Imagine if every time you switched on the lights, Rorschachian patterns started dancing on the wall, gently chiding you for using energy. Would you be more vigilant about flipping off the lights?

That’s the hope of Celine Marcq, a textiles designer at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, in London. Her master’s thesis, Inconspicuous Matter, is wallpaper she describes as “ambient displays” that can visualize electrical energy usage. Turn on your floor lamp, and the wall springs to life — a playful, if stylized, entreat to mind your carbon footprint.