.” — Designed by Margarida Granchinho from Portugal.

Spring Serenity

Egg Hunt In Wonderland

“April is Easter time and I wanted to remind us that there’s a child inside all of us. My illustration is based on the story that fills our imagination since childhood, Alice in Wonderland, and joined to one of the most traditional customs in America at this time of year, the egg hunt. That’s how we get an ‘egg hunt in wonderland’.” — Designed by Patrícia Garcia from Portugal.

Egg Hunt In Wonderland

Wonderful Things

“If you need to find anything beautiful, there is no better place than nature. Everything in nature is unique and beautiful in its own way!” — Designed by Dental Expression from Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Wonderful Things

In The River

“Spring is here! Crocodiles search the hot and stay in the river.” — Designed by Veronica Valenzuela from Spain.

In The River

Freedom

“My choice to represent the month of April was the 25th of April in 1974 in Portugal, also known as the great revolution for freedom (‘Revolução dos Cravos’). It started with a political and social movement, which deposed the dictatorial regime of the New State. This date will always inspire us and remind us that freedom is worth fighting for and that people united are stronger than any kind of tyranny. For this reason, my project is called Freedom.” — Designed by Mirella Damasceno from Portugal.

Freedom

Signs

Designed by Tatiana Campos from Portugal.

Signs

Happy Easter!

“Celebrated all around the world in Christian tradition, April is the month of Easter. For kids Easter is about bunnies and painted eggs. Because April is also the month of early spring I chose joyful colours to give life to this lovely Easter illustration.” — Designed by Joana Duarte from Portugal.

Happy Easter!

Hanami

“Every year around April, the cherry blossom marks the beginning of spring in Japan. There is a tradition of watching this phenomenon which the locals refer to as ‘Hanami’ — flower viewing. This event occurs for a short time because of the cherry blossom’s short lifespan. The concept of Hanami reminds us that we should appreciate and even celebrate life in all its beauty and fragility while we can.” — Designed by Tetyana Malakhova from Portugal.

Hanami

Aphrodite

“Every month of our calendar is named after a god or goddess. The month of April is named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.” — Designed by Rita Falé from Portugal.

Aphrodite

From The Archives

A lot of things have inspired the community to create their April wallpapers in the past few years — be it a tasty bowl of soup on a rainy day or grabbing their bike and exploring new places. Below you’ll find some of these almost forgotten favorites. Please note that they don’t come with a calendar.

April Is The Nicest Month

“T.S. Eliot wrote in 1922 that ‘April is the cruelest month,’ but we quite disagree. April is the month when spring has finally come so nature starts blooming, providing us with more time to go out into nature and enjoy nice weather, long walks, and riding a bike. This is our message to you: go out and play. We surely will.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

April Is The Nicest Month

Wildest Dreams

“We love the art direction, story and overall cinematography of the ‘Wildest Dreams’ music video by Taylor Swift. It inspired us to create this illustration. Hope it will look good on your desktops.” — Designed by Kasra Design from Malaysia.

Wildest Dreams

No Winter Lasts Forever

“Here comes spring, breathing new life into the world around us.” — Designed by Norjimm Pvt Ltd from India.

No Winter Lasts Forever

April Insignia

“April — its first day reminds us that laughter makes life better. Nature also laughs, but it does so in daisies!” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

April Insignia

Once Upon A Time

“April is the month of spring but also the month of books. ‘A book is a proof that humans are capable of doing magic.’ (Carl Sagan)” — Designed by Verónica Valenzuela from Spain

Once Upon A Time

Nikes On My Feet

“We got inspired by the song ‘Nikes on My Feet’ by Mac Miller, which was perfect for the upcoming month of April and the warm weather that spring brings. As Mac Miller said, ‘All I really need is some shoes on my feet…” — Designed by PopArt Web Design from Serbia.

Nikes On My Feet

Colors Of April

“My daughter was born in April so this month reminds me of that colorful, bright and precious moment.” — Designed by Izabela Grzegorczyk from Poland.

Colors Of April

Bad Bunny

“This bad bunny is just waiting for Easter.” — Designed by Izabela from Poland.

Bad Bunny

Springing

“It’s spring already, my favourite season! You can smell it, you can see it, you can feel it in the air. Trees blossom, the grass is smiling at the sun, everything is so eager to show itself.” — Designed by Vane Kosturanov from Macedonia.

Springing

Rainy Day

Designed by Xenia Latii from Berlin, Germany.

Rainy Day

Spring Fever

“I created that mouse character for a series of illustrations about a poem my mom often told me when I was a child. In that poem the mouse goes on an adventure. Here it is after the adventure, ready for new ones.” — Designed by Anja Sturm from Germany.

