Design Storytelling in the Digital Age: Instagram as a Public Sketchbook
- Marieke Rijksen
- Jun 30
- 14 min read
Updated: Oct 1
FEATURE ARTICLE
Table of Contents:
Introduction – Why Social Media Matters for Interior Design
Design has always been shaped by the tools of its time. Once it was drafting boards and charcoal sketches; later Photoshop and CAD. Today, the platform quietly transforming how ideas are shared and consumed is not tucked away in a studio, but sits in the palm of your hand: social media.
For interior design, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are more than distractions between tasks. They are digital mood boards, networking spaces, marketing channels, and, increasingly, the stage on which design identities are built. To ignore them is to ignore a living archive of design storytelling — a vast and constantly updated visual library where ideas are tested, references are discovered, and professional voices take shape.
Of course, social media is not without its dangers. It can reward conformity over originality, speed over depth, and trends over timelessness. But to exclude it altogether is to miss an opportunity. The challenge is not to treat Instagram as an indulgence, but to position it as a design tool — one that can be critiqued, studied, and used with intention.
The challenge is not to treat Instagram as an indulgence, but to position it as a design tool.
(Side note: you may notice TikTok is absent here. That’s deliberate. While TikTok is a powerful platform, its pace and video-driven format lend themselves more to entertainment than to carefully crafted visual storytelling.
Instagram, on the other hand, privileges still imagery, curated grids, and carousels — making it far better suited for interiors, where composition, detail, and atmosphere need time to breathe. Its audience also skews toward those seeking visual lifestyle and design inspiration, which aligns more naturally with the field.)
This is why Instagram can be understood as a public sketchbook: not just a place to showcase finished work, but a platform for process, reflection, and narrative.
Instagram as a Public Sketchbook
A sketchbook has always been more than just a collection of drawings. It’s a space to experiment, to refine ideas, to record inspiration, and to test out compositions before committing to a final work. Instagram, in its best form, does much the same — but in public.
When you treat it this way, two things shift:
Your process is on show. Posting regularly creates a visible timeline of experimentation. The feed becomes a record of growth, not just a polished portfolio. It can function as a reflective journal, where missteps are as telling as successes.
Your narrative is co-authored. Unlike a private sketchbook, Instagram is interactive. Peers, colleagues, and strangers alike can comment, like, or share — shaping how your work is received and interpreted. The sketchbook is no longer solitary; it’s part of a conversation.
Seeing Instagram in this light reframes the platform from vanity metrics to process. Ask yourself: How does your feed tell the story of your journey? Do your posts show an evolution of thought? Do they reflect the principles of design — balance, rhythm, emphasis, harmony — in a visual language that anyone scrolling can sense?
The Unique Role of Narrative
Where sketchbooks are private explorations, Instagram introduces narrative as a public performance. Every post, consciously or not, adds to the story you’re telling. Some stories are consistent — a restrained palette, a recurring motif, a signature angle. Others are chaotic, reflecting the raw and unfiltered process.
The opportunity lies in being intentional. It isn’t about creating a feed that looks perfect, but recognising that choices — what you include, what you omit, how you order and caption your posts — all contribute to the narrative of your design identity.
This ties directly to design theory. Narrative in interiors is often expressed through thresholds, sequences, and spatial journeys. Online, it becomes a question of order, rhythm, and harmony across a grid. Your nine-post grid can be seen as a miniature interior: how does one post lead into the next? Where is the focal point? Is there a sense of unity, or does the eye stumble?
Instagram and the Democratisation of Critique
In a traditional studio, critique is structured and nerve-wracking. On Instagram, critique is constant, unpredictable, and sometimes unkind. Yet it also has a democratic quality: a concept can be seen, commented on, or even shared by established designers on the other side of the world.
The question isn’t whether something is liked, but why. Does it resonate because the design principles are strong? Or because it mimics a trend? That tension opens up a valuable reflection on trend versus timelessness — a recurring theme in interior design.
A Cautionary Note
Like any sketchbook, Instagram can be messy, experimental, and imperfect. But unlike paper, its public nature can invite comparison and insecurity. The platform amplifies certain aesthetics disproportionately — minimalism, beige palettes, “Instagrammable” corners. The danger is designing for the platform rather than for the space, the brief, or the client.
It’s worth asking yourself: Does your feed show your ideas, or is it echoing what’s fashionable? If Instagram didn’t exist, would you still make the same choices? Questions like these shift the focus back to design integrity.
