Somefield
For a while now I’ve had kind of a crush on the work of Somefield, also known as Barnaby Ward, who I posted about a couple years back. I’ve been keeping an eye on him and seen his work explode all over the internet. I’m absolutely in love with his style, which is very anime inspired, but I feel like he puts his own unique twist on it. I don’t think anyone will argue that it’s all downright beautiful.
For his wallpaper he created an image that to me looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland. It’s a bizarre little vignette that he decided to enhance by giving it a watercolor look and feel. I’m also smitten with the colors of it, the blues, violets and magentas absolutely pop. But it’s also a rather simple desktop at the same time, so it shouldn’t get i the way of your icons either. This is hands down one of my favorites of 2010 so far. Thanks Barnaby!
Bobby
Laszlito Kovacs
This week’s desktop wallpaper comes from a fella’ named Laszlito Kovacs, but you can call him Laszlo. Laszlo is a Dutch Spanish artist who’s an amazing illustrator who’s got such a great sense of shape and color. Currently he’s making some really rad posters like this one here which you can actually win by just filling out a survey. He’s also got some fun collaborations going on with Poolga as well, though I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about it!
For his desktop wallpaper he’s used the name of the blog and transformed it into this rad little typographic fox. It’s got a wonderful retro feel to it and I think the typography he created is absolutely spot on as well. Don’t forget to check out the iPhone version which is slightly different as well as the iPad wallpaper. Thanks again Laszlo!
Bobby
Dan Matutina
Today I’m happy to announce a desktop wallpaper by a guy with one of the coolest names ever, Dan Matutina. Dan does work under the name Twistedfork creating lovely little illustrations with lots of life and color. He also seems to have a kind of fetish for pirates in ninjas, but y’know, who can blame the guy. He also has this rad little project called Status and Shapes where he interprets people’s Twitter messages into a rad looking image. He only did a few but I hope he does more cuz’ they’re pretty rad looking.
As for his wallpaper, I’ll let Dan describe it:
“Was thinking of a cinematic scene where a Ninja is trying to invade a pirate ship and assassinate the Pirate Captain. But the First Mate who was sleeping at the Crow’s Nest saw the Ninja. They start fighting. :) Ofcourse, Ninja and Pirates are geeky. Just tried to make it more badass.”
Absolutely spot-on and totally fun. Don’t forget that there’s an iPad wallpaper size as well, and for those who’ve asked, I’m thinking about creating a larger size for larger monitors. The thing is you vocal few make up less thatn 2% of people who visit the site, so says the Google-y Analytics, so be please be patient.
Bobby
Ghostly + Michael Cina: Gadi Mizrahi
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Oh Love by Gadi Mizrahi
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I meant to post this Friday but the day got away from me, so I’m making up for it tonight! This here is the final wallpaper in this little team-up with myself and my friends at Ghostly records, and of course, Michael Cina. Musically we have Gadi Mizrahi and his song Oh Love, which comes from the I Can Never Get Enough EP. The song is kind of funky, but kinda house-ish, but nonetheless should get your toes tapping.
The artwork is actually the art for the Oh Love single and is a pretty straightforward mix of paint splatters in all kinds of wild colors. I really love this one because you can see the texture of the canvas coming through.
If you’d like to download all of the tracks given away so far in one file click here.
Big thanks to my friends Sam, Missy and Danny for thinking up this great collaboration and to Mike Cina for creating such awesome artwork. If it’s not too much trouble let me know what you thought of this little team-up.
Bobby
Ghostly + Michael Cina: Jabberjaw
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The Connie Shake by Jabberjaw
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It’s day four and I’ve got another rad pairing of music and art thanks to Ghostly. For our musical guest we’ve got Jabberjaw, who you might know better as Matthew Dear. Jabberjaw is but one of his many alter egos and this is one of his rarer ones. The last time he reared his head as Jabberjaw was off of his album Garden of Eden back in 2009 and is where we this track comes from. It’s called The Connie Shake and has kind of a jazzy feel to it but it’s still very clearly Mr. Dear’s style.
As for the wallpaper we’ve got quite a minimal but vibrant background. It’s a scramble of colors and texture but nicely confined to one large dot. Plenty of room for your icons and it should look rad on an iPad as well. Nice work Mr. Cina.
Ghostly + Michael Cina: Bodycode
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What Did You Say by Bodycode
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Well it’s Wednesday which means we’re on out third Ghostly/Michael Cina wallpaper of the week. We’re also on our third MP3 which comes from Bodycode, who’s quite a worldly musician. Also known as Alan Abrahams, Bodycode was born in South Africa, grew up in London and Lisbon then finally settled in Berlin. Last year he released an album called Immune, a house-y sounding record with the awesome song What Did You Say as the lead track.
Yet again Michael Cina created another beautifully abstract cover, this time using real paints, which looks like acrylic and watercolor to me. I honestly don’t even really like abstract style art but there’s something about Mr. Cina’s use of colors or something that totally get me into these. I hope you enjoy it and check back tomorrow for another gem.
