How to Create a Wallpaper Design in 6 Steps - Designing a Scattered Leaf Wallpaper
This step-by-step guide walks through how to create a bespoke wallpaper design in six steps. In this guide, I’ll show you how to create a wallpaper design using my own scattered leaf design as an example.
Whether you’re a newbie designer, you want a refresher on creating a wallpaper design, or you want to see another designer’s process, read on to find out how to create a wallpaper design in six steps…
Step One: Plan the Motifs
The first step in creating a wallpaper design is to plan the motifs and decide on the theme of the pattern. There are countless themes to choose from, such as geometric, stripe, botanical, animal, nautical, polka dot, and many more. Once you’ve decided on a theme, sketch different motifs inspired by the theme, consider the shape, scale, and how they relate to each other.
For the scattered leaf wallpaper, I wanted an abundance of different shaped leaves scattered across the design as if they were falling from trees. I began by sketching a variety of leaf shapes, drawing multiple versions to ensure they could be scattered across the design while maintaining a relationship with each other.
Step Two: Decide the Style
Next, decide on the style of your wallpaper. There are many mediums to experiment with, including paints, pens, charcoal, graphite, pastel, acrylics, watercolour, felt tips, coffee, photography, printmaking, and more. Find a medium that suits your style and experiment with recreating your original sketches.
For the scattered leaf design, I experimented with different mediums which suited my style. Exploring both wet and dry mediums to see what would work best for the sketches. Finally settling on acrylic to create texture through the leaves, and paint pen to create a defined stalk, contrasting with the softened leaves.
Step Three: Finalise the Motifs
With the sketches ready, and the style chosen, it’s time to combine them together to create the design motifs.
For the scattered leaf design, I re-drew the sketches using acrylic paints on the leaves and a paint pen for the stems. The textures of the acrylic adds movement to the scattered effect, whilst the stems create structure within the design. The berries are in a contrasting colour to create a pop in the final design.
Step Four: Digitalise the Artwork
The next step in how to create a wallpaper design in six steps is to digitalise the artwork. The original artwork should be scanned or photographed in high resolution and moved into digital editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop.
The digital files can be tidied up, by removing lose pixels, and edited until you’re happy with the final look. Once happy, digitally cut out the individual motifs to prepare for the next step.
Step Five: Create the Repeat
To create the repeat, begin with deciding on the type of repeat you want, such as whether it should be a straight or offset repeat. For the scattered leaf repeat, I chose an offset repeat to create a natural, flowing look.
Create the repeat using the individually cut out motifs, building up the design through layering and placement. Keep working on the design until you’ve created a well-balanced, seamless repeat.
Recommended additional reading:
How to Create a Half Drop Pattern Repeat Using Photoshop (for Wallpaper and Fabric Designs)
A step-by-step tutorial of how to create a half drop pattern repeat, using Adobe Photoshop, for wallpaper and fabric designs.
Step Six: Separate and Colour
With the final design layout complete, it can be separated to enable the ability to create multiple colourings of one design – a must have in designing wallpapers. Separation is the use of specialist software to separate the colours of a flat design to create a layered, colourable file.
With a separated design, an infinite number of colourings can be created.
How to Create a Wallpaper Design in 6 Steps
Creating a wallpaper design involves a mix of creativity and technical skills. By following these six steps – planning the motifs, deciding the style, finalising the motifs, digitalising the artwork, creating the repeat, and separating and colouring – you can create a unique and professional wallpaper design.
This step-by-step guide gives you the foundation of how to create a wallpaper design in six steps, it should be used as a starting point for you to adapt and tweak to suit your style and workflow.
Remember, practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to experiment and refine your process. Happy designing!
