---
title: Creative virtual backgrounds for professional (and fun) Zoom calls
description: Here are our top picks for virtual backgrounds you can choose for all kinds of video meetings...
---

[Flock Talk | Helping teams work better together ](https://blog.flock.com)

# [Creative virtual backgrounds for professional (and fun) Zoom calls](https://blog.flock.com/zoom-virtual-backgrounds)

 Written by [Saishah Joseph](https://blog.flock.com/author/saishah-joseph) | Sep 10, 2020 1:30:00 PM

Of the many video conference calls you have each day, you’ll always find a handful of folks who have a really interesting virtual background which sometimes helps set the tone of the meeting. So when Zoom introduced virtual backgrounds earlier this year, it turned into a life-saver for millions of people looking to bring back that little sense of professionalism while conducting business-as-usual meetings. Plus, we can now add a little more personality to video meetings—professional and otherwise.

Because you may not always be in control of your video background (folks with kids or pets know what I mean!), virtual backgrounds help you maintain professionalism with ease. It’s a boon but, in my experience, a distracting background can easily (unintentionally) drive viewer focus away from the meeting agenda—the last thing you want on a video call with a client! To make using virtual backgrounds easier, here are a few creative ideas I’ve tested.

## Unique and fun virtual backgrounds for video meetings

**Cubicle keepsakes**

Personally, I’ve shifted from working on a sandy beach with lush waves—for 2 months straight—to being flung somewhere in the galaxy, but some of my colleagues had a brilliant idea—they took old ***photos of their cubicles*** and repurposed them as virtual backgrounds, GENIUS! It helps us feel like we are all working from the office. Plus, cubicle keepsakes are handy conversation starters/ice breakers. You can apply the same concept to your home environment for personal video calls. Take a picture when it’s all tidy and peaceful, and use that as your virtual background for Zoom meetings.

**Your travels**

Tessa, my manager, puts up a new picture from her travel diaries highlighting some of the amazing places she has traveled to. On team calls, it’s a great ice-breaker for everyone to guess which new place she’s taking us to before we get down to business.

Guess where Tessa is? Hint: Europe. The correct answer is at the end of this post. And yes, this might be a cheap ploy to get you there.

[**Mmhmm**](https://www.mmhmm.app/)

Have you heard of **mmhmm**? I tried it thanks to a recommendation from Bhavin, our CEO. Mmhmm is a great app that lets you immerse yourself fully into your video screen. That’s right, you can literally be inside your screen and point to what you’re presenting. It’s a naturally collaborative experience and breaks the monotony that leads to [zoom fatigue](https://blog.flock.com/how-to-combat-zoom-fatigue). It’s still in its beta stage, but you should definitely grab an invite to their application.

That’s Gaurang, Flock’s Director of GTM who uses mmhmm quite often in our team meetings.

**Branded calls**

Company-branded calls are all the rage right now, but don’t be a sore thumb and stick out with that awful green screen! Use something more understated, a PNG brand logo, or your office setting with minimal branding, it makes all the difference.

When you have back-to-back meetings lined up and the nature of those calls vary from professional client-facing to casual team catch-ups, you probably need a more neutral-toned setting that works for all occasions. Coupled with [good workspace lighting](https://blog.flock.com/6-tips-for-proper-workspace-lighting), here are my top picks of virtual backgrounds you can choose for all kinds of occasions.

## Professional virtual backgrounds for video meetings

**Flock’s popular UX-themed backgrounds**

A much-loved choice for all of us at work, and even our clients, you can download Flock’s most popular themes below and upload them as your virtual Zoom background.

#ProTip: Go a step further—create your own Flock team, add your company details plus the logo, take a screenshot, and use that as a cool virtual background. 

 <https://www.canva.com/templates/EAD2-gV5Sro-professional-bright-office-zoom-virtual-background/>

**[Canva’s collection](https://www.canva.com/templates/EAD2-gV5Sro-professional-bright-office-zoom-virtual-background/) of backgrounds**

Canva has a wonderful collection of professional templates that you can use for free. Just download a bunch of virtual backgrounds and have fun swapping them in and out for different meetings.

[Goodhouse Housekeeping’s collection (it’s surprisingly good!)](https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a32145012/best-zoom-backgrounds/)

For times when you want a perfectly manicured setting without having to do all that hard work, Goodhouse Housekeeping’s collection is a mixed bag of professional, and semi-professional backgrounds that I’m sure you’ll find interesting.

[Unsplash’s free collection](https://unsplash.com/collections/1887152/zoom-backgrounds)

Check out Unsplash’s curated list of muted work specific backgrounds for some cool options.

 

*P.S. That picture of Tessa was taken in Portugal during a live screening of the 2018 football world cup. 😜*

[View full post](https://blog.flock.com/zoom-virtual-backgrounds)

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