One thing I love about Twitter is it’s simplicity. The concept is simple, the usage is simple and even the design is simple. As far as your theme is concerned you are restricted to changing a few colours and adding a background, keeping things nice and clean and ensuring the app doesn’t become a mess like MySpace did 
These restrictions limit our creativity boundaries so if you want to make an impression with your Twitter profile it all comes down to the background.
I’ve compiled a list of Twitter profiles who have impressive creative backgrounds, which I feel stand out above the rest. Feel free to share any you’ve come across and you can also follow me on Twitter.
Textures
1. @builtbybuffalo
2. @gabediaz
3. @designbyfront
4. @elliotjaystocks
Logos
5. @bittbox
6. @benek
7. @3drockz
8. @studio3k
9. @zohoinvoice
Photographs
10. @bookchiq
11. @ceidotorg
12. @chorrell
13. @nonlinear
Twitter Bird
14. @justtweetit
15. @darkmotion
Illustrations
16. @elitistsnob
17. @imajes
18. @flarup
19. @simplebits
20. @pixellent
Sky
21. @mayhemstudios
22. @divvoted
23. @collis
24. @rogieking
Colourful
25. @rsg
26. @abduzeedo
27. @bartelme
Patterns
28. @jophillips
29. @randaclay
30. @leelowe
Further reading
Some useful links for more Twitter inspiration. Check out Another 15 Beautiful Twitter Themes by Gopal. I came across it while writing this post, there’s a few duplicates but still worth a look.
- Twitter background guidelines
- Twitter status design
- 20+ Twitter bird designs
- 12 beautiful Twitter themes
Any more?
Suggest any Twitter profiles I haven’t mentioned below and feel free to follow me if you like.
November 3rd, 2008
Paddy says:
@gadgetboy’s done something quite clever and added in some more details about himself that wouldn’t fit in the standard options.
@markhall’s is also pretty neat.
Nice list, keep ‘em coming!
November 3rd, 2008
Gilbert says:
Nice list. Some really cool backgrounds there. It good to see what people come up with when they are restricted as to what they can do.
November 3rd, 2008
Randa Clay says:
Thanks for including me! FYI, I got my background at twitterpatterns.com – free patterns for Twitter use.
November 3rd, 2008
Ryan Coughlin says:
Great post! Those are great, I love rogiekings. That site is amazing. Great choice of themes. I have recently updated my twitter here as well with a custom background.
http://twitter.com/ryancoughlin
Nice site by the way!
Ryan
November 3rd, 2008
Tommy says:
I love my own, shamless plug, I know but still.
November 3rd, 2008
Lee says:
I should have mentioned that I don’t know if the Twitter profiles above are all the original creators of the backgrounds, these are just the profiles that caught my eye.
If there’s anyone you want to credit you can add their link in a comment.
Thanks for the comments so far. Plug your own profiles all you want
November 3rd, 2008
Dale Cruse says:
There are lots more interesting branding efforts like @garyvee and @pistachio and @problogger and mine at @dalecruse
November 3rd, 2008
Michael Mallon says:
lol another shameless plug : http://twitter.com/michaelmallon
i quite like mine, was going to use it on a friends band site but didnt.
November 3rd, 2008
Sarah Lewis says:
Thanks for the mention!
I’ve listed a bunch of my favorites on my site, but a few highlights:
@rachelpradhan
@joeywan
@mcgstudio
November 3rd, 2008
cranberryzero says:
Coalmarch productions has a great Twitter background, putting the poor Twitter bird coughing his way through a smoky landscape.
November 3rd, 2008
Benek says:
Thanks for including mine!
November 3rd, 2008
Oscar says:
Not to be at all conceited … but I really like how the two custom Twitter backgrounds I recently made turned out.
One was for me: http://twitter.com/drastudio
The other was for a Twitter friend: http://twitter.com/summero
November 3rd, 2008
Gabe Diaz says:
Honored to be mentioned among a great group of people. My background is actually the same one I made for my site.
Thanks again!
-Gabe
November 3rd, 2008
Jon Phillips says:
Hey Lee! Thanks a lot for including my Twitter page design, I’m in really great company here
November 3rd, 2008
Andy Sowards says:
Nice profiles! I love creative profiles, I have a few posts like this on my blog with some different ones if anyone is interested
. Thanks for rounding these up!
