Living In The Moment (August 2023 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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New month, new wallpapers! In this post, you’ll find unique and inspiring wallpapers for August 2023. Created with love by the community for the community, they come in versions with and without a calendar. Enjoy!

Everybody loves a beautiful wallpaper to freshen up their desktops and home screens, right? To cater for new and unique artworks on a regular basis, we started our monthly wallpapers series more than twelve years ago, and from the very beginning to today, artists and designers from across the globe have accepted the challenge and submitted their designs to it. Just like this month.

In this post, you’ll find their wallpapers for August 2023. All of them come in versions with and without a calendar, so no matter if you need to count down the days to a big deadline (or a few days off, maybe?) or plan to use your favorite wallpaper even after the month has ended, we’ve got you covered. A big thank-you to everyone who shared their designs with us — we sincerely appreciate it!

As a little bonus goodie, we also added some “oldies but goodies” at the end of this post, timeless wallpaper treasures that we rediscovered way down in our archives and that are just too good to be forgotten. Now there’s only one question left to be answered: Which one to choose? Happy August!

  • 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 a wallpaper!
    Did you know that you could get featured in our next wallpapers post, too? We are always looking for creative talent.

Summer Day

Designed by Kasturi Palmal from India.

Summer Day

Retro Road Trip

“As the sun dips below the horizon, casting a warm glow upon the open road, the retro van finds a resting place for the night. A campsite bathed in moonlight or a cozy motel straight from a postcard become havens where weary travelers can rest, rejuvenate, and prepare for the adventures that await with the dawn of a new day.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

Retro Road Trip

Spooky Campfire Stories

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Spooky Campfire Stories

Party Night Under The Stars

“August… it’s time for a party and summer vacation — sea, moon, stars, music… and magical vibrant colors.” — Designed by Teodora Vasileva from Bulgaria.

Party Night Under The Stars

Japanese Fashion Week

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Japanese Fashion Week

Train Ride

“We got on a plane and went to the other part of the world to Australia. In this case, we got to Melbourne and we are ready to go to Flinders Street Station to catch a train and move around this wonderful country.” — Designed by Veronica Valenzuela from Spain.

Train Ride

Proud

“Chandrayaan-3 is the third and most recent lunar Indian Space Research exploration mission under the Chandrayaan programme. It consists of a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan similar to Chandrayaan-2, but does not have an orbiter. Its propulsion module behaves like a communication relay satellite.” — Designed by Bhabna Basak from India.

Proud

Flowers

Designed by Sahra Tamo from Turkey.

Floral Illustration

Oldies But Goodies

Going for a swim, the smell of a summer field, or that sweet feeling of freedom when you’re on vacation — a lot of things have inspired the design community to create a wallpaper for August in the past few years. Here are some favorites from our wallpapers archives. Please note that these designs don’t come with a calendar.

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

Swimming In The Summer

“It’s the perfect evening and the water is so warm! Can you feel it? You move your legs just a little bit and you feel the water bubbles dancing around you! It’s just you in there, floating in the clean lake and small sparkly lights shining above you! It’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it?” — Designed by Creative Pinky from the Netherlands.

Swimming In The Summer

Subtle August Chamomiles

“Our designers wanted to create something summery, but not very colorful, something more subtle. The first thing that came to mind was chamomile because there are a lot of them in Ukraine and their smell is associated with a summer field.” — Designed by MasterBundles from Ukraine.

Subtle August Chamomiles

Bee Happy!

“August means that fall is just around the corner, so I designed this wallpaper to remind everyone to ‘bee happy’ even though summer is almost over. Sweeter things are ahead!” — Designed by Emily Haines from the United States.

Bee Happy!

Colorful Summer

“‘Always keep mint on your windowsill in August, to ensure that the buzzing flies will stay outside where they belong. Don’t think summer is over, even when roses droop and turn brown and the stars shift position in the sky. Never presume August is a safe or reliable time of the year.’ (Alice Hoffman)” — Designed by Lívi from Hungary.

Colorful Summer

Psst, It’s Camping Time…

“August is one of my favorite months, when the nights are long and deep and crackling fire makes you think of many things at once and nothing at all at the same time. It’s about heat and cold which allow you to touch the eternity for a few moments.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

Psst, It’s Camping Time...

