For quite a while now, businesses conduct most of their operations remotely.
This new switch involves meeting and holding discussions with working teams, clients, and other stakeholders through video conferences.
Zoom has become a popular virtual communication platform for working professionals and individuals who want to communicate with friends and family.
Since it’s becoming the norm to communicate through Zoom while working from home, you have an excellent opportunity to build your brand credibility with a virtual background.
You want your home office to have a background with your brand’s key touchpoints to keep the attendees focused on the meeting.
Zoom has created a virtual background feature to help you customize your backgrounds to suit the purpose.
That’s why we want to share some creative background ideas that will liven up your Zoom calls and give you the edge in this competitive market.
But first things first. Why is it essential to have a professional and creative Zoom background?
Let’s find out.
Why is Having a Background Important in Zoom Video Conferencing?
Since your home office became your video conferencing hub, it has to look professional. You want to present yourself as a professional when on camera.
The setup, including your camera gear, lighting, sound, and virtual background has to fit the objective of the meeting.
Your Zoom background depicts your image and personality, whether you’re an employee or entrepreneur. When addressing other participants, you should let them focus on matters at hand instead of your backdrop.
A poor setup will cause distractions, making the whole meeting flop. The best way to ensure the best setup is to install a dashing but professional background and setup to compliment your meeting’s agenda.
Best Backgrounds For Zoom
We’ve listed for you the best backgrounds to consider when conferencing on Zoom.
So get ready to have a sizzling backdrop that will give your audience the impression you intended them to have.
1. Branded Background
Using a branded virtual background jazzed with your company logo, colors, and images will reinforce your brand to the meeting attendees. This is the perfect way to show your professionalism and brand value.
How do you add a branded background? First, use an image editing app like Canva to create an image with your desired branding, including logo, colors, and more.
Next, log into Zoom > Settings > Virtual Background > Click Image > Add image
We used an example of a branded Zoom background for the University of Washington, as shown in the image above.
2. Star Wars Starfield Background
If you’re looking for a backdrop representing your personality, try using the Star Wars starfield background.
Take your Zoom calls to a faraway galaxy with a photo of your favorite movie series. Zoom calls vary, and if they are casual, why not use a fun background to enjoy a moment with your pals, colleagues, or family?
This will make the calls more laid back and engaging.
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3. The Office Background
The office background makes you look professional. You can use it when interviewing candidates shortlisted for various remote posts.
This background is derived from the televised show, ‘The Office,’ where subjects are interviewed. It’s one of the best office background displays with the power to make interviewees comfortable.
4. Toy Story Room Background
Snag the Toy Story room background during an e-learning lesson with kids. It’s an excellent picture from one of Disney’s Pixar movies.
You can also use Toy Story for Zoom calls with younger family members or share Disney moments with your friends.
5. The Arrowtown House Background
This charming Airbnb backdrop fuses both outdoor and indoor sceneries to transform your room into a glamorous environment for Zoom calls.
Using the Arrowtown house photograph as a background is a perfect way to upgrade your digital presence and impress your audience.
6. The Modern Lakeside House Background
This is another backdrop from Airbnb’s collection of rentals. Just look at how heavenly the place is.
It overlooks a gorgeous lake, which makes you pause amidst your Zoom call just to appreciate nature’s beauty!
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7. The Skylodge Adventure Suites Background
This is a picture of elegant lodges that overlook exotic scenery. Use it to show people that you also have a vibrant life from your busy schedule.
You love adventure, and you won’t hesitate to enjoy life far from home and the office when you get the chance.
8. Marvel Movies Background
Perhaps you’re in the entertainment industry or just want to create a laid-back atmosphere during a Zoom meeting.
What better way to achieve that than by using a Marvel entertainment image? You could also use an image background from any of your favorite shows, whether it’s Game of Thrones or Money Heist.
9. Inspirational Quotes Background
Are you looking to get people inspired during a Zoom call? This is your chance to let printed words speak for you.
A Zoom backdrop with inspiration quotes can say a lot about you. You can customize it with quotes from your favorite heroes and book authors. We bet many people will get what you stand for.