November 3rd, 2008
Bruce Colthart says:
I hear that http://twitter.com/bccreative has a decent one…
November 4th, 2008
Richard Carter says:
Some very nice designs – particularly like the pixel art!
November 4th, 2008
Brian says:
A great collection – maybe you could check out mine as well?
twitter.com/elitebydesign – thanks!
November 4th, 2008
mayhemstudios says:
WOW! Thanks for including me on your list. Very cool backgrounds everyone!
- Cal
November 4th, 2008
Nathan Beck says:
Whoah that’s it, I’m updating my Twitter profile!!!
November 4th, 2008
syuxx says:
take a look on my twitter profile too
http://twitter.com/syuxx
a great way to get people to follow you. hehe
oh, follows are always return!
November 4th, 2008
Danh ba web 2.0 says:
Great post. Very interesting !
Thanks you very much, nice to meet you
November 4th, 2008
GoGoBirdy says:
Look at this http://twitter.com/eWeb, has a great color combination and nice background
November 4th, 2008
Navdeep says:
Thanks for adding me on the list.
November 5th, 2008
Dan Griffey says:
Thanks for featuring divvoted.com! It’s all the work of our man wez (twitter.com/wezmaynard) If you take a look at http://divvoted.com there is also a natty island – we’re looking for ideas for new buildings if anyone wants to contribute!!
Dan
November 5th, 2008
Fubiz says:
Beautiful background!
November 5th, 2008
Ty says:
Cool Designs! I like my design too! Took me awhile to come up with it.
http://www.twitter.com/tywebbin
November 8th, 2008
jason walz says:
http://www.twitter.com/jasonwalz
November 13th, 2008
Lee says:
Some really great additions here guys, thanks for the comments and links to your profiles. I think it’s time I do something creative with my profile now http://twitter.com/leemunroe
November 14th, 2008
Carlos Hermoso says:
Nice gallery. Some of them are really good.
November 16th, 2008
Dani McDaniel says:
Thank you so much for including Just Tweet It
November 16th, 2008
Lee says:
Finally got around to making my Twitter background http://www.twitter.com/leemunroe with a bit of help from http://vectortuts.com/illustration/create-a-twitter-style-bird-mascot/
November 19th, 2008
Matt Clark says:
Wander over
http://twitter.com/ProfessorTwit
http://twitter.com/tiffany_d_smith
http://twitter.com/pinkolivefamily
http://twitter.com/michaelhyatt
http://twitter.com/growyourfaith
http://twitter.com/imagedesigns
November 19th, 2008
Ciara says:
These are awesome! I’m inspired!
December 2nd, 2008
Tracey Meagher says:
Some greats on the list here. I design custom twitter backgrounds and a favourite of mine is http://twitter.com/tedmurphy. I quite like my own too http://twitter.com/traceymeagher!
December 3rd, 2008
mayhemstudios says:
Another thing to keep in mind when designing your Twitter backgrounds. Try to keep any important info within 700 px or less from the top. Laptops/macbook will cut off info if it’s too far down the page, depends on the size of the laptop/macbook screen.
December 3rd, 2008
Marc Warnke says:
My assistant just made me a new background. I love it. Thought you might like to see it.
http://twitter.com/marcwarnke
December 8th, 2008
chethan says:
thanks, these will help me design a better one for myself
January 11th, 2009
Sal B says:
You should check out @gopoplabs (twitter.com/gopoplabs). Twitter theme is tied to corporate brand poplabs.com
January 22nd, 2009
mt says:
hey love the list! @colleenmccann my little sis’s is still my favourite, ties in with her site too
January 30th, 2009
Brandon Winnie says:
Check out http://twitter.com/followtowin. Very creative concept and Twitter page!
February 6th, 2009
Hector Garcia says:
check out this twitter background: http://www.twitter.com/hectorgarcia
February 12th, 2009
Connor Lameth says:
Lovely twitter themes. I think it really adds to the experience to have a custom twitter design. I found a free template to create your own twitter theme here. Going to take some inspiration from this list and get busy.
