Read the Writing on the Wall(paper): Interior Design Education Goes Online

For a while, every hip home needed a single wall painted a bold, contrasting color, preferably mustard yellow or wine red. Then it was back to a minimalist off-white. Today's designers are apt to forgo the paint swatches altogether. The new look in interior design: digitally-enhanced wallpaper.

Retro Contemporary

But this isn't your seventies paisley and pastel floral print. In fact, this wall-art doesn't blend into the background at all. The colors and shapes are bold and bright. The paper is the focal point on a wall--a mural rather than a total wall covering.

Wallpaper for the Digital Age

Digital technology is behind the mural phenomenon. Armed with their design-school computer education, interior designers are creating wallpaper panels on their desktops, and selling them online. Designer Randall Buck, who produces Miro-like wallpaper from digitally-enhanced photographs, comments: "The computer is our toolbox. We call our papers digital paintings."

The rise of digital wallpaper reflects a broader trend: the interior design industry is steadily going high tech. Interior designers already rely heavily on CADD, computer-aided drafting and design. It stands to reason that advanced graphic design skills should also enter into an interior designer's repertoire.

Interior Design Online

The digitization of interior design is very good news for e-learning students, whose education already emphasizes computer skills. The online format lends itself to computer-aided design training; students learn to interact in a virtual classroom, and share their designs digitally.

As the interior and graphic design fields begin to dovetail, one thing is clear: aspiring designers must be computer-savvy. E-learning is one way to make sure your education prepares you as interior design enters the digital age.