Ubuntu Wallpaper Photo Pack

[MadsRH]

from http://anotherubuntu.blogspot.com/2009/04/ubuntu-wallpaper-photo-pack.html

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MOCs5B8LekE/SeGva_dH6nI/AAAAAAAAALw/BqcYo5Xf4KA/s320/Screenshot.png

You might remember Kenneth Wimer published some background guidelines for Jaunty back in February. This was a great move because of the lack of organized effort in the artwork. I know that Canonical will be publishing more artwork guidelines within the next cycle, which I'm looking forward to and which I really think will help shape the look and feel of Ubuntu.
This is all fine and dandy, however I don't agree with all the guidelines published back in February. In the .PDF it says:

Design:
- Abstract imagery
- No strong logo usage (recommended)
- No other recognizable/readable text
- No mascots preferred (prove me wrong)
- Avoid parallel lines due to moire problems when scaling
- Be aware of how shapes relate within the whole desktop layout with panels, icons on the desktop, etc.
- No photography, unless heavily edited, stylized. No pictures of recognizable people/places/popular items

I would say that with both Hardy and Intrepid the way mascots was included in the artwork was truly art and worked out fantastic.
As for no strong logo usage I do agree, but I remember seeing some beautiful 3D Ubuntu logo images that worked very well as wallpaper.

Anyway... The last one is the one I actually want to talk about; "No photography, unless heavily edited, stylized. No pictures of recognizable people/places/popular items". I would love to see this included in Ubuntu. I've actually been using some of the Vista photos on my Intrepid desktop (don't tell anyone!) and loved the absence of abstract brown imagery. That's why I've created the "Ubuntu Wallpaper Photo Pack"

In my Easter holiday, I've taken some pictures that I would use as desktop wallpaper on my new Samsung SyncMaster 2343NW 23" (2048x1152 px). I decided to make a small collection which others might also enjoy.
The pack is titled "Ubuntu Wallpaper Photo Pack" and I've included ten photos (of varying quality).

The photos was taken with a PENTAX K10D camera and haven't been edited or manipulated in any way. Some photos are a little blurry, but I think they all make good (some even great) desktop backgrounds. I should mention that the images are mostly flowers and plants (no landscapes or similar).

You can download the files here (22 MB):
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/175241/wanted/Ubuntu_wallpaper_photo_pack.tar.gz

[lyceum]

That photo is awesome, and (unless you are a plant and/or bug expert) it falls in the guidelines of not knowing where the pic was taken. I would love to see something like that in Ubuntu. Very cool!

:guitar:

[Dragonbite]

I think it was mentioned for openSUSE that people prefer nature photographs for the included wallpapers and they were going to focus that way.

Be great if there could be a "wallpapers-photo" package in Synaptic that you can download a large collection of photos for wallpapers.

[lo2lo2a]

thank you

[Bölvaður]

yes yes, some of those are very good :) I could replace 2-3 of those, and if some one else does that to my version we'll end up with very nice package I could imagine.

Can I hear "go for it" ?

[MadsRH]

yes yes, some of those are very good :) I could replace 2-3 of those, and if some one else does that to my version we'll end up with very nice package I could imagine.

Yes, exactly - that would be fantastic! Then, after 6 months of adding/replacing photos, the best ones could be submitted as background suggestions for Koala :grin:

[Mokoma]

thanks man

[Bölvaður]

I probably have bigger versions of some of those images I added, so if you do not like them.. good. But if you do then I will possibly be forced to find the original... which is hard as I do not organize my collections enough, only the scaled down ones.

please delete some of those images in version 02, I wasn't too keen on the while flowers and the grass but I can see how others might like it so therefore I was too scared to delete it.

[s.fox]

Nice photos. Also thanks for posting guidelines on submission entries :D

[Dragonbite]

I downloaded them last night, but went to bed before extracting them. Looking forward to checking it out tonight!

[Sand & Mercury]

Phenomenal work! :D

Even though I think I have a few too many macro plant/flower walls in my wp folder, they really would fit in well with a desktop.

