German developer Moritz Wette has released Lion Designer 3.0, a brand new, redesigned build of his popular Mac desktop customisation tool. Lion Designer makes it possible for users to quickly change backgrounds for various OS X tools like Launchpad and Mission Control, plus restore the colourful Finder sidebar icons among other tweaks.

Version 3.0 introduces a new graphical user interface and Example Manager for quickly downloading replacement background images. It also fixes numerous bugs, extends compatibility to OS X 10.7.4 and later, and adds Retina display support.

Lion Designer 3.0 uses a simple point-and-click interface to allow the user to quickly and effortlessly change background images for a range of OS X tools, including Launchpad, Mission Control, the Dashboard and Login screen. Other customisable items include the login icon, Launchpad Container background, Finder Sidebar Icons and various animations. Users can also toggle desktop icons and the User Library folder between hidden and visible.

Customise various aspects of your Mac desktop with Lion Designer.

For those lacking their own background images, a new Example Manager tool provides options for download a selecting of example images from five categories: industrial patterns, nature wallpapers, Apple wallpapers, sunset wallpapers and wood patterns. Once downloaded, the user can drag these items on to the Load Image field, from where they can change a specific background by clicking the appropriate Change button.

Also provided via the View menu is a Theme Manager, allowing users to quickly build up and switch between a collection of backgrounds and icons. There’s also a handy “Reset to Lion Default” button, should the user wish to undo all of Lion Designer’s changes.

It all adds up to a simple to use and handy tool for those wishing to add a little colour to the Mac desktop. Lion Designer 3.0 is a donationware download for Macs running OS X 10.7 or later.