When MacPeople Lite in Japan featured my Soon Spring icons in their Spring 2008 issue I revisited the collection and decided to update the set to include fresh new versions for Mac OS X Leopard and Windows Vista for this weeks release of icons at the Iconfactory.

But it was so much fun to work with these icons that I expanded the collection with five bold, new spring flowers! Inspiration was literally on the doorstep, with a few late Snowdrops and a sea of Scilla on the grassy slope outside the studio. Iris, Daffodils and Pheasant's Eye saluting the sun from the flowerbeds.

When I was designing these flowers I studied them and was fascinated by things I found out. That Iris, in Greek mythology, was the goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. The optical phenomenon iridescence is derived from Iris' name and the fleur-de-lis is a stylized Iris...

Then I read that Pheasant's Eye daffodil, is also called Poet's Daffodil or Narcissus poeticus in latin... Isn't that just irresistable!?

And if you want to get it on paper, that spring is here, you might be interested in the Tulip card over in the shop where there are several cards inspired by spring.

Soon Spring icons come with a companion wallpaper: A Sea of Scilla. This desktop picture is available in several sizes for different types of monitors. There are fullscreen, widescreen, iPhone and iPod Touch versions so take your pick!

Last but not least, members of Club Marmalade Moon receive a bonus collection of Soon Spring icons and images for personal use on your blog or website or as avatars for your computer user account, forums, instant messenger and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace! Join the club to get your free April release of limited edition desktop art!

Tags: design, seasonal, floral, nature, spring, bold, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen, Mac, Windows

It never fails, every year I buy budding bunches of daffodils, when I shop for food at the market. A couple of days later I buy another bunch, soon the dinner table is overflowing with daffodils. And when the daffodils bloom I am startled at how anything can be so - well so very yellow...

As you might have guessed, I am designing some icons and desktop pictures on a spring theme. Bold and colourful like the brave spring blossoms. This spring desktop art will be ready to open its petals on your desktop next week!

Members of Club Marmalade Moon will receive bonus spring desktop art, so join the club to get your April release of limited edition desktop art, if you haven't done so already!

Tags: design, seasonal, spring, nature, floral, bold, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen, dual monitor, Windows, Mac

Well, while I was off to have Easter dinner with my family, the Easter Hare showed up for his last visit for the year! There were paw prints all over the house and he had left a note by my laptop with little odd drawings, scribbles and arrows explaining where all the eggs were...

Here are all the eggs and their locations! If you missed the egg hunt you can download them here.

And there is more! This was just the beginning of fun desktop events here at Marmalade Moon! I am launching a new project for people who like to customize their desktops: Club Marmalade Moon!

Members will receive exclusive, limited edition, designer desktop art that will be free for use in personal projects. You can use the desktop art to decorate your computer desktop. Or your blog or website. You can use it for your computer user account, your forum profile, or instant messenger. You can customise your social network such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter. Making your digital space personal and beautiful. And it's fun to collect the desktop art too!

Sign up today and be part of the grand opening in April!

Happy Easter!

Tags: design, desktop, interface, customise, customisation, Mac OS X, Windows, Leopard, Vista, nature, holiday, Easter icon egg hunt

He's been here! The Easter Hare was all excited and said he had hidden six eight Easter Egg Icons on the Marmalade Moon!

I asked him what you were supposed to do when you found an egg, he gave me a look like I am hopeless, and said that “you just click on it and you will be magically transported to a secret page where you can save them to your computer”.

Then his paintbrush dropped out of his satchel and he snatched it back up and suddenly looked a bit worried. He said something about finding the right shades for chocolate, and said he'd be back with more eggs “when they were ready”. Then he jumped vertically for no apparent reason. Blinked and darted off.

Just like that! There was no time for me to remind him that the last day for the egg hunt is on Easter Monday, 24 March and ask him what he had planned for the grand finale! If anything... One wonders... I will keep you updated when I see any more evidence of his work...

Until then, good luck on your icon egg hunt! Six eight eggs to find to start with!