The danger is designing for the platform rather than for the space, the brief, or the client.
The Visual Language of Instagram
Every discipline has its language. Interior design speaks through form, proportion, texture, and light. Instagram speaks through image, composition, and sequence. When the two meet, the feed becomes a dialogue — not just between you and your audience, but between the principles of design themselves.
What Makes a Strong Interior Photo
A well-designed space can fall flat if poorly photographed. Conversely, even modest interiors can appear compelling with thoughtful framing. The secret is in composition, lighting, and balance — all rooted in design theory.
Composition: Just as you would when arranging a room, consider focal points, rhythm, and scale within the frame. Leading lines draw the eye, symmetry lends calm, while asymmetry creates energy.
Lighting: Natural light is always king, yet shadows are equally powerful. Diffused light softens, while directional light sharpens mood. Photographing at the right time of day can transform the same space entirely.
Balance: Visual weight matters. A heavy sofa on one side of the frame needs counterbalance — perhaps through colour or an object of contrasting texture. This is harmony in action.
On Instagram, these choices are amplified because each image stands alone yet also joins a grid. A good feed is not just a collection of single shots, but a composition of compositions.
Overview Versus Detail
One quirk of Instagram is its preference for overview shots. Wide, room-capturing images often perform better in the main feed, offering instant readability when someone scrolls quickly. By contrast, close-ups can feel too ambiguous in isolation. Yet they come into their own in carousel posts, where detailed images enrich the story told by an overview.
This mirrors how we experience interiors: first, we absorb the space as a whole; then we linger on textures, joinery, or the play of light across a surface. A thoughtful feed uses both — overview shots as anchors, detail shots as supporting characters.
Curation as a Design Act
Curation is as much design as the selection of fabrics or finishes. Think of your feed as a gallery wall: what hangs next to what changes meaning. A close-up of linen texture gains new resonance beside a wide shot of a sunlit room. Colour echoes can stitch unrelated posts together.
Consistency is not about uniformity; it’s about recognisability. Your visual voice should become clear enough that someone scrolling knows a post is yours before even seeing your handle.
Mood Boards Versus Social Media Boards
Designers have always used mood boards to gather references, materials, and inspiration. Social media feeds, in many ways, are their digital descendants. The difference is that while a mood board is internal — a tool for ideation — a social media board is external, a performance of taste and intent.
Both, however, rely on the same principles: cohesion, contrast, rhythm, and hierarchy. On Pinterest, curation leans toward collecting. On Instagram, it leans toward storytelling. A physical mood board might pin fabric swatches and clippings; an Instagram feed curates images of completed projects, textures, sketches, and lived-in corners. Both require discipline in editing: knowing what to leave out is as important as what you put in.
Instagram as Portfolio?
This raises a larger question: can Instagram be considered a portfolio? For many, the answer is yes — at least in part. The platform offers reach, accessibility, and immediacy that traditional portfolios cannot. Clients, collaborators, and brands often look first to Instagram to gauge aesthetic sensibility.
Yet it has limits. A portfolio is intentional, edited, and complete; Instagram is ongoing, fragmented, and open to distraction. Perhaps the most productive way to view it is not as a replacement, but as a parallel: a living portfolio that complements the polished one.
Beyond Aesthetics: What Your Images Say About You
A curated feed doesn’t just show what you design; it shows how you see. Close-ups may suggest attention to materiality, while expansive shots suggest a focus on spatial flow. Repeated angles might reveal comfort zones, while varied perspectives demonstrate versatility.
In this sense, Instagram is less about “aesthetic perfection” and more about semiotics: the meanings embedded in your choices. Do your images whisper restraint, shout exuberance, or hum with detail? Each photograph becomes part of a larger sentence in your design language.
Branding Yourself in the Digital Age
Every designer has a story to tell, and Instagram has become one of the most effective stages on which to tell it. The question is not whether you have a brand, but whether you are shaping it with intention. Left unchecked, your feed will tell a story anyway — perhaps one of inconsistency, distraction, or imitation. Crafted with care, it can communicate identity, values, and vision before a word is spoken.
Building a Recognisable Identity
Your profile is your digital business card. The name and bio are not afterthoughts — they are the entry point to your brand. Choose a username that is memorable, professional, and reflective of what you do. Your bio should be succinct but purposeful: explain who you are, give a glimpse of personality, and provide a clear route for contact.