10. Instructional Zoom Background
As a team leader, getting your members to work and deliver on projects can be overwhelming. This is true for educators as well.
Having a backdrop with instructions and rules can help your team members or students remember what to do. It can also be a reminder when you are following up on projects or assignments.
A permanent list of tasks, meeting agenda, or announcements on the backdrop clearly shows professionalism.
11. Congratulatory Background
A congratulatory backdrop means a lot to people you converse with on Zoom. Whether it’s company staff, family, friends, acquaintances, or business partners, they’ll be delighted to know that you appreciate them.
This is a unique way to express your thoughtfulness.
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12. Floral Background
A floral background may look basic but speaks volumes when you’re sharing a Zoom call with someone special. It’s an excellent choice when you plan to surprise them with virtual roses on their birthday, anniversary, graduation, or Valentine’s Day.
You may choose to have a backdrop customized with the right colors and elements if you prefer.
13. Cosmetics Background
This backdrop will help you promote your brand if you’re into the beauty, skincare, or cosmetics business. It will be good to use it in your Zoom meetings with partners or prospects.
A cosmetics background makes your space look professional, even if it’s messy. Spice it up with your product images, brand colors, and animations.
14. Accounting Background
This is a professional background with a corporate look and feel. It’s ideal for financial, auditing and accounting firms.
Since financial enterprises value their professionalism and credibility, having an accounting backdrop while communicating on Zoom will suit you well.
15. Ice Cream Background
A colorful ice cream backdrop to brighten up your room can be an excellent idea. It can be used for casual and business communication.
Whether you’re into the ice cream and candy business, the fashion industry, or the catering industry, this backdrop can fit your business.
The backdrop is also suitable for informal Zoom calls, including family get-togethers.
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16. E-Learning Class Background
The advancement of technology and other situations have also seen learning institutions conducting their collaborative activities via Zoom.
To keep young learners focused, you can use the e-learning background. It has colorful elements and animations and cute, short checklists that students can refer to for classwork and other tasks.
17. The Zodiac Sign Background
We know you love your zodiac sign a lot. How about flaunting your favorite zodiac sign backdrop while conferencing on Zoom?
This will surely add a touch of personality to your conversations and, with a little bit of customization, people will get to know you better.
Add personal text, video, images, or colors you love to enhance the backdrop.
For example, you’re the adventurous type, you may add a background photo like the one above.
18. Financial Background
A personalized financial background will boost brand recognition and awareness when used in virtual presentations, meetings, and Zoom calls.
You can customize your backdrop to let the participants know the business better as you strive to enhance your credibility.
19. Christmas Background
Thanks to Zoom video conferencing, you can call family and celebrate Christmas virtually. A Christmas backdrop can put your room in a festive mood as you enjoy a good time with family at a distance.
This fun, festive background brings color into your virtual calls. You can decide on brighter, vibrant colors or snow to make the video pop. Use it in meetings with business partners and team members to set the festive mood.
20. Modern Kitchen Background
This semi-professional backdrop contains outdoor, and indoor scenery people will fall in love with as soon as they see it.
It creates a balance between professionalism and informality. This provides a sophisticated but lovely atmosphere during Zoom calls.
21. Scenic View Background
The scenic view backdrop lets your Zoom meetings reflect your nature and travel dreams. It is embellished with lovely scenic images to liven your room and the mood around you.
If you want, you can personalize images, texts, video, fonts, and quotes to increase its vibrancy.
22. Bloomscape Background
Plants are known to relax minds and calm nerves. The Bloomscape backdrop can do the same to your virtual meeting participants.
This plant with a green backdrop brings peace into a virtual meeting to allow participants to concentrate on the matter at hand.
23. Fitness Workout Background
A fitness background works superbly for sports and fitness enthusiasts. Set up your room with a backdrop with your favorite sport.
Your friends and acquaintances will know your personality and how you value your health and fitness. Add a few overlays and other elements to personalize your design and display your favorite workout.
24. Underwater Background
A beautiful marine life background shows how much you love the underwater world with all the creatures and plants.
It looks elegant from behind you when on a business or casual Zoom meeting. Add visuals to make it more exciting.
