Opera announces the winners of the Wallpaper Showdown

September 12th, 2023

Hey all!

Back in early August we kicked off the Opera Wallpaper Showdown, an exciting competition that let participants splash out their creativity for a chance to win a chunk of a $10,000 prize pool. The occasion was the extension of custom wallpapers to Opera for iOS, which brought the feature to each of our mobile platforms. So we figured we’d celebrate by letting all of our mobile users – around the world and across devices – unleash their own unique artistic flair, and potentially win big while they were at it!

The contest proceeded in several stages. First, we accepted submissions from the 3rd to the 20th of August – during which time we received over 1,111 wallpapers! The submissions were then vetted for quality by our creative team before a public phase of voting ensued from the 28th of August to the 3rd of September. Over 80,000 votes were cast during that period, so now it’s time to announce our winners!

Our top vote-getter is an artist named Cerda, who fashioned an otherworldly vista of infinite space. Cleverly blending the red color of the Opera logo and the symbolism of the circle, Cerda channeled the energy of a volcanic crater to create a truly awe-inspiring work of art.

Receiving the second-most votes was Jordan, who conceived of an extraterrestrial jellyfish floating somewhere in a faraway galaxy. Going a step further, he said that the “beautiful light that jellyfish emit also gives me inspiration – what if there’s actually a galaxy full of stars inside the jellyfish itself? That’d be very cool, right?”

And coming third we have David, whose AI-generated artwork evinces the keywords with which he set forth: calming and gorgeous. Captivated by the elegance of his creation, David related that, “I stopped for a couple of seconds and thought to myself: If this is what AI is capable of now, then I wonder where we’ll be in the future?”

All three of our top winners drew attention to how much they’ve enjoyed the Opera browser on mobile, highlighting especially its speed and customizability. “Starting my customized Opera browser helps me immerse even further into my own world,” said Cerda. “It creates an atmosphere that aligns perfectly with my artistic sensibility. It’s as if the browser becomes an extension of my artistic expression, making my creative work and productivity flow more smoothly. It’s a truly immersive and inspiring experience.”

Rounding out our top ten of winners were Marina, Munayr, Tanner, Diego, Jennifer, Lawrence, and Gundega, who each contributed unique and visually-impressive submissions that garnered thousands of votes apiece. All of the top 10 winners will have their wallpapers available inside the wallpaper gallery on Opera for Android and Opera for iOS – so if any of them grabbed your attention, they will be there for you to enjoy!

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the contest, which was a wonderful demonstration of just how many talented individuals we have out there using Opera. Keep your eyes peeled for further contests, upgrades, and integrations with your favorite mobile browsers: Opera for Android and Opera for iOS!