[lyceum]

Yes, exactly - that would be fantastic! Then, after 6 months of adding/replacing photos, the best ones could be submitted as background suggestions for Koala :grin:

That is a great idea! Do you think it would be bad to submit some pics of Kolas? or would that get it kicked out?

[MadsRH]

That is a great idea! Do you think it would be bad to submit some pics of Kolas? or would that get it kicked out?

Kenneth Wimer would know the answer to that. Anyway, no harm can come from suggesting it :-)

[Bölvaður]

That is a great idea! Do you think it would be bad to submit some pics of Kolas? or would that get it kicked out?

I would say it depends on how good the picture is, and if it you actually have taken pictures of one your self.... they are rare in my part of the world...

But what we really need is more people to take the .tar.gz and either add or remove pictures they like or do not like. No one cares if you dont add anything, it just makes space for the next one ;)

[lyceum]

Kenneth Wimer would know the answer to that. Anyway, no harm can come from suggesting it :-)

I would say it depends on how good the picture is, and if it you actually have taken pictures of one your self.... they are rare in my part of the world...

But what we really need is more people to take the .tar.gz and either add or remove pictures they like or do not like. No one cares if you dont add anything, it just makes space for the next one ;)

My wife spends a lot of time at the Zoo and she is a photographer. I thought it might be cool. I talk to her about it, no promises though.

[lyceum]

new idea...

Rather than sending this to Ubuntu, would it be possible to set something up in the repos like the Ubuntu-calendar? (the nude art that got nixed back in the day.)

Here is my idea:

Get someone to package the calendar and update it monthly with a new image (if it is an easy swap, I could do it). The package would always give the user 12 images to chose from. The rest can hang out on a website, Gnome-look.org if nothing else. When they get an update, they get a new image, but it will not delete the old image. The only down side would be new users getting older images, but those could be packaged as ***name*** ***year***. This could even be done in 6 month cycles for each disrto.

I have no clue how to package something, or how to do this, but I do have web space and s dream. I am building a new site right now using Movable Type. It has a plug in for loading images and a plug in for ranking them (can anyone see where I am going with this?) The top images could be added each month, which would kick them out of future ranking.

Thoughts?

[Orlsend]

That would be so awesome, my wallpaper collection needs more of this goodies! Keep up the good work you guys!

[Bölvaður]

Apparently I forgot to send my version -.-

and I deleted it all so I have to find it all over again -.- Im happy now -.-


↓ ↓ → VERSION 2 ← ↓ ↓

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/955154/Ubuntu_wallpaper_photo_packv02.tar.bz2
(https://dl-web.getdropbox.com/get/Ubuntu_wallpaper_photo_packv02.tar.bz2?w=2bf4e717)

[nwarrenfl]

Thanks, they are beautiful and they look professional.

[lyceum]

I guess I'll take that as a no...

[Bölvaður]

I guess I'll take that as a no...

well it would be good if there would be more interest... like... I am the only one that changed the initial package, so apparently there isn't much interest or difficult to find people that got one at least.

[lyceum]

well it would be good if there would be more interest... like... I am the only one that changed the initial package, so apparently there isn't much interest or difficult to find people that got one at least.

Yeah, that it s good point. Right now it is a file on a thread. I think I am going to put a place for people to load pics on my site anyway. If this ever goes anywhere, let me know. It is a great idea.

[Orlsend]

I am in for helping but my camera is currently under repair. if I find some nice Pictures under 3.0 of CC could I link them?. I know some web-design so with the site I am so willing to help.

[Bölvaður]

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/955154/Ubuntu_wallpaper_photo_packv04/index.html

I found it difficult to pick 1 and 1 image from the package so I made an index site to select from thumbnails. Very basic stuff here. Also added pictures from evissecx by his request.

I encoded some of the images again to make the BIG package take less space.

[rax_m]

Hi MadsRH..
I got your PM and I would like to contribute for sure! I just need to read up a bit on that particular license.
Also, have a look at some of my photos at raxm.deviantart.com

There are just a few on there that I'm not allowed to use as I took them while on a field trip sponsored by a different organisation.
But let me know if any look good for inclusion.