Bobby
Ghostly + Michael Cina: Sami Koivikko
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Sapphire by Sami Koivikko
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Like I promised yesterday here is the second of five wallpapers from the amazing Michael Cina as well as a great track from Sami Koivikko. Mr. Koivikko is a Finnish “microhouse/experimental techno producer” who makes some rather amazing beats. I think I’ve listened to the song above about 7 times now, it’s great for getting work done. He’s also got a mixtape and a live performance on his site as well, so if you dig the song above check these out as well.
The artwork above is an image that Mr. Cina put together for the cover of Sapphire which came out back in 2008. The digital painting reminds me of close-up of something you’d see hanging in a museum, like a microscopic work of art. It should make quite a great wallpaper.
Bobby
Ghostly + Michael Cina: Daso+Pawas
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Det by Daso+Pawas
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This week I’m happy announce a little partnership with my friends over at Ghostly records to give away a free MP3 by five of their different artists as well as five amazing wallpapers by the ultra-talented Michael Cina. There’s even an iPad wallpaper version to get you prepared for the release of the iPad on Saturday.
Michael has been working with Ghostly for a little while, creating all kinds of beautiful artwork ranging from simple, minimal graphics to full on Pollock-esque paintings. The first wallpaper this week is for the band Daso+Pawas, a duo comprised of Daso Franke and Pawas Gupta who “combine their cool melodics and understated rhythmic sensibilities into a very original and appealing formula.”
Download the wallpapers and the MP3 and check in tomorrow for another awesome pairing.
Bobby
Micah Lidberg
This week’s desktop wallpaper comes from a the very talented brain of Mr. Micah Lidberg, who is a master of patterns and colors. I came across Mr. Lidberg’s work a few months back and was immediately smitten with it. I’d sum up his work as being slightly abstract with lots of great textures and perfect color palettes.
That said, I had to ask if he’d make a wallpaper because his style is just too amazing. What he ended up coming up with these series of wave kinda’ shapes and these colored floating orbs. They kind of remind me of multicolored suns floating amongst a bunch of swirling clouds. Well, whatever you make from it I think it’s one of the most beautiful desktops I’ve featured, and I hope you like it too.
Bobby
Diego Soprano
It’s St. Patrick’s Day and I don’t have a themed wallpaper (not necessarily a bad thing) but I thought that this was still a fitting image. Today’s wallpaper comes from Diego Soprano, an Italian artist living in Milan and creating all kinds of weird/awesome art. You might remember this post about Studio Fantastico, the name he designs under, from last September and the James Dean image in specific. I’ve been a big fan of what he’s doing so I was stoked when he wrote me asking if he could contribute to the project.
I’m not 100% sure what’s going on in this image, but I totally love it. It’s warm and inviting and weird, all the best things in life. It’s kind of like if aliens invaded on the nicest day in summer. Be sure to check out the iPhone one as well, it’s a gem.
Ward Jenkins
I’m totally sorry that I didn’t post this wallpaper yesterday, my days have been super busy, which I’ll be speaking about on Monday. Until then, sorry about the delay. This week’s desktop comes from one of the nicest and most talented illustrators out there, Mr. Ward Jenkins. He’s a fantastic artist with that kind of retro vintage style but with a contemporary spin that makes his work feel fresh and vibrant. Plus he uses the best colors, the man is a genius in that department. He also has an epic beard which I believe stores his talent.
I asked Ward to create a bike related wallpaper so he came up with the totally fun image you see above. It’s all about the color palette on this one, plus those arrows which totally spice it up. It’s such a fun image and makes me wish I was riding my bike right now. Thanks Ward!
Agata Nowicka
Hey-o it’s Wednesday so I’ve got a brand new wallpaper and this week’s is really great. It comes all the way from Warsaw, Poland was created by a lovely lady named Agata Nowicka. Ms. Nowicka has this really amazing kind of pixelated style that’s very realistic but still very playful at the same time. She basically creates the kind of stuff you wish you could have made when you were using Paint as a 6th grader, she’s on another level.
For her wallpaper she went totally weird, and I think it fits in with some of today’s posts quite well. Your guess is as good as mine as to what it means, but basically you’ve got a woman trying to get dressed but her dresser is filled with all kinds of slimy sea creatures! And just to get the joke out of the way, there appears to not be any crabs…
Atherton Lin
Hello, I hope you’re having a good Wednesday. It’s kind of gloomy here in Los Angeles today so I wanted to put up a wallpaper that might brighten your day a bit. It comes from the amazing art couple of Atherton Lin, which is made up of Jamie Atherton and Jeremy Lin. You might remember that I posted their calendar about a month ago? They got in touch with me so I thought that I should ask them to do a wallpaper since I love their style so much.
