How digital design is influencing interior design trends in Australia
How digital design is influencing interior design trends in Australia
Whilst digital design and interior design may seem miles apart; there are actually a lot of similarities in the way both digital designers and interior designers go about their work. And a lot of crossover between the designs we see online and those we see in houses and commercial buildings throughout Australia.
Design trends – whether digital, interior or even fashion – tend to cross boundaries you didn’t even know existed. Who would have thought that the latest colour trends on the catwalks could funnel through to websites across the world and make their way into homes and office buildings through furniture or even in the backyard?
There is a famous scene in The Devil Wears Prada when fashion newbie Andrea Sachs laughs at Miranda Priestly, Editor of Runway Magazine when they are trying to pick a belt to match an outfit. She holds up two belts that look very similar and they try to decide which one will fit best. Priestly does not make much of Sachs’ fashion sense – here is the monologue:
Miranda Priestly: Something funny?
Andy Sachs: No, no, nothing. Y’know, it’s just that both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y’know, I’m still learning about all this stuff.
Miranda Priestly: This “stuff”? Oh, okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you.
You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don’t know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean.
You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn’t it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic “casual corner” where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of “stuff.”
Whilst this is just a fabricated story about the world of fashion and the crossover into many industries, generating millions of dollars and countless jobs. There is a lot of truth behind the fact that decisions made in fashion and design can heavily impact other sectors and we see this crossover between interior design and digital design.
Online influence
It’s perhaps no surprise to see digital design influencing other industries. According to ABC News, Australians are big users of the web, spending on average nearly seven hours each day on phones, tablets, and computers.
The research carried out in 2018 shows that sites like; Reddit, Facebook, eBay, and Tumblr all rank in the top ten; when it comes to the sites where Australians spend most of their time. The top 50 sites, however, are made up of a diverse range of websites. It is the design and layout of these websites that are having an impact on the way interior designers are approaching their work. Whether that’s residential or commercial properties.
With all this time spent online interior designers are undoubtedly taking some of their inspiration from the websites, they are browsing and these are influencing the latest home design trends.
Digital designers place a heavy emphasis on user experience. The way visitors navigate their way around a website is heavily influenced by the way it has been designed. Whilst the interior design is not about getting people from one room to another. It is about creating a flow as you move through the different rooms in a home or office building. Creating a natural flow that makes people sit up and take notice every time they enter a new room; much like navigating from one page to another on a website.
Digital designers also take inspiration from the world around them. The way a home is laid out or even their favourite coffee shop design can influence how they think about the way a website will be designed and the colours that might be used.
Digital designers and interior designers are looking to maximise the use of layers and textures in their design; helping to improve the overall user experience and make it easier for them to navigate. Ultimately, to make a purchase or ‘convert’.
Think about some of the most popular websites; many of them follow a very similar pattern – clean and uncluttered with simple navigation and clean colour palettes. Sites like Netflix, Stan and Betway, and Kayo all have a common theme – a black background and clean, bright logo and navigation features. They are all uncluttered websites and they are all user-friendly and easy to navigate.
It’s this use of clean lines, the use of whitespace, and strong, bold accents; that are inspiring interior designers to create clean and uncluttered spaces, making the most of the colours available to them.
Summary
The next time you browse a website; don’t just read the content or navigate to the section of the site you are interested in. Take a minute to think about the design and the layout; try to picture how that design has been influenced by interior design. Or perhaps, how the design could influence your own interior design project.
Featured photo: Unsplash