Coffee Break Time

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Coffee Break Time

Work Hard, Play Hard

“It seems the feeling of summer breaks we had back in school never leaves us. The mere thought of alarm clocks feels wrong in the summer, especially if you’ve recently come back from a trip to the seaside. So, we try to do our best during working hours and then compensate with fun activities and plenty of rest. Cheers!” — Designed by ActiveCollab from the United States.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Ivory Tower

“August 12th marks World Elephant Day, highlighting the need for the protection and conservation of wild elephants across Asia and Africa. Today, African elephants are endangered due to wildlife crime, primarily poaching for the illegal ivory trade, whereas Asian elephants face habitat loss due to human-elephant conflict. Driven to the brink of extinction, elephants rely on us to create a non-exploitive and sustainable environment where these magnificent creatures can be safe.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Novi Sad, Serbia.

Ivory Tower

Love Is In The Air

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Love Is In The Air

Ahoy

Designed by Webshift 2.0 from South Africa.

Monthly Quality Desktop Wallpaper - August 2012

Handwritten August

“I love typograhy handwritten style.” — Designed by Chalermkiat Oncharoen from Thailand.

Handwritten August

Oh La La… Paris’ Night

“I like the Paris’ night! All is very bright!” — Designed by Verónica Valenzuela from Spain.

Oh La La.... Paris’ Night

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!” — Designed by Westie Vibes from Portugal.

Live In The Moment

Summer Nap

Designed by Dorvan Davoudi from Canada.

Summer Nap

I Love Summer

“I love the summer nights and the sounds of the sea, the crickets, the music of some nice party.” — Designed by Maria Karapaunova from Bulgaria.

I Love Summer

Shrimp Party

“A nice summer shrimp party!” — Designed by Pedro Rolo from Portugal.

Shrimp Party

Grow Where You Are Planted

“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.” — Designed by Tazi Design from Australia.

Grow Where You Are Planted

Traveler In Time

“During bright summer days, while wandering around unfamiliar places, it is finally forgotten that one of the biggest human inventions is time itself, future becomes the past, past becomes the present and there are no earthly boundaries, just air.” — Designed by Ana Masnikosa from Belgrade, Serbia.

Traveler In Time

Cowabunga

Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

Cowabunga

Treat Yourself

“It’s still winter in my part of Australia so warm coffee and donuts by the open fire is a treat. For warmer climates an outdoor picnic in the park with coffee and donuts sounds fun, too!” — Designed by Glynnis Owen from Australia.

Treat Yourself

A Bloom Of Jellyfish

“I love going to aquariums – the colors, patterns and array of blue hues attract the nature lover in me while still appeasing my design eye. One of the highlights is always the jellyfish tanks. They usually have some kind of light show in them, which makes the jellyfish fade from an intense magenta to a deep purple — and it literally tickles me pink. On a recent trip to uShaka Marine World, we discovered that the collective noun for jellyfish is a bloom and, well, it was love-at-first-collective-noun all over again. I’ve used some intense colors to warm up your desktop and hopefully transport you into the depths of your own aquarium.” — Designed by Wonderland Collective from South Africa.

A Bloom Of Jellyfish

About Everything

“I know what you’ll do this August. Because August is about holiday. It’s about exploring, hiking, biking, swimming, partying, feeling, and laughing. August is about making awesome memories and enjoying the summer. August is about everything. An amazing August to all of you!” — Designed by Ioana Bitin from Bucharest, Romania.

About Everything

Murder Of Crows

“The inspiration for the Murder Of Crows came from ‘The Raven’ – a poem written by Edgar Allen Poe in January 1845. The Murder Of Crows is part of our ‘Wonderland Collective Noun’ collection. Each month a new interesting collective noun is illustrated, printed and made into a desktop wallpaper.” — Designed by Wonderland Collective from South Africa.

Murder Of Crows

The Ocean Is Waiting

“In August, make sure you swim a lot. Be cautious though.” — Designed by Igor Izhik from Canada.

The Ocean Is Waiting

Vacation Vibes

“Is the time crawling by you’re eagerly awaiting your vacation? Or you’re back in the office, reminiscing the sweet feeling of freedom? Never mind, because our desktop calendar is here to bring a vacation vibe to your life throughout the entire August.” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

Vacation Vibes

Childhood Memories

Designed by Francesco Paratici from Australia.

Childhood Memories

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