25. Yoga Class Background
Do you love Yoga? If you do, this is the time to spruce up your yoga lessons with a colorful Zoom backdrop. Your students will focus better on their lessons when you include some animations.
To make it credible, add your business log, name, and other elements.
26. Basketball Background
Still, in sports, a basketball backdrop can say a lot about your personality. Basketball is often associated with hard work, and putting up a virtual basketball background can motivate you and others.
It reminds you how hard work pays off. Use it during your Zoom calls to inspire them.
27. Fruit Background
Add some pomp and color to your room with a cheerful, fruity backdrop. With plenty of colors, the background will induce a lot of positivity into your virtual calls and meetings.
It’ll look even more appealing and fun when conferencing with your clients and staff. Virtual meetings are often productive when people see your enthusiasm and determination—ideal for health, skincare, and health meetings.
28. User Experience Design Background
Everyone strives to give users an upscale experience during interactions. The user experience design backdrop offers an excellent way for web developers, designers, and eCommerce enterprises to enhance their relationships with customers.
This background depicts your interest and value in a positive user experience. Your Zoom meetings will be more immersive as people discover your priorities.
29. Celebration Background
There will always be an occasion to celebrate and now you can shout it out with a popping celebration backdrop. It’s the most intriguing way to set the celebratory mood.
The shiny colors and animated illustrations highlight the backdrop to make it inviting. Your virtual calls and meetings will be spicy from the beginning to the end.
30. Disneyland Park Background
With the Disneyland Park backdrop, you have plenty of parks to choose from, including the Eiffel Tower and Pixar Pier, and Epcot’s Spaceship Earth.
The photographs are pretty intriguing since they bring Disney magic right into your Zoom meetings.
It all speaks to your fun personality and leaves everyone yearning for a vacation.
31. Math Class Background
Well, as much as you love mathematics, not many students get excited about it. But you can change the students’ perception of the subject with a math class backdrop.
An attractive, practical Zoom backdrop can keep students attentive to your virtual lesson. Adorned with bright colors, a checklist on the side, and an animated video, you are bound to spark interest in learners.
32. Poolside Background
Use the poolside backdrop to inspire the need for a vacation. A picture of seats by the pool can infuse vacation vibes into your Zoom sessions.
After tight schedules, one has a right to take a vacation to clear their head and relax. A poolside background may just be the push you need to go on a trip in a quiet, relaxing environment away from the office.
33. Pet Background
You can never go wrong with any animal background. Such backdrops make your Zoom calls very cute. They can liven the moment whenever you or your colleagues are having a bad day.
A pet background can warm your heart and make you forget your worries and cares. So don’t hesitate to showcase those little cuties to your audience. Who knows, you may make someone’s day!
34. Season Backgrounds
Hallmark has some of the most fantastic seasonal photographs to use as backdrops. You can either choose the wintertime, fall, or summer background for your sessions.
A winter background includes an evergreen forest engulfed in snow. A summer background offers beautiful scenes from the warmer weather (like in the image above), while a fall backdrop contains falling leaves outdoors.
The warm colors can give you and your viewers a sense of comfort and coziness during a Zoom session.
35. This is Fine Background
This background is the best to put up when you want to add some humor to your Zoom presentations. It depicts your pretense that everything is okay when your whole world is on fire.
This backdrop can get people chuckling if you use humor in your speech.
36. Starship Enterprise
As a manager, you won’t be able to resist addressing your team members on Zoom with a starship enterprise fleet photograph in the background.
This elegant backdrop can brighten your room and liven any conversation you have with your team.
37. Hallway in the Shining
Hallway in the shining offers you a subtle way to let your teammates understand that you are in Zoom fatigue mode. This happens a lot, especially if you have a tight deadline to beat.
It will be a constant reminder that you have to take some time off after this to cool off or have fun.
38. Office in the Sky
How fascinating it is to conduct Zoom sessions in an office up high in the sky! This can be a special way of creating a cheerful mood around the conference.
Have your virtual calls in front of an office in the sky backdrop and leave your audience in awe.