Beyond words, your visual identity emerges through repetition. Recurring tones, filters, or motifs create instant recognition. Ask yourself: If someone saw my feed without my name attached, would they know it was mine?
This isn’t about uniformity or gimmicks, but about cultivating a signature — a consistency of tone and perspective that positions you as a recognisable voice.
Storytelling as Branding
Branding in design is rarely about logos or slogans; it’s about narrative. Each image you share is a chapter, and together they build a story about your aesthetic and professional values. Do you lean toward minimalism, or does your work celebrate eclectic detail? Are you presenting aspirational perfection, or authentic lived-in spaces?
Captions also play a role. They are not just labels but extensions of voice: witty, poetic, explanatory, or reflective. The right caption can frame an image, turning a simple photograph of a chair into a commentary on proportion, texture, or mood.
Your feed, in short, is a curated autobiography. Done well, it becomes a brand without ever feeling branded.
The Dangers of Social Media
While Instagram can amplify your voice, it can just as easily distort it. To use the platform as a tool rather than be used by it, you need to be aware of its risks.
Trend versus timeless: Instagram thrives on immediacy. The danger is designing for the algorithm rather than for the brief.
The metrics trap: Likes and follows can be seductive, but they do not equal value.
Comparison and insecurity: Instagram is a highlight reel; don’t let it erode confidence.
Trolls and negativity: Not every comment deserves a reply. Protect your energy.
Fake followers: Buying followers erodes credibility and weakens engagement. Quality of the audience always outweighs quantity.
Instagram is, ultimately, a tool. It can elevate your voice, sharpen your narrative, and connect you with opportunities. But only if you use it consciously — aligning your digital identity with your design integrity.
Marketing and Professional Opportunities
Instagram may have begun as a place to share snapshots of daily life, but for designers, it has evolved into a professional tool. It is now both shopfront and showroom: the first place many clients, collaborators, or brands will look before they ever visit your website.
Positioning Yourself
Before considering growth, ask: What am I using this platform for? Goals differ: attracting clients, documenting projects, connecting with peers, or building influence. Each purpose requires a slightly different strategy, but all benefit from clarity.
You are creating an online persona. That doesn’t mean a false one, but a distilled version of your professional self. What do you want to be known for — precision, warmth, experimentation, restraint? Your feed should echo that consistently.
Working with Brands
Collaboration is one of Instagram’s most visible opportunities, but it means different things depending on the role you occupy. As a designer, collaboration might mean being commissioned to create a space, style a showroom, or consult on a project. As an influencer, collaboration usually takes the form of content — integrating a product into your feed, styling it in your own home, or presenting it as part of your narrative.
These are not the same. One is rooted in professional expertise and spatial transformation; the other in digital influence and audience alignment. Both can be valuable, but it’s important to understand the distinction — and to decide which space you want to inhabit, or whether you want to balance both.
On the influencer side, partnerships can take many forms:
Product placement – styling a brand’s item in a photo or reel
Barter arrangements – goods in exchange for exposure (useful at the start, rarely sustainable)
Paid collaborations – direct compensation for featuring products or services
Event participation – attending launches, styling spaces, or offering social coverage
In professional design, by contrast, the collaboration is deeper and longer-term: working with a client or brand to transform an interior, with budgets, briefs, and deliverables measured in months rather than minutes.
The overlap between the two worlds can be tempting. Many designers use influencer collaborations to supplement their practice, raise visibility, or form relationships with brands they admire. But the risk is letting quick collaborations dilute professional identity. A carefully chosen partnership should enhance your brand, not overshadow it.
The most sustainable collaborations — whether influencer-style or professional — are those that feel authentic. They should align with your aesthetic, fit seamlessly into your story, and offer genuine value to your audience.
Monetisation and Influence
Can you make money on Instagram? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is more nuanced: yes, but it requires clarity, consistency, and significant time. Building a meaningful presence means committing to hours of work each week — curating images, responding to comments, filming reels, experimenting with formats, and maintaining steady engagement.
At this point, it’s worth pausing to recognise the distinction between influencer work and professional interior design practice. Both may share a platform, but they are fundamentally different.
As an interior designer, your income comes from clients, projects, and expertise applied to real spaces. As an influencer, your income is tied to your digital presence, your ability to hold attention, and your alignment with brands.
Some designers — myself included (check out my Instagram here) — have explored both spaces. The influencer world can be rewarding: collaborations, visibility, and the satisfaction of sharing design ideas with a wider audience. But it also comes with compromises: frequent content creation, constant visibility, and the risk of your narrative being shaped by commercial priorities rather than design ones.
