Project Part 3: The Real World- Interior Design Students

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The Real World: Interior Design Students features insight into the countless hours poured into the planning process of our projects. The dedication, computer and hand-rendering skills, and commitment and passion are all seen in this video. The media does not often portray the intense planning and passion during the design process. This process is where the designer thrives and lives; the end result is brings satisfaction but would not be made possible without the countless scraps of trace paper.

Project Part 2: More than Pillow Pickers

During my interview with architect and interior designer Steve Ellinger, he mentioned that “Pillow Pickers” was a common term used on television to refer to interior designers not too long ago. I recently saw a new show on HGTV called “Holmes on Homes”. This show features a built, bald man with a tool built who goes into homes and evaluates structural, plumbing, and mechanical problems that are causing harm to its occupants. This struck me as the extreme opposite of the decorating “Pillow Pickers”. The role of the interior designer is actually to provide a bridge between these two ideas. The designer is knowledgeable of both building codes and color harmony.

I designed this pillow to represent the merging of these two ideas. This idea further relates to my research questions of the design process. The pillow, typically an accessory added to finish a space, is covered with building codes and standards that are the foundation behind the design. Knowledge of these aspects is crucial to any design project, but is not represented as knowledge that the typical interior design possesses.

Project Part 1: The process lays within the design.

This poster was created to advertise the design process. “The design process has a certain mystique. It is hard to describe moments of inspiration. But architecture is both art and a science. The architectural design process integrates analysis with intuition.” (Shoshkes 8)These sketches merged in between the letters of the word design. Moments of inspiration through design are carried out sketching, along with research. These sketches are from research and development of a structure that I designed for a home in Nova Scotia Canada. Transparent in the background lays model of the structure, another step in the design process. After these steps comes the technical construction drawings and eventually planning for more detailed interiors.

Shoshkes, Ellen. The Design Process. New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1989. Print.