I also don't mind going out and taking a few if you have any "requirements".. time permitting ;)

Cheers
Rax

[riza hylviu]

Hi
I have some pictures in flickr and if you like them i can add some of them to the pack, i just don't know really how to do it:confused:
If you have time check them and download the ones you like and add to the pack http://www.flickr.com/photos/25932069@N07/
cheers

[MadsRH]

UPDATE!
A few days ago Kenneth Wimer posted a message to the Ubuntu-art mailinglist (https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-art/2009-May/010360.html) about an extra wallpaper package for Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala).
I guess it would make sense to submit your photos for that package (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Karmic/Backgrounds) rather than starting a new project.

Kenneth Wimer wrote:
Other operating systems offer an extra selection of desktop backgrounds to their users. Often they are based on different "themes" typically applied to photography (nature, for instance).

For Karmic we would like to include a set of high quality desktop backgrounds which are organized according to a predefined set of adjectives which describe emotional atmospheres, slogans (so to speak) for the way an image makes you feel.

In order to accomplish this we call on anyone and everyone to submit images which are freely licensed and follow the guidelines for inclusion.

Let me know if you have any ideas for improving this idea, or if you'd like to help coordinate things, etc.

I really like Bölvaður's http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/955154/Ubuntu_wallpaper_photo_packv04/index.html, but shouldn't we join effort with this project (https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-art/2009-May/010360.html) and have a central location to submit photo suggestions (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Karmic/Backgrounds)?

More info on how to submit here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/Karmic/Backgrounds

PS: I should point out that your photos must be very high resolution to work properly. Images scaled 1:1 on large screens will often look blurred, fuzzy or compressed depending on the quality of the camera. Just a heads up!

Also I anyone some beautiful high resolution panorama photos (not necessarily landscapes) please submit them for dual screen wallpapers.

Hi MadsRH..
I got your PM and I would like to contribute for sure! I just need to read up a bit on that particular license.
Also, have a look at some of my photos at raxm.deviantart.com

There are just a few on there that I'm not allowed to use as I took them while on a field trip sponsored by a different organisation.
But let me know if any look good for inclusion.

I also don't mind going out and taking a few if you have any "requirements".. time permitting ;)

Cheers
Rax

Sounds great! Looking forward to seeing how this project will turn out :D

[skygazer]

Thats a great initiative. I would love to see some real people turning real pictures into desktop wallpapers. The one in the first post was so beautiful. Very different from the plasticky, impersonal wallpapers inbuilt in vista.

[jbruced]

I'm just jumping in here, and I agree with everyone's opinions and enthusiam for this project.

IMO, a desktop background without a corresponding theme for panel, widgets, menus etc, total look and feel, won't give the background the true justice it deserves. It actually may look out of place.

Now I have no affiliation with the website on the following link, just a deep appreciation for the way that everything in his themes seems to fit together just right.

Look here:

http://francois.vogelweith.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=3&Itemid=14

BTW, you can't fully appreciate it from a photo. the icons, the color gradients etc. are best experienced during use.

Maybe this guy would be interested in joining your project?

Bruce

[MadsRH]

... The one in the first post was so beautiful. Very different from the plasticky, impersonal wallpapers inbuilt in vista.

Thank you :D

... IMO, a desktop background without a corresponding theme for panel, widgets, menus etc, total look and feel, won't give the background the true justice it deserves. It actually may look out of place.

Now I have no affiliation with the website on the following link, just a deep appreciation for the way that everything in his themes seems to fit together just right.

BTW, you can't fully appreciate it from a photo. the icons, the color gradients etc. are best experienced during use.
Bruce

Sounds like a good idea.

[WatchingThePain]

That is one sharp image.
Taking photos like that can't be easy.

[MadsRH]

Hi again
I've added a few new images to the package:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/175241/wanted/Ubuntu_wallpaper_photo_pack.tar.gz

;)

[hansdown]

There are some very nice ones MadsRH.

Thanks.

[JK3mp]

Not bad guys. Im not a big fan of nature and animal wallpapers (more of a hardcore games, dark blood, darkened logo grunge kinda guy.im sure being a 19 year old guy has to do with it or somethin. lol) but i like seeing initiative in the community. Keep it up!

[philcamlin]

thats crazy
i like it :):popcorn: