Tyler Wisler

Major

Interior Design

Bio

New York City interior designer Tyler Wisler grew up in Hawaii knowing he wanted a creative arts career but unsure of the specific field. He started college at another university in the D.C. area as a general art design major. When other students saw how Tyler transformed his dorm room, they immediately suggested he should consider interior design.

Transferring to the New York School of Interior Design (NSID) for his second year, Tyler earned a certificate while working full time. When he decided to return to D.C. for his bachelor’s, he discovered Marymount’s CIDA-accredited interior design program. Full semester course loads and summer school enabled him to finish his degree program and walk with his graduating class in just two years.

“One of the really great things was that Marymount had a sister fashion design program,” Tyler says. “Hanging out with my peers who were fashion design majors was a great source of creativity – seeing design from a different angle. I was even a model in the Portfolio In Motion show!”

“What I also remember clearly about my experience at Marymount was always feeling supported by the faculty,” he continues. “I never felt the stress of anticipating harsh criticism during a project presentation. I experienced constructive critiquing which opens your eyes. The professional design world is full of criticism and you have to learn how to discover when it is relevant and when it is not. If you can believe in your work – and explain why it achieved what you set out to do –  that is key to developing confidence in your own aesthetic and your creative voice.”

After graduation, Tyler’s first big break into professional interior design was with Michael Braverman Design in NYC. “I was very fortunate because it was a small firm when I started, so I had the opportunity to work in every aspect of high end project management from initial site measurement to design meetings to working with contractors, from site supervision to the final folding of a linen hand towel.”

When Tyler landed a spot on HGTV’s “Design Star,” the experience accelerated the next stage of his career – as founder of his own brand and design firm Tyler Wisler Home. Now considered one of New York’s most influential designers, Tyler has been featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America”and NBC’s “George To The Rescue,” and seen in Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, New York Spaces, and The Washington Post. A Pinterest “Pinfluencer,” Tyler is an in-demand speaker at premier national home expo shows, has collaborated with companies like Kohler and Benjamin Moore, and last year launched a line of eco-luxury bedding.

The MU alum is an enthusiastic practitioner of Marymount’s Common Ground mission to develop students who enter their career with a purpose to give back. Tyler is active in philanthropy for many causes, including New York’s Housing Works’ Design on a Dime and an architectural and design industry-sponsored event (ASID, AIA and IIDA) for NYC college students that Tyler was asked to plan and lead. His advice for today’s design majors, once they have their foundation, is “use your social media tools to start defining and promoting your brand, build relationships, plan on working hard, diversify and hustle!”