Creating an aesthetically pleasing home screen for your phone or tablet has become an art in itself, and an entire ecosystem packed with widgets, themes, wallpapers, launchers, and custom ROMs has built up to support it. Sometimes, it can be tough to find a winning combination of elements to create a beautiful and enduring home screen that provides both form and function.

For this reason, we have decided to open up a monthly call for gorgeous, well-decorated home screens of all shapes and sizes. Each month we will select the very best home screen configurations and completely break them down into their component parts, providing you with all the necessary information to create your own awesome home screen.

Of course, the creator(s) behind the winning home screen(s) will also be rewarded -- with an Android Police t-shirt of their choosing.

How to Win

The rules for this contest are very simple.

Step 1: Upload a screenshot of your home screen to My Color Screen with the necessary tooltips (see note below).

My Color Screen is a great service, and will streamline our Home Screen Challenge considerably, but it's important that contestants include app tags in their upload. These will give us (and your fellow readers) a way to see everything you used right from your entry, eliminating the need for multiple links. To add these tags, simply upload a screenshot, and hit "Apps Tag." You can then reposition the tag and add relevant links or other information. Here's an example:

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Note: Include a tag somewhere on your screen that simply says "Android Police January" so that we can view all your entries on one page.

Step 2: Post a link in the comments, and add any information (or links) that you weren't able to specify on My Color Screen. Note: Our comment spam filter is pretty aggressive, so be sure to copy your entire entry into your clipboard. If our system rejects your entry, just post it on G+ or Facebook and paste a link in the comments below.

The winner(s) will be selected by the AP team and notified prior to the publication of the monthly feature. Each month, we will do a complete overview of one winning home screen design, and a brief breakdown of two runners up.

Eligibility

The monthly home screen challenge is open to all users, but in order to receive a free t-shirt, you must live in one of the following countries:

  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • China
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Korea (Republic)
  • Luxemburg
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Singapore
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Examples

To help you get an idea of what we're looking for, and what our monthly break down will look like, check out last month's winning entry.

Of course you're free to get as creative as possible with your entry, as long as the product is a polished, beautiful home screen layout.

Your Turn

Now that you know the rules, start designing! You've got until January 31st to show us your best effort at creating a visually appealing, functional home screen for your device.