Spring Fever

Citrus Passion

Designed by Nathalie Ouederni from France.

Citrus Passion

Sweet April Showers Do Bring May Flowers

“Discover the seasonal fruits and vegetables in April: artichoke and beans walking in the rain!” — Designed by Vitaminas Design from Spain.

Sweet April showers Do bring May flowers

Ipoh Hor Fun

“Missing my hometown’s delicious ‘Kai See Hor Fun’ (in Cantonese), that literally translates to ‘Shredded Chicken Flat Rice Noodles’. It is served in a clear chicken and prawn soup with chicken shreds, prawns, spring onions and noodles.” — Designed by Lew Su Ann from Brunei.

Ipoh Hor Fun

Noisy Neighbors

Designed by Katerina Bobkova from Ukraine.

Smashing Wallpaper - April 2012

Jean-Cloud Van Damme

“Hope that this little cloud will make you laugh. Happy Fools’ Day everybody.” Designed by Marika Smirnova from Russia.

Smashing Wallpaper - April 2012

Umbrella Season

“In my neck of the woods, April means a lot of rain, and therefore a lot of umbrellas. I’ve noticed a lot of pretty unique umbrellas out there, especially when I walked to class in college. Happy Umbrella Season!” — Designed by Angelia DiAntonio from Ohio, USA.

Umbrella Season

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.

Thank you to all designers for their participation. Join in next month!


Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

12 Dec

Blooming Colors And A Bit Of Magic: Wallpapers To Get Your Ideas Springing (April 2017 Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

Time is running! The first quarter of the year lies already behind us and a new season is in full swing. But no matter if April means blooming colors and embracing the warmer weather in your part of the world or getting cozy for autumn, our new batch of desktop wallpapers is bound to cater for some fresh inspiration regardless of that. We’ve been on this mission to bring you unique wallpaper calendars each month anew for eight years already, and we are very thankful to all the designers and artists who keep it running by diligently contributing their artworks to it.
Articles on Smashing Magazine — For Web Designers And Developers

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31 Mar

Blooming Colors And A Bit Of Magic: Wallpapers To Get Your Ideas Springing (April 2017 Edition)

by TBSCategories: News

   

Time is running! The first quarter of the year lies already behind us and a new season is in full swing. But no matter if April means blooming colors and embracing the warmer weather in your part of the world or getting cozy for autumn, our new batch of desktop wallpapers is bound to cater for some fresh inspiration regardless of that.

Desktop Wallpaper Calendars April 2017

We’ve been on this mission to bring you unique wallpaper calendars each month anew for eight years already, and we are very thankful to all the designers and artists who keep it running by diligently contributing their artworks to it. This post features their works for April 2017. All wallpapers come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. Now could there be a better occasion for a little inspiration kick?

The post Blooming Colors And A Bit Of Magic: Wallpapers To Get Your Ideas Springing (April 2017 Edition) appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Smashing Magazine

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03 Mar

Inspiring Illustrations With Plenty Of Bright Colors And Cool Patterns

by TBSCategories: News

   

It’s almost time to leave winter behind us here in the Northern Hemisphere. Most of the time, the weather can’t quite make up its mind, and so the days pass by with half of the sky sunny while the other half gray. Nature usually tends to have a strong impact on my mood, and so these days I feel like I’m literally in a gray zone — between winter and spring.

Inspiring Illustrations With Plenty Of Bright Colors And Cool Patterns

I’m not sure about you, but with springtime lurking around the corner, my need for extra inspiration is even bigger. So, I hope that this month’s set will give you just that spark you need to cheer you up and boost your creativity.

The post Inspiring Illustrations With Plenty Of Bright Colors And Cool Patterns appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

Smashing Magazine

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12 Aug

Web Development Reading List #149: CSS Dynamic Colors, Refactoring CSS, And CSP Hashing

by TBSCategories: News

   

Even though we think everything happens in real-time nowadays, we need patience. While technology has been capable of real-time for long now, the “bottleneck” are human beings. Whether it’s a pull request that’s waiting for review since days or weeks or an email response, we need to keep in mind that delays might happen for a good reason.

An SVG mask on an SVG element

Different people have different priorities, they might be focusing on something else at the moment, or they just take a break. Training patience is an important aspect of mental health, and, in the end, a well-thought-out, not instantly written feedback is better, too. Take your time and let others do the same.

The post Web Development Reading List #149: CSS Dynamic Colors, Refactoring CSS, And CSP Hashing appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

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