No. 019, in eleven platesOcean of Colours

Ocean of Colours is drawn in confident black outline and flat colour, every swell combed with parallel strokes in the spirit of old Japanese woodblock seas. Three blues do most of the work, a dark cobalt, a mid cerulean and a bright sky blue, while mustard gold and creamy white break through as crests, foam and odd cloud-like swells. The waves fill each frame from edge to edge, so the series reads as one continuous ocean cut into eleven pieces.

Look closely and each plate has its own weather. Tall Curls lifts high breaking waves with spitting white foam. Hearts at Sea hides gold hearts among the swells, the only plate with a joke in it. Cream Breakers swaps white for buttery cream and lets a few grey smoke-coloured shapes drift in, Orange Spray adds two small flashes of orange, and Red Flash tucks a single red shape into its lower corner. Horizontal Tide and Pale Swell stack the sea into flatter bands, closer to a pattern than a storm.

Because every plate is pattern all over, this wave pattern wallpaper never gives the clock an empty sky. A bold white or yellow clock reads well against the busier blues; Horizontal Tide and Pale Swell are the easiest for the time. On the Home Screen the detail softens behind icons into a lively blue texture, and white labels hold up best on the darker Deep Blue Chop.

It suits surfers, swimmers, anyone who keeps a print of the Great Wave on a wall, or simply someone who likes blue and wants it busy. Whitecap Crowd, Pale Swell and Red Flash are free to download in full resolution; the other eight waves are premium.