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I cannot choose a background that I like in the long run for my android phone with android 2.3.5 and a 320 x 480 pixels screen.

I like it how the background smoothly changes a bit when icons move fast by moving your finger from left to right. But quickly I find the background uninteresting, thinking "not again this one".

I tried the golden ratio when choosing pictures. But the sliding mechanism makes itself an issue when the left side of the picture is connected to the right side rendering an ugly break.

So I tried panoramic images. But they always have a 2:1 ratio, which creates a border for the 640 x 480 ie 4:3 ratio required for backgrounds.

So to conclude: Which characteristics does a background image have to fulfill to be appealing for a longer period of time while working well with the sliding mechanism of android?

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This question seems to be, "How do I choose a picture I like that has to be set dimensions?", to which the answer will obviously be, 1) choose a picture you like, 2) crop it to the right dimensions. This doesn't seem like a question that needs a designer's input... If there's something more subtle here that we're missing, please edit it to be clearer. – user568458 Oct 2 '12 at 12:40
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Or, said another way: Help me find a picture I like. – plainclothes Oct 3 '12 at 21:50

closed as not a real question by Scott, e100, user568458, lawndartcatcher, Yisela♦ Oct 31 '12 at 20:52

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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I am not sure that there is an answer to this, other than choosing an image which is either:

  • natively 640 x 480
  • larger, but with the same proportions
  • larger, but can be comfortably cropped to the same proportions

and, given that it scrolls horizontally, but not to the extent that each home screen uses a unique segment of the background:

  • does not have very strongly differentiated areas (e.g. sharply defined colour blocks) in the horizontal axis, as you find this distracting.

But this is really restating the points in your question.

I guess you could go on to say that an image which has strong variation in the horizontal axis, but without going to the extreme of colour blocks would be a good fit, as it will vary as you scroll. e.g. one in which a left-right colour gradient is a major feature.

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I have problems understanding the meaning of colour/color blocks. – Zurechtweiser Oct 2 '12 at 17:56

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