39. Backyard Background
Imagine having a Zoom conference in a well-lit, professionally set backyard! Aside from the peaceful environment the outdoors provides, you’ll also have other attendees focus on the meeting.
So why don’t you take your Zoom meetings outdoors with a backyard backdrop today?
40. The Conference Room Background
Looking for one of the best-themed Zoom backdrops to use? Try a conference room background today.
A modern conference room backdrop represents an on-site conference room meeting. It will make participants more comfortable as you’ll visually avail yourself in the meeting and go back to your office without movement.
41. Workspace Background
A workspace background gives you and your coworkers a familiar feel during Zoom calls. It’s an excellent idea to bring them closer to a physical office environment.
The background picture will reflect all the realities of the office workspace. Everyone will be comfortable focusing on the tasks at hand after your conversation.
42. Library Background
As you prepare your next virtual meeting, try using the library backdrop. It can be exciting to present a library background to show your professionalism and seriousness with your work.
43. Private Jet Background
How about holding your meeting in a private jet? This is precisely what a private jet backdrop portrays.
The private jet background can give you a feel of business travel with all its amenities. It will reflect the jet-setter lifestyle that you miss so much.
44. Modern Bookshelf Background
A vibrant, aesthetically pleasing, modern bookshelf background is great if you’re a book lover. It is a lovely visual to use when you want to emphasize your love and passion for literature.
When people see your backdrop, they’ll imagine you have a lot of knowledge.
45. Home Office with View Background
Ever imagined yourself working in an office with a clear view of the outdoors, ocean, or nature? This backdrop presents a beautiful working space with a clear, intriguing view. What if it is the view of your colleagues’ smiling faces?
Your Zoom calls couldn’t be better with this kind of background.
46. Elegant Home Office Background
Everyone dreams of a home office that exudes elegance. But it doesn’t matter how your home office looks now. You can transform it with an elegant home office backdrop.
This will definitely make your coworkers envious. Try it and see their reactions throughout the meeting.
47. Outdoor Office Background
The ultimate dream home office is what everyone dreams of. Imagine your office with a fireplace on the patio!
You’ll be able to whisk yourself and your colleagues away to a soothing, serene atmosphere with all the amenities you need. Get an outdoor office background and experience the calm of the outdoors.
48. Adventure Background
An adventure background can take away the boredom of staying or working from home. It can breathe life into your Zoom sessions.
Add some customization with a creative video to make your backdrop more mesmerizing.
49. Modern Office Background
A modern office background depicts professionalism. Even if your room is messy, you wouldn’t want everyone to know about it.
That’s why during your conferencing sessions, you should use a modern office backdrop to let your colleagues, staff, and other participants know how committed you are to your work.
A classy, modern, clutter-free home office is what they need to understand your worth.
50. Business Background
Excite your audience with a terrific living room background consisting of a fireplace, interior decor, and other stunning elements. It will add a positive vibe to the meeting and make it feel real.
What Makes an Excellent Zoom Background?
An excellent Zoom background should be free from distractions. When you are conveying a video message, you expect your audience to focus and pay attention.
Therefore, it should have the right screen, colors, images, and, if necessary, the right video. A solid green screen in the back blends seamlessly with any backdrop.
Your backdrop will stand out when you wear solid and neutral-colored clothes. Avoid prints and plaids or dark black and sharp white-colored clothes as they portray you as a blob on camera.
A Zoom background represents your brand value, so you have to ensure it serves the meeting’s purpose.
By now, you must be ready to spice up your upcoming Zoom session with an elegant backdrop.
Final Word
It’s not so challenging to create a responsive atmosphere for your Zoom calls. There are plenty of engaging, professional, and fun backgrounds to enhance your communication.
Whether you’re holding a workplace meeting or chatting with family and friends, there’s a splendid background for every need.
Besides hiding your clutter, an excellent background will lighten up the mood in the boardroom and make your meeting stand out.
Tom loves to write on technology, e-commerce & internet marketing.
Tom has been a full-time internet marketer for two decades now, earning millions of dollars while living life on his own terms. Along the way, he’s also coached thousands of other people to success.