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Tiles & Sails
Algorithmic wallpaper design
Alyx Simpson-Coyle
Project Detail
Design algorithmic wallpaper for a specific place in your home, taking into account individual tiles and overall pattern.
For this project I created an algorithmic wallpaper design for a feature wall in my living room.
My goal was to create a design that mimicked the sails on a windmill where the colour creates the illusion of movement across the design yet seemed familiar in an unconscious way. My choice of where to put my design was easy to make, I have a bare wall that used to be a feature wall in my living room, the old wallpaper was removed a few years ago and we replaced it a neutral lilac beige colour, so for this project I decide to turn that wall back into a feature wall.
My design might not be to everyone’s taste, but from my point of view it works, and I am happy with the pattern. One aspect that I only became aware off after the design was completed was the impact the negative space in my tile design played in the overall aesthetics of finished design, the Khaki background that I had intended to be a minor feature ended up contributing much more to the overall design pattern than expected, a happy accident.
My Process
After experimenting with the P5.js code, I settled on using 9 shapes – 8 triangles and a square in the middle. My design is based is based on two tiles that are repeated, with each of them varying slightly in colour. I created a colour palette based on the current 2026 interior design trends and changed the colour of three triangles and the centre square. I used the tile sequence of 1, 3, 4, 2 – to create my final design.
The Khaki background creates a boot shape that almost mimics a aeroplane propeller, further enhancing the notion of movement.
As part of my design process, I created a template from tracing paper that enabled me to place it over any tile design and transcribe the vertices with ease into P5.js.
About me
I am a mature student studying on the new BDes degree, after graduation I would like to complete a master’s degree in design and set up as a freelance designer.