This desktop wallpaper design was largely inspired from a brief conversation I had with Bert Arians, an AIM tech manager, while in the lunch line today. He was explaining to me how he felt that many people confuse “community” with “social networks” and how they are not necessarily synonymous. He described to me a meadow full of flowers where a community of bees networked from flower to flower. To be honest, I’m not sure I understood the analogy completely but for some reason the conversation stuck in my head and served as good inspiration when I needed it. So for that, I thank you Bert (but I may need you to walk me through that one more time).

In addition, I wanted to design something that evoked Spring and what better to do so than cherry blossoms, bees, pollen and springtime colors. Ahhh chooo!

Download the Pollen Nation wallpaper for your desktop:
Large (1600×1200)
Small (1024×768)

Thanks to the following people whose photos were available for remix via Creative Commons: tanakawho, *vlad*, bulletproofbra and TeraRoop11. Font used: Helvetica Neue.

-Tom

Update:
Bert just informed me that “bees are social networking with each other; flowers are the communities”. Now, I’ve got it. Thanks, Bert!

NOTE: originally posted on the AIM Design Blog.

Originally posted on Design.AIM.com

I know what you are thinking. Something like “Tom, are you excited about the big game this weekend?”. You haven’t been able to sleep you are so curious. My response is “Heck yeah, I’m excited about the big game. Aren’t you?”. If you happen to live on another planet, please allow me to explain. This weekend the mighty Florida Gators play the feeble UCLA Bruins in the 2007 NCAA Basketball Tournament Final Four Playoffs. It’s a rematch of last year’s final when the Bruins of course decided to spend time making sure their baby blue uniforms looked good instead of playing hoops.

What does this have to do with design you ask? Well, not much other than the fact that the University of Florida is where I received my degree in graphic design. To celebrate the big game I decided to scurry together a desktop background in honor of both teams (though primarily the Gators) and this soon to be historic event. I hope this will be the first of many desktop designs my AIM design peepz will make available in the future.

Now, I didn’t want to pick on the poor little Bruins any more than I already have so I’ve taken some liberties and changed their name to Bears. After all, a Bruin is a “baby” bear. And after the they loose, we can go back to calling them Bruins as we watch them wipe the tears away for the second time in two years.

Now, talkin’ trash is fun but in all due respect to the Bruins and their fans I wish you the best of luck. Your team will be looking for revenge which ought to make for an exciting game. May the best team win.

Without further ado, here are the desktops available for download:
Big (1600×1200)
Small (1024×768)

Special thanks to the folks who made their photos available for remix on Flickr. Here are their due credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lausanne/342796608/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackcustard/98691713/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davemorris/26347864/

Fonts used: Rusted Plastic, Trashed, Brody & Arial

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0