By: Design Studies Institute Staff
Hospitals typically focus on being sterile and utilitarian, where blank white walls and harsh lighting can leave patients feeling anxious while they wait. But hospitals don’t have to be that way. Through the use of graphic design and creative, visual communication, hospitals can transition into vibrant, more welcoming spaces.
On July 15th, 2026, the Design Studies Institute held an online lecture as part of the D-S-EYE visiting designer series showcasing contemporary design practice. Nicolas Belayew, a Belgium-based educator at ESA Saint-Luc and co-founder of Pierre Papier Studio, showed how graphic design can be leveraged to create an atmosphere of comfort and care in transforming healthcare spaces. Nicolas shared about a three-year-long project to turn a newly constructed hospital in Charleroi, Belgium into a cohesive space that is more comforting to all who enter with the use of custom designed, site-specific wallpapers.
In the lecture, Nicolas described the objective of the project: to relieve the anxieties and stress that come from being in a hospital. He then shared how he and a team of artists would use their creative capabilities to create wallpapers for different wings of the hospital. Each artist had the creative freedom to be unique and showcase their individual style when it came to their specific wing. But Nicolas and the artistic team still wanted it to be a cohesive image. The artists worked to address unifying themes like the comforting growth of nature, the experiences of human connection, and also the local culture and history of the area around them in Charleroi. Oh – with one final addition, a small frog had to be placed somewhere in each wing to honor a small frog that lived on the grounds of the hospital! With over 140 rooms to work with, this was no small feat to create a unified design.
With these parameters in mind, the artists created something beautiful. Spanning from the maternity ward to the end-of-life care facility, they designed a hospital that, throughout every nook and cranny, conveyed the idea of unity, understanding, and care. View the entirety of the lecture below, where you can see the final wallpaper designs that went into the hospital.
