Education is required if one is interested in pursuing an interior design career. To often do people assume that interior design is simply the decoration of an interior. It is much more than just decorating, interior designers create safe, functional, and visually appealing spaces. To create a safe space interior designers must go through years of schooling to learn how to design spaces that are safe for the public. During the education process, students also learn about the steps they must take during the design process in order to create an efficient and functioning space. During this process students will learn how to conduct research, think critically, analyze spaces, propose new ideas; and at the end of this process they will learn how to present their creation. This design process that students learn during their four years of education is the key element that decorators lack.
Different from interior designers, decorators do not need an education to pursue their profession. Decorators generally are not concerned with the functionality or environmental impact a space has on their clients day to day life, for they are literally only decorating a space which is something that everyone could do. The TV networks tend to call decorators interior designers but they do not have the education nor the licensing or skill set that is required of a true interior designer. Interior designers must have a minimum of four years of college education, two years of experience under a licensed interior designer, and must pass the NCIDQ exam in order to become a licensed interior designer.
In order for the interior design profession to be recognized as is its own separate profession and not grouped with decorating, I believe it is important that design professionals reach out to the general public and educate them about the differences of the two professions. I think this can be done by using social media outlets such as Facebook, blogs, Twitter, forums, etc. I think one of the most important changes that need to be made is to stop decorators from using the interior design title. I believe that if decorators continue to claim to be designers this confusion between the two professions will continue and the general public will keep associating interior design with decorating.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
What Interior Design Means to Me...
Before starting school I was just like the average person, not fully understanding the difference between designers and decorators. I thought that interior designers had basically the same job as decorators, only picking out things like paint colors, pillows, or window treatments in an attempt to make a space look nice; I never realized all that the job of an interior designer entails. After starting school and studying more about interior design I now realize how wrong my assumptions were. Although interior designers are involved with the work mentioned above, there is much more time, thinking, and planning that needs to happen before a designer goes to a store and picks out all of the final finishes-and this is the part that most people do not realize.
Interior designers must know how to plan and layout a space that will work best for the client’s wants and needs. Interior designers must also know about the materials and products that will be used to create and furnish the space, and how texture, color, lighting and other factors interact within a space. Although designers have freedom to design almost anything they want, they also have to keep in mind the structural requirements of their plans, the health and safety issues, building codes, and many other technical aspects. Even though this part of a designer’s job is a lot of work, most people would rather just have the responsibility of picking out the final finishes and going to the store to spend their client’s money, rather than being a part of the actual design process; this is the part I enjoy the most-the part where design is created.
To me, one of the most exciting parts in the design process is the very end of the project. When you get to see the final product, all of your hard work has paid off and you finally are able to have the satisfaction from transforming a space that has come from nothing into something that has style but is still functional, is remarkable. Whether you are designing someone’s home or office, you are a part of that person’s everyday life through the design decisions you had made, and that is exciting. I thrive on this excitement and use it to motivate my creativity.
Interior designers must know how to plan and layout a space that will work best for the client’s wants and needs. Interior designers must also know about the materials and products that will be used to create and furnish the space, and how texture, color, lighting and other factors interact within a space. Although designers have freedom to design almost anything they want, they also have to keep in mind the structural requirements of their plans, the health and safety issues, building codes, and many other technical aspects. Even though this part of a designer’s job is a lot of work, most people would rather just have the responsibility of picking out the final finishes and going to the store to spend their client’s money, rather than being a part of the actual design process; this is the part I enjoy the most-the part where design is created.
To me, one of the most exciting parts in the design process is the very end of the project. When you get to see the final product, all of your hard work has paid off and you finally are able to have the satisfaction from transforming a space that has come from nothing into something that has style but is still functional, is remarkable. Whether you are designing someone’s home or office, you are a part of that person’s everyday life through the design decisions you had made, and that is exciting. I thrive on this excitement and use it to motivate my creativity.
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