This doesn’t make one path more valuable than the other, but it’s important to be clear about your own goals. Do you want to be known for the spaces you create, the content you share, or both? For some, Instagram will remain a digital portfolio supporting a design practice. For others, it may become the practice itself. And for a few, it can balance both — but only with careful curation and discipline.
An influencer is not defined by follower count alone. True influence is the ability to shape perception and inspire action. Even a modest account with a few thousand loyal followers can have more commercial value than an account ten times the size filled with disengaged or irrelevant audiences. This is why pruning inauthentic followers, as I’ve done, can actually increase reach and opportunity.
If you are considering monetisation, the real question to ask is not simply “Can I make money here?” but “What value am I offering, and to whom?” Whether it’s inspiration, education, or lifestyle, that value is what makes your feed attractive — both to those who follow you and to the brands who may want to work with you.
Opportunity and Restraint
Instagram is not a replacement for skill, but it is a multiplier. It can amplify your work, accelerate connections, and position you in conversations you might otherwise never access. But it is not the only path to success.
Many established designers — with long careers, word-of-mouth reputations, or strong networks — thrive without relying on social media at all. If the thought of constant posting and algorithms leaves you cold, stepping back is an entirely valid choice.
That said, it is difficult to imagine the design industry without social media today. Clients research on Instagram before making contact; brands scout talent online; trends spread globally in days. Ignoring it completely can mean sitting slightly outside the conversation.
Ultimately, clarity is key. Do you want Instagram to be your gallery, your portfolio, your marketplace, or simply a digital scrapbook? Each option is valid, but each requires a different level of commitment. The best use of Instagram is intentional: aligning the platform with your goals, whether they are professional, creative, or commercial.
Restraint matters too. Not every opportunity deserves a yes. Not every trend needs to be chased. True authority comes from coherence — knowing what fits your narrative, what strengthens your brand, and what should be left to others.
A Practical Guide to Curating a Cohesive Feed
A strong Instagram presence doesn’t happen by accident. Just as an interior requires planning, sequencing, and a guiding vision, so too does your feed. Cohesion is the difference between a scatter of images and a recognisable narrative.
Define your look and feel – Establish palette, lighting style, and recurring motifs. Recognisability matters more than perfection.
Balance overview and detail – Use wide shots as anchors, close-ups in carousels for depth.
Vary scale and rhythm – Mix quiet posts with bold ones; give the eye moments of rest.
Use editing for cohesion, not disguise – Consistent tone unifies; over-filtering distracts.
Think in sequences, not singles – Consider your nine-post grid as a gallery composition.
Reels and stories as dynamic layers – Grid for permanence, reels for movement, stories for immediacy.
Curate, edit, repeat – Growth is ongoing. Archive what no longer fits. Evolve intentionally.
Curation is, at heart, an act of editing. The strongest feeds aren’t those with the most content, but those with the clearest voice. And just like interiors, the magic often lies not in what you add, but in what you choose to leave out.
Conclusion – Design Integrity in a Digital World
Instagram has become one of the defining tools of contemporary design culture. It is part gallery, part sketchbook, part stage — a place where ideas are tested, aesthetics refined, and identities shaped in real time. Its power lies in its accessibility: anyone can share, anyone can curate, anyone can build a voice.
But its risks are just as real. The platform can tempt you into chasing trends, mistaking metrics for meaning, or diluting your design identity in pursuit of reach. It can also amplify comparison and insecurity if left unchecked.
The challenge, then, is to use Instagram with intention. To see it not simply as a vanity platform but as an extension of design practice — one that reflects the principles you already know: balance, harmony, rhythm, contrast, narrative. A strong feed is not about perfection, but about clarity of voice.
It’s also worth remembering that social media is not mandatory. Many respected designers thrive without it, relying on reputation, networks, or press. If the pace of Instagram feels overwhelming, stepping back is an entirely valid choice. Yet it is difficult to imagine the industry without it today.
Clients research on Instagram before making contact; brands scout talent through feeds; trends spread globally in days. To ignore it completely is to sit slightly outside the conversation.
The most productive way forward is not to let Instagram dictate your design, but to let design dictate how you use Instagram. Whether you treat it as a portfolio, a public sketchbook, or a marketing tool, the principle remains the same: let your integrity lead.
In the end, your feed should not just show what you create. It should tell the story of how you see.
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