Behind the design... Legend
Checking the proof at the printers
I have been pondering Legend Wallpaper for a few years and designed it for my twin daughters, who love unicorns and wanted a unicorn wallpaper for their walls. I was initially planning on painting a mural directly on to the wall in what was to be their new bedroom when we moved house. But, I thought if my children wanted unicorns, then it was very likely that other parents were getting requests for unicorn themed bedrooms too, so turned it into a wallpaper, that hopefully will be magical enough for children, but also tasteful enough for the grown up deciding on the decor!
Moodboard for Legend
Initially I was reluctant to embrace the unicorn theme, partly due to the typically gendered marketing, but I remembered the 1985 Ridley Scott film, Legend that I absolutely loved with its stunning sets, magical forests full of floating petals, pixies and of course unicorns, this, combined with the the joy and wonder that my daughters find in their books and the narratives they come up with when drawing stories, suddenly made unicorns seem entirely natural.
The beech wood near Stroud where I walk with my dog Claude
Springtime in the beech woods that surround the village where I live is always especially magical, and since moving here I have spent a lot of time taking photos and doing sketches in my little A6 sketch book in the woods before I knew what I was going to do with them.
I wanted to try and get the relaxing, yet ethereal feeling of walking in these woods into Legend, so amongst the gnarly dead trees and a few imaginary ones, there are some tall spindly beech trees with tiny delicate leaves. Ferns, bluebells and wild garlic are growing in the undergrowth, along the lower section of the paper and a little unicorn and a hare are almost incidental within the trees.
In contrast to many of the very bright wallpapers aimed at children, I wanted Legend Wallpaper to be subtle and calming. A magical land that would gently soothe them as they read their books at night-time before drifting into story filled dreams.
Drawing tiny beech leaves
And along with their brief, here is the inspiration that my daughter’s very kindly gave me to help design this wallpaper.
For those who still aren’t the biggest fans on unicorns, or who want something a little more grown up, there is an option without the unicorn, just select the one that you want at checkout.
ECO non-woven ‘paste the wall’ paper.
Available in 5 colour ways; Ink, Fog, Moss, Bark and Dusty Rose.