CLUE: If you have recently been browsing Marmalade Moon you might have to reload a page to see the egg, or clear the cashe in your browser.

Tags: design, desktop, interface, Mac OS X, Windows, Leopard, Vista, nature, holiday, Easter icon egg hunt

So, I ran into the Easter Bunny and, he said there is going to be a desktop icon egg hunt here at Marmalade Moon!

Yes, he really did seem mad as a March hare, this bunny, or rabbit... Very excited, but also a bit scatterbrained... I was asking him about dates and how many of these eggs he was planning to bring but all I could get out of him was that it will be going on “during Easter” and that he will be hiding “some beautiful eggs” all over Marmalade Moon... When I pressed he said the last day for the hunt would be on Easter Monday, 24 March.

I think that was a bit too much for him, having to be so specific, because after that he started mumbling about whether these eggs would be wrapped in foil or not, or if they would be made of chocolate or if they were going to be all in shades of pastels or in stronger colours, with patterns or dyed, hollow or solid... And then he hopped off with a jerk, I assume to make preparations, and I refrained from passing any comments about tin foil...

Tags: design, desktop, interface, Mac OS X, Windows, Leopard, Vista, nature, holiday, Easter icon egg hunt

Announcing the release of a set of Full Moon icons based on the colourful moons from my recent Total Lunar Eclipse Collection of desktop pictures.

Customize your desktop with this set of icons includes nine variations reaching from a pale, milky white moon, through shades of yellow, glowing oranges and reds as well as some blue moons.

Full Moon icons are Leopard and Vista ready!

Tags: design, iPhone, desktop, interface, Mac OS X, Windows, Leopard, Vista, nature, celestial, astronomy, Moon

I am busy creating more desktop art on the theme of the full moon. There will be a new set of icons with the full moon based on the colourful moons from the Total Lunar Eclipse Collection of wallpapers. I am planning a set that spans from silvery white, a harvest moon and blood red moons in explosive shades of red, orange, pink and palest lilac. Oh, and a blue moon too of course!

Also, on popular demand, I am remastering 'The Painted Desert', a desert landscape with moon. Adding new sizes for large monitors and for the iPhone and iPod Touch as well as dual monitor versions.

These are some of the ideas I am working on just now, so check back for this new set of icons with the Full Moon and for 'The Painted Desert' desktop picture.

Tags: design, nature, celestial, astronomy, Moon, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen, dual monitor, Windows, Mac, Mac OS X

I designed three new desktop pictures with the total eclipse of the Moon available for download in the freebies section so that you can enjoy this dramatic celestial feast on your desktop.

'Under a Blood Red Moon', 'Glowing Coal Moon' and 'Burning Orange Moon'.

Tags: design, nature, celestial, astronomy, Moon, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen

I am making a new wallpaper for the celestial feast on Thursday, February 21, when stargazers will see the full Moon blush red as it passes through Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse! The colour of the Moon will change from silvery white to copper red or glowing orange when light is deflected by the Earth’s atmosphere and bounces back off the “blood moon”.

Shades of palest lilac, pinks, oranges and deep red all come together forming a Moon that resembles a glowing coal. So check back for a collection of new desktop pictures with the total eclipse of the Moon!

Further reading (external links):
NASA - Lunar Eclipse Page
Wikipedia - Lunar Eclipse

Tags: design, nature, celestial, astronomy, Moon, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen

In time for Valentine's Day, this desktop picture with rose petals has been remastered for large monitors and for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

For a digital romance, or for a longing for deep summer, the heady scent of roses, the velvet petals.

Dress up your desktop in pretty petals over in the freebies section. Because desktop geeks have feelings too!

Tags: Valentine's Day, summer, seasonal, nature, design, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen

There has hardly been any snow in Sweden this winter so I had to make up for it in some way. I designed a winter wonderland desktop background with bold, crisp, stylised snowflakes to capture a winter atmosphere.

'Snowflake' Wallpaper is available for download in the freebies section. Enjoy!

Tags: snow, winter, seasonal, nature, holiday, design, iPhone, iPod Touch, fullscreen, widescreen, dual monitor