How the Industry Works

Speaker: Ryann Aoucar


The interior designer works the broker- this is your first contact with the client, its important to befriend them and be knowledgable about their interests, such as golf.


It is also important to befriend the architect, they can help you NETWORK. Networking is key to a successful interior design career. You must be good with people, because not only do you work for them, but you work with them. More than likely you will have a variety of clients, anywhere from chefs to law firms to families. 

"It is not what we do, it is WHY we do it"

It is important to have specializations. It is not good to have a very broad knowledge of interior design... but to have things that you are very knowledgable about and fantastic at. 


First meetings can be formal or at random places, such as horse races, restaurants, or parks. You need to know the building and land lord. There are (AA-A-B-C)  type buildings. Help client picture his spaces based on #'s and standards. For desk Crits you need to know furniture standards. You will deal with furniture dealers and model builders, it is important that you be their friends! During demolition phase you work with either demolitions contractors or general contractors. Create a plan to help the general contractor understand what you would like done.
   Next you work with a Engineer, they control where your light switches, actual lighting, etc go.  When you start working on the ceiling plan you will more than likely work with lighting manufacturers and a lighting designer. 
   Lastly, to finish up the project, we get to the good stuff! We get to work with materials and product designers, also with artists. It is extremely important in this phase to know EVERY material WELL. We get to start the decorating process and choose furniture and accessories- which means working with furniture dealers and makers. It is important to go to furniture shows, such as the one in Las Vegas, to be updated on the latest fashion. Next, you will work with a graphic designer for things like hospitality, in which you would need bathroom, check in, etc signs. And finally, art instillations, which involves going to galleries, and dealing with art dealers and sometimes the actual artist himself. 

Dorothy Draper: Style Icon

Dorothy Draper, one of the most influential interior designers to ever come on the scene

Dorothy Draper-esque Chest 

Dorothy Draper Window Treatments

 The Quitandinah Palace & Casino

Greenbriar

Green Design and Dorothy Draper

   Sustainability, otherwise know as green design, focuses on using products that protect the environment while conserving energy and looking great, for future generations. Solar Panels and EnergyStar Appliances are just a few of the products that can be used to cut down on not only your carbon footprint, but your electric bill. Now, don't be frightened when you see that these things generally cost more initially, because they will pay for themselves in no time. Supposedly global warming will increase by 70% from 2002 until 2030, and then we will all be wishing we would of gotten solar panels and switched out our appliances. We don't want our carbon footprint to be the cause of global warming!
   All this talk of global warming and how to cut down on your carbon footprint may scare you into thinking interior design is not something to be messed with, but thats NOT true. Now, more than ever, interior design is an important almost necessity. Designers are trained to make your house as cost effective, gorgeous, and energy wise as possible. We can help you cut down on your energy bill!
  A major way to do this is by switching all your old lightbulbs with florescent ones. Not only do the florescent bulbs last longer, but they are more energy efficient and cost effective. Our own Art and Architecture building saved 40% when switching to florescent bulbs. Another trick of the trade is to harvest your own lighting. As in use natural daylight, but make sure to use indirect daylight and not direct because when daylight directly flows into your room it can cause damage to furniture over time and cause the room to be hot, making your ac bill go up. It is also smart to get some sort of automatic controls for your light switches, that way you are not wasting energy by lighting a room not being used.
   On a different note, when choosing finishes, it is always nature friendly and cost effective to use stuff from your own region. Instead of vinyl flooring, use linoleum, and always use natural fibers.

"It is just as disastrous to have the wrong accessories in your room as it is to wear sport shoes with a formal dress" Dorothy Draper

Dorothy Draper was the interior design queen of color texture and pattern. She loved to have her masterpieces be decorative, applied, temporary, classic, fashion oriented, stylistic, trivial, feminine, and surface oriented. However, the picture opposing hers was just the opposite, it was architectural, sleek, clean lined, contemporary, inherent, integrated, pertanent, and masculine. It was more like this:

"Ornament is a waste of the energy of labor, and therefore a waste of health... today it also means squandered material and capitol... to the modern person" Loos 

We also touched on wallpaper and its stigma- it is VERY important and can make a room. Along with a themed room in Barcelona, made to feel like you were under water.

Interior Design 101: Week One

    Monday in class we touched on a multitude of different must know things about interior design, and working in the field. It was so exciting to finally focus in on what I want to do! From here on out we will listen to speakers on Monday and Wednesday, blog about it, and then discuss on Fridays.

   We learned about about different liabilities, an unexpected one being RUGS, when furniture is place around them people are more likely to trip and hurt themselves. We briefly touched on sustainability and the importance of going green. An important thing Professor Geren keeps repeating is identifying what you are good at and improving your weaknesses, but playing up your strengths.

   What's more complicated- commercial or residential? Seems like a no brainer- commercial, but we still managed to debate this. We live in residential areas therefore already have a sense for what is acceptable, however, commercial comes with many different requirements that we must understand. Examples would be 24 hour buildings, such as hospitals and hotels. We must learn to design in practical and feasible ways, in order to truly accommodate our clients.

Different Design Specializations:

HEALTH CARE: There are many clinical areas, such as operation rooms, patient rooms, cafeterias. Plus pharmacies, laboratories, ERs, and ICUs. These are perfect examples of 24/7 spaces.
HOSPITALITY: Once again, these are 24/7 places like resorts, hotels, boutique hotels, time shares, model homes, bars, golf clubs, and retail stores. Las Vegas is the mecca of all hospitality design. Restaurants can be a specialization of its own because of the different factors, like formal, moderate, fast food, drive in, and the major part of their design- kitchens!
CORPORATE: law firms, offices, retailers
GOVERNMENT: they buy the lowest cost furniture and mostly use GSA, which stands for general service administration
INSTITUTIONAL: schools, gyms
ECCLESIASTICAL: church's, theater's, museums

Definitions:

ASID- American Society of Interior Designers, established 1975, "a community of people driven by a common love for design and committed to the belief that interior design, as a service to people, is a powerful, multi-faceted profession that can positively change people's lives" www.asid.org
NCIDQ- "non-profit organization, established 1972, involved in examination and certification of interior designers" www.ncidq.org
IDEC- Interior Design Educators Council, established 1963,"The mission of The Interior Design Educators Council, Inc. is the advancement of interior design education, scholarship, and service." www.idec.org
CIDA- Council for Interior Design Accreditation, established over 35 years ago, "this knowledge-driven organization has been passionately committed to the ongoing enrichment of the interior design profession through identifying, developing and promoting quality standards for the education of entry-level interior designers, and then encouraging, accrediting and supporting educational programs to aspire to those standards." http://accredit-id.org
IIDA- International Interior Design Association, established 1994, "strives to create a strong niche for the most talented and visionary Interior Design professionals, to elevate the profession to the level it warrants, and to lead the way for the next generation of Interior Design innovators"  www.iida.org
AIDA- American Institute of Architects, established 1857, "serves as the voice of the architecture profession and the resource for our members in service to society" www.aia.org

Final Thought

    What brings relevance to an Interior Design degree over someone with no degree but good taste? Easy- someone with a degree has been trained to handle all different design specializations, can accommodate any special needs, can create a SAFE space, and is not only focused on making a space "pretty" but can make it functional. My question is this, what are the terms and conditions that make interior designer have to work with an architect overseeing when we have mostly the same training as they do?

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