February 22nd, 2009
petersebastian says:
Very nice list! I’d use them if I didn’t believe in your own skills. Check out my background, it’s minimalistic, but very clean and I <3 red.
http://twitter.com/petersebastian
February 22nd, 2009
Hector Garcia says:
Here’s another background with a twitter type bird used in the logo. http://www.twitter.com/twittstop
February 23rd, 2009
Cr8tive says:
thanks… the above piece are great…. love them all
February 23rd, 2009
Afridrums says:
Guys, I am looking for someone who can help me design a twitter page. A nice one with brand info and strategy included.
My regards.
Ola
February 23rd, 2009
Hector Garcia says:
Afridrums, we offer Twitter background design services at Dunamis Media. You can click on our name to visit our site. thanks.
February 23rd, 2009
Matt Clark says:
Never fear… TweetPages.com is here
Stop by to view our infamous eye-popping, gorgeous, everyone’s-gotta-have-it TweetPages!
February 24th, 2009
Afridrums says:
Can any of your guys do a branded facebook page has well
Ola
February 26th, 2009
Muazzam Mehmood says:
Pretty nice themes, I’ve just selected bricks from above.
Pak America Media Services
February 26th, 2009
Muazzam Mehmood says:
bitbox also have a great intentions…
February 27th, 2009
Lee says:
Glad to see this post is still getting hits and suggestions. The themes with extra info down the side are getting very popular.
Keep your suggestions coming.
March 3rd, 2009
Chirayu says:
These are great designs, do check, my brother’s page: http://twitter.com/_cc
March 3rd, 2009
Mike Roberts says:
Some really great backgrounds!
People are really starting to put hard work into
their designs.
This one here is pretty cute!
http://twitter.com/TrafficBug
March 4th, 2009
Josh says:
http://www.twitter.com/joshcole
March 28th, 2009
mandy alba says:
How about this: http://twitter.com/izzimk11
March 29th, 2009
Hector Garcia says:
We just posted our Fave5 Twitter backgrounds at Twitterstop.com
April 5th, 2009
Social media Optimizations says:
Excellent Themes,twwted ad one theme.
Thanks
April 12th, 2009
manoballs says:
I love my own ‘out of the box’ twitter
Thanks for posting Lee
April 13th, 2009
InfoFanz.com says:
Great themes!
Education & Information Network
April 17th, 2009
Ching Ya says:
Very nice compilations of twitter backgrounds, would definitely need some inspirations to create one. I personally find that Free Twitter Designer works well for me. Convenient, easy to use & less complexity in the tool-controls. This review may help in guiding through the process,which isn’t too difficult at all.
@wchingya
Social Media/Blogging
April 21st, 2009
Arun says:
I like mine
http://www.twitter.com/arunpattnaik
April 23rd, 2009
Koko says:
Hi Lee
http://twitter.com/gfxmaven
Plug, I know
Afridrums, send me a DM at my twitter page @gfxmaven if you still need some help.
April 24th, 2009
The Media Annexes says:
I love the kind of stuff, since web development is made so easy!
Web Development
April 25th, 2009
Pedrof says:
@pedrofrigerio
http://twitter.com/pedrofrigerio
A different version of original theme 8 design of twitter. Yellow birds flying over the brown sky but unfortunately one of them was shot by my uncontrolled shadow.
April 28th, 2009
custom twitter backgrounds says:
This is one cool list. I particularly like the swirls and very colorful backgrounds for twitter.
April 28th, 2009
Koko says:
Just a quickie: if anyone requires a CUSTOM Twitter background for corporate or personal use, DM me @gfxmaven http://twitter.com/gfxmaven.
May 9th, 2009
DesignerT says:
I dig DesignBay’s layout (http://twitter.com/designbay_com)
May 11th, 2009
Harprabhjot Paul Singh says:
Some very nice Twitter pages that inspired the Cockybox to create one of its own.
Here’s the Cockybox Twitter page – http://twitter.com/cockybox
May 16th, 2009
webceoseo says:
Twitter Gallery,Thanks a lot.
May 22nd, 2009
Scott says:
Now that I have seen these theme backgrounds I am off to try my hand at my own background.
