Wallpaper Selection:
About wallpaper
The background images provided by lynda.com on this site are from some of the book and CD-ROM course covers we developed over the years. Many designs were created by lynda.com co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Bruce Heavin. While some of the books and CD-ROMs that sported these covers may be out of date, downloads of Bruce’s patterns remain popular, and lynda.com continues to make these graphics available for your personal non-commercial use for free.
Installing Wallpaper:
lynda.com tutorials show how to get more out of your computer and software.
How the covers were made: Bruce’s process
The images have all been created slightly differently depending on a number of factors. Some were
made entirely on the computer using Photoshop and/or Illustrator. Others were made in After Effects
and Photoshop.
Some of the covers have nothing to do with the computer at all, and were painted with acrylic paint and crayon on 4’ by 8’ pieces of paper. These were then photographed with a camera using a polarizing lens filter, and lighted so as not to pick up highlights reflecting from the paint. A few covers were made on 8.5" by 11" laser printer paper with black Uni-Ball pens, spit (to smear), and Photoshop 7 brushes. In most cases, before creating a cover, Bruce would approach the design with a series of small one-inch rough thumbnail sketches until he was happy with the general composition and/or concept. The medium didn’t usually matter to Bruce in the end, but the idea conveyed by the covers remains important, even if abstracted.
To watch a few of the cover patterns being made, watch some of Bruce’s classic training tutorials: Learning Illustrator 9 (Making the Cover Movie), Learning Illustrator 10 (A Cover Project), and Photoshop Brushes (Painting the Cover).
Wallpaper Terms:
The wallpaper images provided by lynda.com are for your personal use and enjoyment. Other usages are strictly prohibited. These images may not be reproduced without expressed written permission from lynda.com.