Competition: The Next Designer Wallpaper Collection 2021

Back in August last year, we were excited to announce that the talented Julia Fonnereau was the winner of our 2020 designer wallpaper competition. And now her beautiful Dynasty Fishes and Dishes design, and many more, are appearing on people's walls across the world.

In the last competition, we couldn't believe the talent of the designers who entered. Because of this, we just had to feature two of the other designers work on Wallsauce as well! Thank you Nici Gabriel and Rebecca Johnstone! To see all these talented ladies' work, take a look at our fabulous designer wallpaper collection.

So, because of the success of our past competitions, we couldn't resist having another one - and not even a year after the last! We always love to see fresh, new talent so that our customers have the choice of the most unique wall designs out there! Once again, we partnered up with the fabulous Make It In Design team who inspire aspiring designers to 'Learn, Grow, Thrive.' And this great group of people have come up with a stunning range of artwork from an abundance of designers. We thoroughly enjoyed looking through the selection and, trust us, it was not easy whittling down our top 9 favourites! But, we need your help! Who do YOU think should win The Next Designer Wallpaper Collection 2021?

The brief: Things are looking up

We all know the effects the past 12 months have had on our lives, so we wanted to promote a positive range of designs that have an optimistic take on the future! With an increase in people working from home, we specifically asked for designs that would create a positive atmosphere in a home office.

Here are some of the details we asked for:

• Two mural designs for a home office or workspace
• To create placement designs and not repeat patterns
• To be prepared to provide four additional designs if you are successful
• To focus on these themes: peace, colour, positivity, statement, motivational, calm, tranquillity, uplifting.

Your vote for the next designer wallpaper collection

Can you help us find our next top designer at Wallsauce.com? If so, take a look at the entries below as well as some details about the artist themselves! It was SO difficult to narrow these down, but we're sure we've found some designs you will love.

Scroll down to view the shortlisted entries and vote by commenting with their name at the bottom of the blog post.

Sally Franks

Predominantly a Freelance Graphic Designer, Sally Franks is passionate about mixing bright and soft colours, and simple, flat shapes. Inspired by travel, nature, music and art, her work is developed partly through observation as well as intuition. All her artwork has roots in something real and tangible but is simplified and made abstract. A fun and joyful form, she describes her work as “Playful” and “Childlike”. Whilst qualifying as an Arts and Wellbeing Practitioner, she developed this technique and now teaches her students to let go of perfection and to create freely – as a child would.

Sally Franks explains more about her on-trend line art murals: “Both murals were inspired by photographs I’ve taken on my travels while wandering the streets taking in the sights and sounds. Colours have been taken directly from the photographs and the composition and shapes inspired by them. I like to think of them as multi-sensory pieces, where what you see, hear, smell or feel are all jumbled up together and spilt out onto the canvas. I created these pieces in Adobe Fresco with a mixture of vector and live paintbrushes. I like the painterly feel of the watercolour brushes, but all the elements could be recreated as vectors for better scaling and print quality.”

Amy Onuchi

Having worked in costume design for over a decade, Amy Onuchi was keen to move on to new creative ventures. And since she has discovered surface pattern design, she hasn't looked back! With her passion for bold colours and patterns, Amy focusses on a wide range of studio techniques including printed, hand-drawn, stitched, painted and collaged! With all these stunning skills mixed with digital methods, she has produced some playful designs that are balanced with refined hand-drawn motifs.

In the theme of creating a positive working environment, Amy said: "The idea behind these designs was an explosion of joy to wash away any Monday blues. Brightly coloured geometrics layered with vibrant flowers and happy doodles to boost positivity in the homemaking people feel uplifted and ready to take on the day."

Edie Bryan

Based In North Wales, Edie Bryan's designs fit the brief perfectly: they are colourful, bold, uplifting and are inspired by the beauty of nature. The main themes that she follows in her work are a deep connection to nature and wellbeing.

Edie explains what inspired her when creating these beautiful designs: "Whilst adapting to working from home over the last year, I noticed it was increasingly hard to differentiate between my home and work environment. A change of scenery always helps to shift my mood and boost my energy. This inspired me to create a collection of wall murals that would help combat fatigue and focus tired, distracted minds.

I wanted to capture the feeling of being somewhere new and exciting. Noticing all the differences around you, the scenery, architecture, sights and smells. My designs are bold, geometric abstracts using striking colour palettes, chosen to uplift, energise and inspire."

Julia Clayden

A Freelance Pattern Designer and Illustrator with a passion for pattern, Julia Clayden is known as ‘The Pattern Lady.’ After graduating with a BA (Hons) Degree in Fashion and Textile Design from St Martin’s School of Art, her love for graphic pattern design didn’t emerge until later (when the internet was finally invented)! After having learned the joys of all things ‘Mac’ whilst as a Graphic Designer, she now enjoys using Illustrator to design a wide range of products such as home décor, fabric, wall art, greetings cards and stationery. Her work is inspired by vintage, folk art and Scandi style as well as mid-century modern design. She is passionate about colour palettes and never tires of achieving the perfect combination of colour and pattern to completely transform a surface into one of beauty and joy.

