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.
Want to read more?
- Web Design Trends: Designing Out Of The Box
- Updated Northern Ireland’s Twitter directory
- Web Design Trends: iPhones
Psst! We're hiring an Interaction Designer at Kareo. Click here if interested.
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!
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.
Randa Clay says:
Thanks for including me! FYI, I got my background at twitterpatterns.com – free patterns for Twitter use.
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
Tommy says:
I love my own, shamless plug, I know but still.
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 :)
Dale Cruse says:
There are lots more interesting branding efforts like @garyvee and @pistachio and @problogger and mine at @dalecruse
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.
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
cranberryzero says:
Coalmarch productions has a great Twitter background, putting the poor Twitter bird coughing his way through a smoky landscape.
Benek says:
Thanks for including mine!
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
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
Jon Phillips says:
Hey Lee! Thanks a lot for including my Twitter page design, I’m in really great company here :)
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!
Bruce Colthart says:
I hear that http://twitter.com/bccreative has a decent one…
Richard Carter says:
Some very nice designs – particularly like the pixel art!
Brian says:
A great collection – maybe you could check out mine as well?
twitter.com/elitebydesign – thanks!
mayhemstudios says:
WOW! Thanks for including me on your list. Very cool backgrounds everyone! :)
- Cal
Nathan Beck says:
Whoah that’s it, I’m updating my Twitter profile!!!
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! :)
Danh ba web 2.0 says:
Great post. Very interesting !
Thanks you very much, nice to meet you
GoGoBirdy says:
Look at this http://twitter.com/eWeb, has a great color combination and nice background :)
Navdeep says:
Thanks for adding me on the list.
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
Fubiz says:
Beautiful background!
Ty says:
Cool Designs! I like my design too! Took me awhile to come up with it. :)
http://www.twitter.com/tywebbin
jason walz says:
http://www.twitter.com/jasonwalz
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
Carlos Hermoso says:
Nice gallery. Some of them are really good.
Dani McDaniel says:
Thank you so much for including Just Tweet It :)
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/
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
Ciara says:
These are awesome! I’m inspired!
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!
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.
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
chethan says:
thanks, these will help me design a better one for myself
Sal B says:
You should check out @gopoplabs (twitter.com/gopoplabs). Twitter theme is tied to corporate brand poplabs.com
mt says:
hey love the list! @colleenmccann my little sis’s is still my favourite, ties in with her site too
Brandon Winnie says:
Check out http://twitter.com/followtowin. Very creative concept and Twitter page!
Hector Garcia says:
check out this twitter background: http://www.twitter.com/hectorgarcia
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. :)
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
Hector Garcia says:
Here’s another background with a twitter type bird used in the logo. http://www.twitter.com/twittstop
Cr8tive says:
thanks… the above piece are great…. love them all
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
Hector Garcia says:
Afridrums, we offer Twitter background design services at Dunamis Media. You can click on our name to visit our site. thanks.
Matt Clark says:
Never fear… TweetPages.com is here ;) Stop by to view our infamous eye-popping, gorgeous, everyone’s-gotta-have-it TweetPages!
Afridrums says:
Can any of your guys do a branded facebook page has well
Ola
Muazzam Mehmood says:
Pretty nice themes, I’ve just selected bricks from above.
Pak America Media Services
Muazzam Mehmood says:
bitbox also have a great intentions…
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.
Chirayu says:
These are great designs, do check, my brother’s page: http://twitter.com/_cc
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
Josh says:
http://www.twitter.com/joshcole
mandy alba says:
How about this: http://twitter.com/izzimk11
Hector Garcia says:
We just posted our Fave5 Twitter backgrounds at Twitterstop.com
Social media Optimizations says:
Excellent Themes,twwted ad one theme.
Thanks
manoballs says:
I love my own ‘out of the box’ twitter :) Thanks for posting Lee
InfoFanz.com says:
Great themes!
Education & Information Network
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
Arun says:
I like mine :) http://www.twitter.com/arunpattnaik
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.
The Media Annexes says:
I love the kind of stuff, since web development is made so easy!
Web Development
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.
custom twitter backgrounds says:
This is one cool list. I particularly like the swirls and very colorful backgrounds for twitter.
Koko says:
Just a quickie: if anyone requires a CUSTOM Twitter background for corporate or personal use, DM me @gfxmaven http://twitter.com/gfxmaven.
DesignerT says:
I dig DesignBay’s layout (http://twitter.com/designbay_com)
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
webceoseo says:
Twitter Gallery,Thanks a lot.
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
occupybaby says:
Some very nice backgrounds. What do you guys think of ours?
http://twitter.com/occupybaby
mandyal says:
There are some cute TWITTER BACKGROUND at http://www.allpattern.net also ! Love for share
ote tatsuya says:
wow..really cool twitter bacjground….it’s inspiring me
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.
dillu says:
hope u like dis one too ..
http://twitter.com/dileepiscalling
Tee says:
It may be time to do this post again~ Here’s mine:
http://twitter.com/shadohart
Ahmed says:
wow, thanks for he post I will try to use one of these in mine ..
Regards ,
alex says:
My site is http://www.twitter.com/sevensoul. Ad me all please! Bye!
Carla says:
I just looked through all of my followings and @LaphroaigWhisky is a nice one
freelance web design says:
Thanks for the list. This is very helpful.
Matt Clark says:
Over 90 Twitter Backgrounds Here
Anne says:
I love this classy one: http://www.twitter.com/tubebutler
medyum says:
Great post. Very interesting !
Thanks you very much, nice to meet you
Nagendra says:
Woow..Good to see “Zoho Invoice” on the list. A neat display for inspiration, thank you.
Nagendra
Rene Leal says:
Take a look at my twitter background.Simple but gets the attention with the pattern and color.
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
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.
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
Lee says:
@Rick: I don’t provide that service I’m afraid but check out Matts above
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
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
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.
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
Teena Rose says:
Check out:
http://www.twitter.com/teenarose
ипотпал says:
He-he. Thanks. It’s really useful :)
fotokopi says:
thank you everybody .This very important blog
Minnesota Attorney says:
Great themes. Here is one more example of a very professional business-style Twitter them: http://twitter.com/TheSharkDaymond/
w3wall says:
All designs are nice. i love all have.
have look at mine also.
http://www.twitter.com/w3wall
Alexandr says:
Please add me))) I’m also have nice twitter theme. Made by my self https://twitter.com/premiumall
Gladys says:
Loved your selection! If you are ever working on another list, check out mines (its fun, creative & unique): http://twitter.com/metroguest
FreddyJ@My Shed Plans says:
Nice. Mostly simple backgrounds. Too cluttered is just nasty! I think we share the same taste for the most part.
Web Hosting says:
Amazing themes, thank you very much for sharing.
web design thailand says:
Thnak for this nice list. I really like the @divvoted one, I will use for sure !
Sam Golden says:
some great designs here, thanks for the post! I currently use a newspaper spread accross my account but have considered overlaying my contact details for some time. Anyone got any pointers, my account is @GoldenGatsby
Brandrally says:
We modeled our Twitter Background in 3D to make our logo to look like Monster Fur. twitter.com/brandrally — Just something a little quirk and different.
Anthom says:
The randaclay theme is nice ! I will give it a try ! Thanks for the ressources :)