And what they sent me doesn’t disappoint. It’s one of the most idyllic little scenes I’ve ever seen. Looking at this wallpaper makes me wish that I could be there watching the ships sailing and the fog floating by. It kind of reminds of something between a Wes Anderson and a Hayao Miyazaki film, maybe if they teamed up together. I hope you like it and I hope it brings some joy to your desktop.
Ciara Phelan
Good morning, I hope you’re having a good day so far. I’m writing this from a hotel in San Francisco today, which is quite a change of scenery but I couldn’t be happier. For today’s wallpaper we have something a little different, a beautiful paper cut collage by the amazing Ciara Phelan. Ciara is a designer currently living in London where she’s been creating this intricate, hand-cut collages that are both playful and extremely colorful.
I really thought that her desktop wallpaper went well with the things I’ve posted over the last few days so I thought I’d share it today. I love the color palette on this one, I think it’ll work great as a wallpaper. Not too flashy and distracting but with a few splashes of color and some nice textures to give it some pop. A big thanks to Ciara for sending me such a rad wallpaper!
Bobby
Alex Mathers
It’s a little late in the day for the wallpaper, but sleep was more important last night. This week we have a very busy and talented young dude from the UK named Alex Mathers. Alex is all over the place these days. You might find him creating illustrations for his personal site, or writing about interesting art and design on his blog Ape on the Moon, or on Red Lemon Club, a site that’s dedicated to helping freelance creative types promote themselves and their work. Clearly he’s got a lot on his plate, but somehow he manages to make it all work.
Yet amid his busy schedule he was able to create the rad wallpaper you see above. I”m not 100% sure what it mens exactly but it sure is cool looking. I really love all of the colors and the wave patterns which appear all over. Thanks again Alex for the wallpaper.
Bobby
Toro Y Moi
Download another wallpaper by Toro Y Moi by clicking here.
A little while back I got an email from a very unlikely source, someone I never thought I’d hear from because it would just be too random, but that’s the fun of having a design blog. It was from a guy named Chaz Bundick, who some of you may know as the musical artist Toro Y Moi. You’ll recognize his music name if you’ve listened to my Mixcasts or follow what I’m listening to on #musicmonday. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time now so I’m pretty stoked to have him participate in the DWP.
Yesterday, Toro Y Moi had his second album released called Causers Of This, and it’s definitely one of my favorites of the year. It’s kind of electronic, kind of J Dilla inspired and all around laid back and a solid album all around. So he decided to send two images for wallpapers, and I think they sum up his style pretty well. They have this washed out kind of ethereal vibe that floats through his music. Plus I think the colors and textures are awesome, I already have the top image set as my iPhone background.
I’ve also included a few MP3s from Causers Of This, Fax Shadow and Thanks Vision, so you can get a taste of what he sounds like. I highly recommend you picking up this album. You can grab it over on Insound or iTunes, whatever you prefer.
This isn’t going to be the last music related wallpaper either, I’m gonna try and branch out and get more of my favorite musicians to do some like Lady Gaga, Bono and Guns and Roses…
Matthew Lyons
A couple of weeks ago we had a really wonderful wallpaper by Matt Lyon, and in a bizarre turn of events this week we have Matthew Lyons. They’re two very different fellows but both extremely talented. This week’s Matthew you may remember from a couple weeks ago when I posted about his extremely rad work. Since then we’ve chatted and I asked him if he would do a desktop wallpaper for you, and he graciously obliged.
Matthew told me that he made this wallpaper to burn my eyes out, after I told him I preferred darker wallpapers. He also called me a “goth man”, haha… Anyhow, he wrote me that he wanted to create “a robot who is terminating all quarms and turmoils that he has in life by steadily cruise controlling tranquil barren land.” I think that he’s more than accomplished that, and I think his wallpaper is one of my favorites of the last two years. Thanks again Matthew, you big jerk…
Script & Seal
You can download another wallpaper from SCript & Seal by clicking here.
Good morning from soggy Los Angeles. I hope you’re having a good week so far, and hopefully the wallpapers above will make it even better. This weeks wallpapers come from Script & Seal, which is made up of Gavin Potenza and Liz Meyer. They’ve joined forces to battle the art world and create beautiful images (as you can see above). They’re also in the process of updating their site with new work, so be sure to check back frequently.
For their wallpapers, they tried to go for “a theme of classic, refined, grayscale.”
“We definitely had a lot of influences including mysticism, symbolism and foreign but familiar.” Gavin says his wallpaper didn’t really have any deep meaning but Liz describes her’s as “the art of finding knowledge.”
“I wanted it to look like a snapshot from the 1940′s (like a black & white UFO photo) — like a fleeting moment of finding something special hanging in the sky.”
I think they’re really awesome. I love all the symbols and different textures they both used. You could definitely set these both as your wallpaper and let them cycle back and forth. I also want to give a shout out to Sarah, who I think will love these because she’s a dznr/hippie chick.