On August 1, 2022, we made public our ametuer wallpaper-sharing website, Design Gala. Since that time, our website and platform have matured so much, with now a collection of over one-thousand wallpapers and works created by twelve unique artists. We'd like to dedicate this newsroom post to everybody behind the team, and give you some insights on the website's creation and progress.

Creation

Design Gala originally started in May 2021, titled "Anika's Wallpapers". Using Google Sites, a very basic website was designed with very basic wallpapers. By June 2021, the project was scrapped due to production concerns.

The following Summer, Design Gala was picked back up under a new idea, being a website dedicated to me and my works, before eventually evolving to a website for graphic design works. Co-developed with WinterSkiis and mcrAlyssa, we spent 6 weeks perfecting the website with over 250 original wallpapers.

Behind the scenes, I also formed a team with William Faix, CtrliPhones, and IGNITE TECH. All three of which helped developed some works and construct the early forms of the website in preparation for launch.

On July 29, 2022, we announced the Design Gala project to the public, which was scheduled to release just three days later, on August 1, 2022.

Launch Day

The website launched with only a collection of fourteen wallpapers series', which totaled 250 wallpapers. All of which were originally designed by our team. Back then, we had no way of letting others upload works onto the website without being a team member.

We had only two news articles on launch - a post giving a general introduction of the website, and a post explaining every single wallpaper on the website.

The Museum page was empty, with being a single page that contained a general history of our custom-made profile pictures. Promotion of the Museum page was weak on launch.

The First Month

Our first month of the website being live was a crucial time for the website's development. In that month, we released Version 1.1 and 1.2.

Version 1.1 introduced the ability to let anyone who was interested upload works to the website without having to be a team member, which is a now crucial part of our system.

Version 1.2 introduced some drastic design changes that were overlooked on launch, such as implementing proper buttons, as well as a general clean up.

In this month, we also announced several new wallpapers, noteably in new colorways. Most noteably was the announcement of Sway DuoTone Studio, our current one and only studio page on the website.

Fall 2022

Then came the early Fall, where we announced the website's first ever limited edition wallpaper series, Star Walkin'. This would later apply to other wallpapers such as Halloween and Holidays.

We would also develop Version 1.3 and Version 1.4, which were minor improvements to keep Design Gala stable and smooth.

Website Redesign

In February 2023, WinterSkiis had developed the idea for a dramatic website redesign, which would allow for more open space, and maximize the existing space we have. 

In three grueling weeks, we were left in awe with the biggest glow-up ever seen in website history. Gone with banners, huge menu bar, and out-of-place UI elements. This redesign was crucial for our next-generation of works.

Today

Today, Design Gala supports a healthy team of over twelve artists who have quadrupled the amount of works we've made in just a year. With the website afloat, we are excited to move onto bigger and better things.

The Future

For the next year of Design Gala, we have even bigger visions for the website. With the rollout of audio and video works coming later this year, we are excited to expand what content artists can upload. We hope to see even more artists join our website, as well as even more people use our website.

We are very focused on making Design Gala as interactive as possible for all of our users. We are also focused on making it even more intutive to have your works uploaded onto the website.

We cannot wait to see what Design Gala will be like in a year!

How Will We Celebrate?

With one year completed, we have plenty of celebrations coming this week!

• Brand new wallpapers

• Updates on Audio/Video works

• Version 2.1 release

• Announcement of a new Anthem

• A brand new, updated logo

• A very special video

• Summer 2023 Artist Awards

Thank You

To conclude this very long post, I would like to thank everybody for supporting Design Gala in the last year. We work extremely hard to keep this website afloat, and we plan to keep it that way. Whether you're here to find a new wallpaper, or explore the variety of works that artists have uploaded, we greatly apperciate your usage of our website to find those materials.

More importantly, I would like to thank all of the Artists and Site Editors who have chosen to work with us. This website would not be possible without any of them.

Great things are coming to Design Gala in the next year, and we cannot wait to share these things with you.