Finnish studio Feathr has launched its first wallpaper collection with designs by artists that specialise in disciplines such as surfwear design and body art.
Feathr founders Anne Puukko, Tom Puukko and Oli Green are working with 120 artists, who between them aim to create an aesthetic characterised by a bolder graphic quality than usually found in wallpaper design.
"Art changes culture," said Anne Puukko. "Decoration matches the carpet."
Emerging artist Casper Heijkenskjöld's design features a white-on-black psychedelic pattern, while the wallpaper by typographer Dave Towers features an oversized curved magenta zigzag, overlaid with inky blue circles.
Illustrator Michael Arnold's design is patterned with pyramids and palm trees, and graphic artist Peter Judson has created a colourful print from sliced and displaced concentric circles.
"We believe that art is the personification of conciseness and even small acts of art make a big difference," said Tom Puukko. "Our motto is simple – it's not just 'decoration is rubbish'. It's: 'More Art. Less Decoration. More good sh*t. Less sh*t sh*t'."
Feathr's wallpaper is printed on large format digital printers onto 165-gramme non-woven paper, meaning it can be printed on-demand and is easy to hang.
As well as the artists already on board, the team are using open sourcing and crowd curation to discover new talent. Visitors to their website can vote for the designs they want to see go into production.
They admitted that crowd curation doesn't guarantee interesting results, but felt that "three people in a room who work to the same trends that everyone else saw at Maison & Objet" wouldn't lead to greatness either.
"We set up this way because we believe that there are a sh*tload of very good people out there and want our doors to be open to them," Puukko told Dezeen.
"We [also] tap people on the shoulder if we like their sh*t. It's not that we are looking for a certain aesthetic or 'wallpaper-y' vibe. We're fans of graphic design, photography, type, graffiti, tattoo, sculpture, motion graphics, animation, Viking paintings on the sides of panel vans, cock 'n' balls on toilet stall doors... We like art. We want like-minded people – people who just want to f*cking make something."
Feathr has recently started collaborating with Insight Surfwear founder Steve Gorrow, who also works in other media such as photography and painting.
"It's this desire to never be pigeonholed that makes the brand layered and interesting to people who don't even surf, and it's this creative force that we are stoked to have involved in our fledgling wallpaper brand," added Puukko.
Ultimately, the founders hope to divide opinion. "We want some people to love what we're doing and some people to hate it," Puukko told Dezeen.
"If one person sees a design on Feathr and says 'over my dead body' and someone else sees the same design and says 'I've got to have that', then we're doing something right."
Feathr has offices in Helsinki, London and Bali. The venture is backed by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, Tekes, and will launch its UK online shop early this year.