Technology/Science
Here’s Where to Find the Best Free Zoom Backgrounds By Doug Aamoth
ON A ZOOM CALL the other day, a coworker of mine made a remark about the artwork I have hanging on the wall behind me: two very genericlooking pictures of deer. So generic, in fact, that I have thought about them exactly twice: the day I hung them and when my coworker mentioned them. It was then that I decided to dedicate the rest of my Zoom existence to using the virtual background feature (here’s how to do it, if you haven’t already played with it). And while Zoom has a decent collection of built-in backgrounds, I found myself longing for something a bit more exciting, bold, unique, and/or interesting. Which led me to the following sites. . . .
and have some very specific ideas of the types of backgrounds you want in it.
UNSPLASH: A BIT MORE TRADITIONAL The Zoom backgrounds collection at Unsplash is one-stop shopping if you’re looking for more traditional interior backgrounds. It’s not nearly as large at the Pexels collection— this one’s about 10,000-strong—but there’s a great mixture of home office, traditional office, modern office, and other similar backgrounds. There are a great many bookshelf options, too, should you be in the market for a more studious look. There are also plenty of Zoom background collections curated by Unsplash users, which are helpful if you find yourself liking a particular person’s PEXELS: THE NEVER-ENDING COLLECTION style and taste. Just drill into their collection to see If it’s quantity you’re after, look no further than the similar stuff. Zoom Backgrounds collection on Pexels. There are CANVA: CREATE YOUR OWN almost 140,000 images and almost 30,000 videos If you’ve blasted through tens of thousands of to choose from—a truly mind-boggling selection. backgrounds and still can’t find one you like, it’s There’s a lot to sift through here, and you’ll time to swing by Canva to create your own. need to set aside some time to do so: Although You can start with one of more than 3,000 the collection is comprised of mostly high-quality available templates, or use a blank template to imagery, it runs the gamut from truly out there to really put your mark on it. more conventional background scenes. There’s a mixture of free, paid, and video There aren’t a whole lot of filtering options other backgrounds in no particular order, but there’s than size and quality, although there’s a neat plenty to work with here—and Canva’s a pretty search-by-color feature that lets you surface stuff easy-to-use design tool, even if you’re a novice. that matches your favorite hue. This one’s got the best filtering features, too: The real winner here, though, are all the video by style, theme, and price—with plenty of subbackgrounds. Many are unassuming, looping selections to help you drill down to what you’re scenes that add a bit of interest to your meetings looking for. without being overly distracting (except the leafhttps://www.fastcompany.com/90729924/best-freeeating giraffe, which is definitely distracting). zoom-backgrounds All in all, this is a great first stop, especially Image credit: Unsplash if you’re looking to build out your own collection 87
March-April 2022
DAWN
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