Julia said: “I was inspired to enter the Wallsauce competition as I think in the present time we all want and need to believe that "Things are looking up" at long last, and that wall art can play a huge role in this belief by providing a boost of positivity in our place of work at home. I wanted to use a bright palette with a dark background to make the design really pop in sharp contrast. These designs are intended to bring a breath of fresh air with a zing! Oh, and plus, I also love peacocks and their elegance, and most birds if I'm honest, as they bring me calm."

Zinia Redo

Based in Greece, Surface Designer Zinia Redo is a huge fan of colour and riddles so creative problem solving has always been second nature to her for as long as she can remember. Her work consists of all types of media including digital vector designs to loose watercolours. And because she has always believed in Father Christmas and achieving the impossible, there is an innocent, dreamy and fairytale aspect to all her designs.

Zinia gives us more information about her gorgeous, watercolour designs: "The designs in this collection are inspired by the beauty and serenity of nature. With a focus on colour and form, the designs in this collection are trying to trigger the same feelings of calmness and stillness we experience when we are out enjoying the beautiful natural scenery. The use of watercolour is creating soft but unexpected shapes resembling the blurred version you'd see when you squint your eyes while looking at a sunset, opening your eyes inside the water, or twirling around in a grass field."

Justinah Kay

Born in Poland, Justinah Kay has lived in a number of countries since and considers herself to be a citizen of the world which is evident in these beautiful, abstract designs. Her colourful work is inspired by the beauty of nature, current trends, and more importantly, travel. She carefully hand-paints her works with watercolours and combines this with her talent for digital art. She's a fun lady who is known for her passion for art and design, her obsession with chai tea and her love for toy poodles!

Justinah explains the background to her stunning home office mural designs: "Travel lovers know the struggle amid lockdown and these murals are created especially for them. Paris, London, Moscow, Barcelona and some other cities with their signature landmarks are here to remind them about the places worth to visit/revisit once we are allowed to travel again."

Rita Patel

A Mixed Media Artist and Surface Pattern Designer, Rita Patel is inspired by methods, patterns and materials. She is a builder where the materials she works with become the art. Her creative process draws from her personal experience of beauty, its close connection with creativity as well as wellbeing. Rita devoted herself completely to her work when moving to Michigan, US, 14 years ago to give herself more time and bigger studio space. She strives for her work to be in venues where people are invited through beauty to experience positivity. Her work asks the question: "What if we could transform the world by experiencing beauty?"

Rita said: "I chose to use colour and shape to evoke a mood inclusive of hope, tranquillity, peace, and expansiveness. The pandemic has imposed a limiting feeling for many of us and the sense of feeling enclosed is not hopeful or inspiring. Being in nature has the power to heal and when we are inside, even abstracted landscapes can conjure up a sense of space and possibility. I hoped to create layered, undulating, and simple visuals that reminded people of places and experiences in nature that freed them from the day to day complexity. The relaxing quality of these murals is meant to give a respite of some mental space leading to a calm and creative state. I hope to share the complete collection by exploring different landscapes (mountains and seas with sunrise and sunset).”

Sarah Fowlis

A Surface Pattern Designer living in the UK, Sarah Fowlis is originally from South Africa which is where she studied textile design before travelling. She has always loved colourful things and nature which can be seen in her bright and cheerful designs. Her aim is to brighten up people’s days with her work!

Sarah told us the motivation behind her designs in the competition: “The inspiration behind these designs would be my garden as I have spent a lot more time in it this past year. I have used a bright and positive colour palette, and if you can’t always have a vase of flowers in your house, why not have them on your wall every day?"

Michelle Freer

An Australian native Designer and Illustrator, Michelle Freer now lives and works in the UK. Beginning her career in graphic design, illustration and multi-disciplinary design practice, she has now moved into the world of surface pattern design. She specialises in botanical wallpaper artwork which she has intricately hand-drawn and painted. A passionate creator of unique, artful and illustrative designs, Michelle’s work mostly celebrates nature and our connection to it.

Michelle explains the background to these two gorgeous designs: "I love creating botanical designs and one is based around my love of native Australian flora. The design includes hand-drawn banksia and grevillea flowers, with bright coral pinks against the soft and muted tones of the silvery foliage and seed pods. To create a treetop style scene, I have included some nesting crested pink cockatoos. I was hoping to create a design that was both positive and uplifting but also calming enough for a home working space.

The other design was inspired by a recent trip to a nature sanctuary, where my imagination was captured by an encounter with an enchanting blue crane. I immediately wanted to draw her in this misty bamboo habitat. With this design, I wanted to create a chinoiserie style mural, with a tranquil and calming watercolour scene of bamboo, and I also included some stylised oriental floral and cloud elements."

Which artist would you like to see added to our stunning designer collection at Wallsauce? Let us know by Sunday 18th April 2021 at 23.59 GMT by leaving a comment with the name of your favourite designer below.

Please note, only one vote per person will be counted and it may take around 24 hours for your comment to show - don't worry, we'll have received it! Don't forget to tick the box and sign up for our newsletter and be the first to hear about the winner!