Recently, a friend sent me the link to the winning entry of the student video competition, “Why Interior Design Matters,” sponsored by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ), the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), and Interiors & Sources magazine. I give frequent presentations on the value of design and found the video to be a breath of fresh air. Its approach is fresh and creative, in a way that I have not seen before.

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After my conversation with Denise Guerin, president of the Interior Design Education Council (IDEC), I took a closer look at the IDEA-Line, to learn how the program helps practitioners navigate to graduate programs.

A training session at the 2011 IDEC conference.

A trend is clearly in the making. Practitioners are starting to teach interior design or elect to go back to school to hone their skills. But many have a hard time figuring out which graduate program best fits their needs. And no one knows what to expect when reentering academia. Enter the IDEA-Line, a resource for practitioners looking for graduate programs in North America. It also encourages practitioners to talk to advisers and students about the challenges of going back to school, and identify the rewards and pitfalls of teaching in a design school. Read more…

Last month, attendees at the annual Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) conference, were shown the best films chosen from this year’s Interior Design Education Video Competition. Aiming to change the public perception of the profession, the competition asked students to demonstrate the quality of interior design education and industry standards. This year’s theme:  “How is the public’s health, safety and welfare protection enhanced by the skills of fully prepared health care interior design practitioners.”

The winning video, “Interior Design and Health Care,” was submitted by Louisiana State University students Colette DeJean, Leigh Hardy, Ryan Weilenman, Sarah Tull, and Alyse Lambert, with the guidance of faculty advisor, Danielle Johnson. It builds a strong business case for the process of design and its impact on health care. The description of the seven-stage design process is a logical progression, which would make sense to health care practitioners and administrators, as well as practicing designers. It is an excellent promotion for the value of design, and its impact on the customer, including patients and staff. As I watched the film, I kept wishing that design firms would make similar presentations to their potential clientele across all market segments. As the students have discovered, it’s a great, shorthand tool, to communicate visual messages. Read more…

Denise Guerin at the IDEC’s annual conference, photo: Sarah R. Donahue.

I recently sat down with Denise Guerin, 2010-2011 president of the Interior Design Education Council (IDEC), after the organization’s annual meeting. She shared her concerns and optimism for the education of young designers, the need for more qualified instructors, and how practitioners can make the transition into teaching. While many interior design programs require educators to hold at least a master’s degree in order to teach, IDEC is suggesting that practitioners with years of practical experience should have the opportunity to share their knowledge with college students. Much of our conversation stemmed from IDEC’s white paper, Path from Practitioner to Professor, which makes formal recommendations to directors of interior design programs.

Georgy Olivieri: Why did IDEC find it important to make formal recommendations regarding the teaching of interior design?

Denise Guerin: There is a shortage of qualified interior design instructors, and in order to address and solve this problem we must first ask ourselves how we got to this point. From our perspective, there are three reasons that explain how this shortage came about:

• First, the interior design profession has grown in popularity; therefore, we are seeing more applicants for interior design programs in schools and universities.
• Second, the business world is recognizing the importance of syncing design with company goals and objectives.
• Third, as many Baby Boomers begin to retire, the number of qualified professionals, those with a master’s degree, is shrinking, yet the number of programs is growing. Additionally, many institutions are shifting interior design from two-year to four-year programs, which have increased the need for teachers in both public and private institutions.

GO: How can this void be filled? Read more…

IFI DFIE Declaration Signing, February 19, 2011. Photo Courtesy of IFI, Credit: Dennis Rainaldi Photography.

The International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) met in February, in New York City, to assess the results of the Design Frontiers: The Interiors Entity (DFIE) Global Survey. Respondents from 75 countries gave the assembled much to talk about. In the end, the group came to a consensus and put together the IFI Declaration which explores the value, relevance, responsibility, culture, business, knowledge, and identity of Interior Architecture/Design. IFI president, Shashi Caan, led the symposium with a hundred global leaders and design experts from 30 nations present. After this ground-breaking dialogue, I sat down with Shashi to discuss the future of our profession.

Georgy Olivieri: To what do you attribute DFIE’s success?

Shashi Caan: We were strategic in our selection of attendees for the symposium. We ensured there was a balanced representation from around the world with different generations, specializations and facets of our professional community, including manufacturing, coming together in a cohesive process. The meeting was carefully programmed and designed to be led by the participants, for the participants, and of the participants. They had been previously involved in the earlier phases of the project through the global survey and/or regional think tanks. They were engaged and felt ownership of the outcomes or declarations. Read more…

In today’s cloudy economic market, there is a silver lining. In the midst of the downturn, a remarkably bright and capable crop of new design talent has emerged. These young designers have proven to be willing and able to assume the responsibilities handed to them by senior designers. As a result, the young guns are deeply involved in a broad range of design projects and they are learning to work effectively with management, clients, and each other. In my opinion, they are years ahead of where their predecessors were when they started their careers.

As a case in point, I’d like to share here with you an interview I did with Lynette Klein and Liz Potokar of Perkins+Will: Eva Maddox Branded Environments. Their sense of confidence, initiative, leadership, and commitment to their work as well as to clients are impressive. I took the two to lunch, to learn more about them and their ideas for the design industry.

Georgy Olivieri: What are your current titles and responsibilities?

Liz Potokar: I was hired as a Designer 1 after graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 2008, with my Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. In this position I assist in the preparation of presentation materials and digital models for clients, help with the preparation of plans, sections, and elevations, as well as furniture, color, finish, and material research, specifications, and selection.

Lynette Klein: I also started as a Designer 1, when I was hired after graduating from the University of Nebraska, in 2006, with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. Two years ago, I was promoted to a Designer 2, which includes similar responsibilities to a Designer 1, but now I actively participate in the preparation of client presentations, documentation, details, and schedules. Read more…