COOPER HEWITT, SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM
Snazzy Backgrounds for Your Virtual Holiday Party
Spruce up your video conference background with these favorites from Cooper Hewitt’s wallcoverings collection.
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‘Tis the season for virtual holiday parties.
Following the first installment of our virtual wallpaper series, 7 Funky Backgrounds For Your Next Virtual Happy Hour, we’ve pulled a new selection from Cooper Hewitt’s vast collection of wallcoverings for you to use to spruce up your video conference background.
Download your favorite wallcoverings below.
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Trade out twinkle lights for this electrifying LED Wallpaper. The meandering pattern is, in fact, machine-printed circuitry composed of a 90% silver solution, studded with hand-applied lights. Illuminated and programmable, this design reflects the artistry and novelty of Ingo Maurer.
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There’s snow in the forecast! Printed in a single color on a solid background, with smart spacing, this 1929 design still looks sweet and fresh today. Originally introduced in 17(!) different colorways, the pattern doesn’t look quite so winterly when printed in sunset hues.
This mid-century modern take on snowfall is a whimsical investigation into crystalline structures. X-ray crystallography was developed in 1912 and, like many turn-of-the-century discoveries, inspired an interior design trend for the atomic age.
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Immerse yourself in the forest, bathed in dappled blue light that filters through weaving birches dusted with snow. “The Birches” was designed by Charles Burchfield, one of the best known American watercolorists of the 20th century.
Become a mythical character in this soft, modern search for the fabled Big Foot. Reducing all motifs to simplified silhouettes, Geoff McFetridge’s clever use of positive and negative spaces adds humor and allows the story to be told in a single color.
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For collectors of curios and players of I Spy—this 1952 screen printed wallcovering is decorated with over 70 different buttons. A peppermint swirl, a flamingo, a five of hearts, a four-leaf clover, a butterfly, a violin. What can you find?
Radiate calm and reflection for the new year with a traditional pattern looking up into the canopy of an oak tree. Though a contemporary design, the monochromatic, handmade block-print harks back to the Arts and Crafts period.
Your presence is the present! A draping pattern of pink swiss dot tulle, tied up with mint-green ribbons, pops against a waterfast black background in this 1948–56 sidewall.