Designing for history: my custom wallpaper & interactive design work for the Warhawk Air Museum’s new GWOT wing

Designing for history: my custom wallpaper & interactive design work for the Warhawk Air Museum’s new GWOT wing

Motifs in this toile-style wallpaper include the mighty A-10 “Warthog” (BRRRT!!), UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, Bradley vehicle, Iraq and Afghanistan service medals, CH-47 Chinook and Humvee, and desert landscapes.

Last Friday, the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho officially opened its new Global War on Terror (GWOT) Wing, and I had the honor of seeing nearly a year’s worth of my design work unveiled to the public.

For this project, I created custom wallpaper that tells stories through GWOT-specific motifs and symbols, and designed three interactive kiosks (plus enhanced app experiences) that allow visitors to hear veterans’ voices, view artifacts, and explore history in interactive ways.

The Ribbon Cutting Event

On September 12th, the museum welcomed veterans, families, and community members to celebrate the opening of the new wing. It was powerful to see the space filled with people engaging with the exhibits, and it reminded me why storytelling through design matters.

Opening ceremony for the Warhawk Air Museum’s Global War on Terror Wing, featuring an honor guard as the new wing was introduced.

Community members, staff, volunteers, and veterans of all eras gathered for the ribbon cutting of the new Global War on Terror Wing at the Warhawk Air Museum.

The Custom Wallpaper

Custom toile-style wallpaper I designed, featuring motifs that honor the Global War on Terror era—layering aircraft, landscapes, and symbols into a calm but meaningful backdrop.

The wallpaper was inspired by traditional toile de Jouy styles, reimagined to honor the Global War on Terror era. Motifs include (my favorite) A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthogs,” a UH-60 Blackhawk, Bradley vehicle, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter lifting a Humvee, soldiers behind Hesco barriers, and even a K-9 team. I carefully layered each to create a calm yet meaningful backdrop.

This design drew on both my background in illustration and my love of history and aircraft. Every motif was a way to weave technology, story, and human experience together—something wallpaper has quietly done for centuries.

For this project, the wallpaper was produced through Spoonflower’s Trade Program using their Type II vinyl commercial-grade wallpaper. This substrate is durable, scrubbable, and Class A fire-rated—making it a practical choice for a high-traffic museum setting.

The custom toile-style wallpaper extends along the museum restroom wall, turning a functional space into part of the storytelling of this new wing.

One of the places we used it was in the restrooms, where design is often overlooked. In this application, the Type II vinyl was the perfect solution: it’s wipeable, resistant to moisture, and holds up beautifully to constant use.

Instead of treating the restroom as a “backstage” space, the wallpaper continues the storytelling mission of the museum. Visitors don’t step out of the experience when they leave the main museum space: they carry it with them.

Visitors even see the wallpaper reflected in and around the restroom mirrors, carrying the exhibit’s themes into every corner of the space.

Now available for your own spaces!

This wallpaper is available for purchase for residential or commercial projects. It can be produced with or without the Warhawk Air Museum logo depending on your application. Whether you’re a designer sourcing for a client or an individual creating a statement wall, the same Type II vinyl durability ensures it’s ready for daily life. It’s also available in all of Spoonflower’s other wallpaper substrates as well.

The Interactive Kiosks & Mobile App

Using the STQRY Kiosk platform, I designed three kiosks that guide visitors through stories, maps, and artifacts. These kiosks make the history personal and accessible, giving voice to the veterans who served.

I also extended these experiences into the Warhawk Mobile App, creating enhanced content for each cabinet in the GWOT Wing. The cabinets highlight individual service members and their contributions, and the app allows visitors to go deeper—listening to stories, exploring additional artifacts, and connecting with the history in a more personal way.

This part of the project tapped into my engineering and UX/UI design background—thinking not just about what information to share, but how visitors would navigate it. Engineering taught me how to build efficient systems, while design gave me the tools to make them intuitive and human-centered.

One of three interactive kiosks I designed on the STQRY Kiosk platform next to the state-of-the art 9/11 exhibit. Visitors can explore maps, artifacts, and personal stories of veterans and civilians.

Designing at the Intersection of Skills

What made this project especially meaningful is how it pulled together all the threads of my work and personal passions:

• Engineering & Tech: Designing systems that work seamlessly (kiosk UX, app integration, interactive flow).

• Aircraft, Machines & History: Grounding the motifs in accuracy and respect for veterans’ stories.

• Illustration & Pattern Design: Creating wallpaper that communicates as much as it decorates.

• Storytelling & UX: Making every choice about how visitors connect with memory and meaning.

The result is a space that isn’t just informative—it’s immersive—both in the gallery itself and through the digital extensions in the Warhawk App.

Closing Thoughts

I’m grateful to the Warhawk Air Museum, STQRY, Spoonflower, and everyone who contributed their time, stories, and support to this project.

• Interested in using this wallpaper in your own project? You can purchase it here.

• If you’re in the Boise, Idaho area, I encourage you to visit and support the Warhawk Air Museum—every donation helps preserve these stories. Visit their website for more information here: https://warhawkairmuseum.org

• And if you’re an interior designer looking for a custom wallpaper design for your residential or commercial project, or interested in this pattern (with or without the Warhawk logo), I’d love to connect. Send me a message here!

  I’d also highly recommend the Spoonflower Trade Program. You will get a trade discount on wallpaper and textiles; free samples; and best of all, they’re great to work with! There’s no minimum order and production turnaround time is 4 days!

Warhawk Air Museum’s new A-10 “Warthog” from our local Gowen Field in Boise at sunset outside the museum during the ribbon cutting—a fitting symbol of the community and era this space honors.