Frequently Asked Questions
- What does an interior designer do?
- What makes a good designer?
- How do designers charge for their services?
- What does design integrity mean?
- Why is lighting so important?
- What makes a design work?
- What is the difference between residential and commercial design?
- What do sustainable design and being green mean?
- What is universal design?
What does an interior designer do?
An interior designer helps clients realize their vision. A person hires a designer for any one or combination of services:
- Create and define a design concept.
- Guide a project from concept to completion.
- Provide access to distinctive furnishings and materials; provide professional guidance in product selection.
- Coordinate interior elements including flooring, wall finishes, architectural detailing, lighting, furnishings and window treatments with an understanding of style, scale, proportion and composition.
- Design site-specific elements such as built-in cabinetry, stair railings, tile and stone patterns in continuity with the design concept.
- Organize construction and delivery schedules, review contractor proposals and budgets and oversee the implementation of designs, always keeping an eye on detail but never losing site of the big picture.
For further details see design services.
What makes a good designer?
A good designer is a combination of artist, scientist, technician, business person and above all is dedicated to giving high quality professional service. A good designer also has:
- Innate creative abilities
- Acquired knowledge of art history and decorative styles
- Mastery of design principles
- Knowledge of products, materials and resources
- Understanding of modern technology
- Ability to ask the right questions
- Respect for client’s vision
- Respect for client confidentiality
- Ability to work on time and on budget
- Ethical business practices.
How do designers charge for their services?
Designers, like other professionals are different from one another in their combinations of talents, skills, knowledge, experience, personalities and reputations. There is no such thing as a "typical" fee for an interior designer. Most residential and many commercial designers use one or a combination of the following methods:
| Fixed Fee | A total fee applies to the complete range of services from conceptual development to final installation |
| Hourly Fee | Compensation is based on actual time expended by the designer on a project or specific service |
| Cost Plus | A designer purchases materials, furnishings etc., at cost and sells to the client at the designer's cost plus a specified percentage agreed to with the client |
It is becoming more common now for designers to charge an hourly rate for design services and cost plus for products the designer purchases for the client.
The above information is excerpted from www.ASID.org (design services / costs)
What does design integrity mean?
I define design integrity as:
- Attention to detail
- Use of high quality materials
- Master craftsmanship
- Respect for a building’s architecture and surroundings
- Respect for the environment in selection of products and processes
- Respect for humanitarian issues regarding fair trade and child labor.
Why is lighting so important?
At its most basic, lighting enables us to perform our routine tasks of working, reading, cooking, grooming and finding our way around. But lighting today means much more than that. A designer can also use light to:
- Add depth and definition to architecture
- Highlight artwork or furnishings
- Draw customers to products in a retail environment
- Create mood and drama.
Most importantly, good lighting makes people look and feel good!
What makes a design work?
A design works when the details are orchestrated mindfully with a clear vision of the big picture. Every color, texture, piece of furniture or decorative object is part of a visual language that affects how a room is experienced. The proportions and scale of objects to the interior architecture must be harmonious. Just as a composer arranges notes to create a musical composition, a designer orchestrates forms, color, pattern and light to convey the look and feel the client envisioned.
What is the difference between residential and commercial design?
Good design is good design. The skills involved in interpreting a client's ideas into a realized environment are the same whether the space is a home or a business.
When the designs are done the final test is always the same: Does the space express the original design concept? Does it convey the appropriate image? Does it function? How does a human feel inrelationship to it? Is it beautiful?
Of particular concern in commercial design is the following:
- Materials used must meet functional requirements such as high-traffic durability
- Designs and products need to meet building and safety codes
- Handicap accessibility
- Business-specific issues of space planning and integration of equipment and technology
- Establishing identifiable design imagery that builds and enhances business image
- Design that increases productivity and profits.
What do sustainable design and being green mean?
The classic definition of sustainable design means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In general, products are considered green (or greenish) when they:
- are manufactured with minimal or no use of chemicals
- are produced and distributed with minimal energy resources
- use reclaimed materials or renewable resources
- use of recycled materials in production
- recycling of waste products in post production.
As a designer, I strive to design responsibly with materials that endure beyond us. We cannot sustain a throw-away society. We need to focus on quality not quantity, to stop over-consuming, to buy less but to invest in well made, well designed products that will last a long time.
What is universal design?
Universal design is the design of products, communications and environments to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Universal design emerged from "barrier-free" or "accessible design" and "assistive technology" that often resulted in separate and stigmatizing solutions. Universal design strives to be a broad-spectrum solution that helps everyone, not just people with disabilities. As life expectancy rises and modern medicine has increased the survival rate of those with significant injuries, illnesses and birth defects, there is a growing interest in universal design.
“Design well and design responsibly, whether that is the scale of a door handle or a city master plan.” -Norman Foster, Architect