Give me a little bit and follow me @ http://twitter.com/Minadin
June 12th, 2009
occupybaby says:
Some very nice backgrounds. What do you guys think of ours?
http://twitter.com/occupybaby
June 14th, 2009
mandyal says:
There are some cute TWITTER BACKGROUND at http://www.allpattern.net also ! Love for share
July 2nd, 2009
ote tatsuya says:
wow..really cool twitter bacjground….it’s inspiring me
July 10th, 2009
Bruno says:
the only problem with IE6, is not support PNG, IE6 is faster, lightheight, more simple… i´dont understand, why people hate ie6, i hate IE7 this browser is terrible and i dislike FF because the tabs control, is dificult to locate a page, and the time to start is too high.
July 11th, 2009
dillu says:
hope u like dis one too ..
http://twitter.com/dileepiscalling
July 23rd, 2009
Tee says:
It may be time to do this post again~ Here’s mine:
http://twitter.com/shadohart
July 25th, 2009
Ahmed says:
wow, thanks for he post I will try to use one of these in mine ..
Regards ,
July 29th, 2009
alex says:
My site is http://www.twitter.com/sevensoul. Ad me all please! Bye!
August 5th, 2009
Carla says:
I just looked through all of my followings and @LaphroaigWhisky is a nice one
August 15th, 2009
freelance web design says:
Thanks for the list. This is very helpful.
August 16th, 2009
Matt Clark says:
Over 90 Twitter Backgrounds Here
August 19th, 2009
Anne says:
I love this classy one: http://www.twitter.com/tubebutler
August 30th, 2009
medyum says:
Great post. Very interesting !
Thanks you very much, nice to meet you
September 2nd, 2009
Nagendra says:
Woow..Good to see “Zoho Invoice” on the list. A neat display for inspiration, thank you.
Nagendra
September 22nd, 2009
Rene Leal says:
Take a look at my twitter background.Simple but gets the attention with the pattern and color.
October 14th, 2009
Rick Upshaw says:
Hi Lee!
I really like several of these designs you’re making available. Do you design templates like this yourself? Also, I’d like to get an idea of what kind of work you do. If you could send me an email with perhaps a website or URL I could at with a list of sites you’ve done or something, that would be great!
Thanks!
Rick Upshaw
October 14th, 2009
Rick Upshaw says:
I just went back and read my previous post again. LOL Let me clarify!
I know there is a portfolio right here on this site. What I meant by “portfolio” was a portfolio (if you have any) of Twitter designs you’ve done.
October 14th, 2009
Matt Clark says:
@Rick…
Greetings Rick… you can view a portfolio of the backgrounds that I have created here… http://tweetpages.com/view-the-designs-here
October 15th, 2009
Lee says:
@Rick: I don’t provide that service I’m afraid but check out Matts above
October 16th, 2009
Caleb says:
Good to see a designer helping to make Twitter a more beautiful place. Their blue branding is great but a custom background really stands out. I just designed these 2 for my clients. Check them out!
http://twitter.com/HairFlix
http://twitter.com/glampalm
October 26th, 2009
Jason says:
Another interesting way to use twitter is as a content management system of sorts. I took the time to use the simple widget that twitter offers and style it to be the system that drives and feeds the information on my site JasonsPetPeeves.com.
Check it out. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about it.
Jason Hess
jhess82@gmail.com
November 24th, 2009
Steve-o says:
If anyone see’s this would they be as kind as to leave a comment on my design. I’m welsh hence the sheep yet do you think that using jpeg’s is a cop out…. Many thanks.
December 7th, 2009
Martin says:
I thank you for your article.
I followed these links and found, that you don’t actually have to pay to get cool Twitter backgrounds. I found many web pages, which also offer cool and interesting design for Twitter and you can get them for free.
I hope that this will help you and the readers of this blog. Thank you again and I encourage you to write even more articles like this. They inspire a lot!
Here is the link to article an article, which I wrote: http://fr.ee/article/where-to-find-free-twitter-backgrounds
December 7th, 2009
Teena Rose says:
Check out:
http://www.twitter.com/teenarose
January 8th, 2010
ипотпал says:
He-he. Thanks. It’s really useful
January 17th, 2010
fotokopi says:
thank you everybody .This very important blog
February 17th, 2010
Minnesota Attorney says:
Great themes. Here is one more example of a very professional business-style Twitter them: http://twitter.com/TheSharkDaymond/
March 2nd, 2010
w3wall says:
All designs are nice. i love all have.
have look at mine also.
http://www.twitter.com/w3wall