The Importance of Design Education and Professionalism

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I am a very strong believer in that one should be as educated in their field as they can be, and that nobody should ever stop you from absorbing more information. I believe in continuing your education and expanding your knowledge, so that you can tackle any problem given to you. I think that being educated in design will benefit you regardless to whether you are an actual designer or not. There is a lot more to the field than anybody whom is uneducated thinks there is. The first misconception is that Interior Design is entirely about decorating. People are mislead to believe that because interior design is influenced some what by color and furniture, it only take the education of an interior decorator to do it... which is no education. 

I am very passionate about design, as well as the education that comes along with it. I would not trade my education for anything because I have learned so much valuable information that is going to benefit me immensely throughout my career. I don't understand why people would want to become licensed without first being educated about the field they are going into.

Take myself, for example. I started at USF to get a degree in architecture and three years into it decided I wanted to get a degree in interior design first, so that I would be knowledge about every aspect of the building rather than just the structure. I feel that with my degree in interior design, going into architecture school will mean much more for my education. I want to be fully educated about everything regarding my profession, so I can relate it to my future. It is incredibly valuable to me concerning my future, and I will utilize it my entire life. 

I believe that professionalism is a must within the work environment. It is very important to come off as someone respectable with knowledge in their field. All too often design professionals make a casual approach, and I believe that in order to be successful, one needs to come off confident and professional until you get to know your client and understand what kind of demeanor to take with them. 

I also believe that professionalism will help you gain more respectable clients and allow you to broaden your clientele, because you know how to present and conduct yourself. I feel that in a professional environment you have more respect for yourself as well as for the client. With a professional attitude, the work you present to your client will be taken with much more consideration as well as have much more value because of the way you present yourself.

                Outside of the work environment it is also very important to take a professional approach. Not only are you representing yourself, you are standing for what you have worked towards your entire life, your career. In order to maintain a good reputation, I believe it is important to act respectable and maintain moral and ethical perspective on whatever project you are working on, or client you are working with.

The Value of Interior Design

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When thinking about what Interior Design means to me, so many subjects, issues, and emotions rush through my head. I initially think about the definition from ASID, that Interior Design is about providing for the health, safety and wellbeing of the user of the space. With that set aside, Interior Design is so much more to me. When designing a space, so much is simultaneously being thought about, including functionality of the space, aesthetics of the space, but most importantly, the ability for the space to be safely occupied by an individual, no matter what their special needs may be. To me, Interior Design involves the entire interior of a space or building, and everything that makes up that space, including that from the environment to the psychology. By taking advantage of your available resources and utilizing all accumulated knowledge, designing an interior should solve any problems involving function, user ability, accessibility, and aesthetics.

An entirely too common misconception about Interior Design is that it is driven around decorating the space. There is an industry for that; it is called Interior Decorating, not Interior Design. Because what we do is so closely related to that of architecture, the idea that Interior Design is an entirely different profession is almost inconceivable, leading to one that is unknowledgeable to the profession, to assume Interior Design is decorating.

It is rather annoying to constantly hear something that you have worked so hard towards called or considered something it is not. Having to continually explain the difference between a designer and a decorator to those whom could one day hire me, leads me to believe the majority of my clients wont understand the value or quality of my work. Although I have always wanted to further my education in architecture, since I have learned more about the industry, and fought for Interior Design to remain a regulated profession, I almost want the degree just so Ill be taken more seriously by others I will be working with.

Many wonder why I didn’t just go for a degree in architecture. What many don’t understand is the value of a degree in Interior Design and how it will benefit me as both a student and a professional in the field of architecture. Interior Design focuses on the entire interior of the space, as explained before, where architecture involves the structure as well as the exterior of the space. Being educated in as many aspects within the field will help to produce a more stable and reliable project, that you know will be suitable as well as enjoyable for the user.