The road to becoming a master interior designer is a voyage of discovery, implementation, and reflection. They start by laying a solid groundwork in the fundaments, including proportion, balance, color theory, and sense of space. This bedrock structure is the scaffolding for all other creative decisions. Lessons learned upstream center on the act of observing, inviting students to examine and evaluate space with a discerning eye; to know how things relate one to another; and determine how choices will affect human experience. Training the analytical perspective in this way enables students to think about a project deliberatively instead of instinctively, laying the foundation for professional development.
As students advance, hands-on projects take center stage in learning. They range from small room re-designs to complete space planning exercises, all intended to provide practice and simulate actual situations. This ‘learning-by-experiencing’ ensures immediate results giving rise to design issues that need to be addressed – an organic approach to learning with real-life examples. As students finish projects one step at a time, they build confidence in their ability to steer the course of heavy decisions with purposefulness.
The cooperative “journey” components are just as significant. Studio days and group crits as well as workshopping together enables participants to see other options, hear peer feedback and develop their eye. This service-learning foments vocabulary as well as the professional relationships which will eventually lead to working with clients and within firm structure. The back-and-forth of critique and revision fosters resilience, and flexibility are important qualities for any designer working under real-world constraints.
One of the stepping stones on these voyage is growing your own design voice. As they work through these strategies, and continually reflected on their work by applying multiple styles-be-damned techniques, the students actually start to come into their own aesthetic. They not only learn to apply principles of design but also to argue for and defend their decisions. Having the capacity to consciously make informed decisions enables students to design their projects with confidence so that each space is not only functional, but reflective of who they are and what they envisioned.
In the end, the student experience in interior design is life-changing. It cultivates craft as well as disposition, it equips students for imaginative and resourceful engagement with a whole range of problems. Through the synthesis of theory, practice, feedback and reflection educators also will be prepared to produce spaces that are visually engaging, functional and meaningful. The evolution is not about learning a set of tricks; it’s to develop the judgment, confidence and imagination required when you’re on the job as a professional designer.
