Interior Design Career: its all about optimum space management

Interior designing is the art of optimum space management according to a client’s requirements, within the available budget and materials.
What makes for a good interior designer?

A basic degree or a diploma in interior design offered by several reputed schools.This provides for the technical knowledge on buildings and structures. It also trains one to plan spaces, ventilation, electrical circuits and installations, drainage and water supply, air conditioning and heating systems.

However, as Veena Arunkumar, proprietor, Hallmark Interiors, and practising interior designer puts it,“The basic qualification is an aptitude for sketches with an eye for detail and creativity.This should be combined with an ability to plan textures, colours and space. Once trained he should be able to handle a project independently from A to Z, dealing with the client, co-ordinating with the vendor, bill checking, estimation, sourcing of the product, site supervision etc.” This brings us to the possession of myriad skills that are more important:

Creative skills - ability for good visualisation and good sketches

Software skills - with computers having invaded the field of interior design, the drawing board has become obsolete. Drawings are executed using software packages like CAD, 3D Studio Max, Photoshop and Corel Draw.While Photoshop and Corel Draw make the art of presentation that much easier, 3D Studio Max can create a walk-in effect for a project

Communication skills - Perhaps one of the most important, he/she should be able to expound the design to his colleagues and client alike. He should also be able to communicate with contractors in order that the design is implemented as per requirement Designs on decor
A design background - he should have knowledge of other designers’ work An understanding of materials - he should know materials and the context of use An Investigative mind - he should look out for details and have a good understanding of materials/ forms/ colours/ design Should have lot of patience with clients and workers alike Time bound - one should be ready to meet stringent deadlines since every design initiative is time bound.

He should be able to handle the stress that of working within a particular timeframe. Anish Shaikh, student of Academy of Applied Arts, Dadar, says,“An important characteristic is the ability to learn new things and keep himself updated. He should be pro-active, visit websites, read books, visit exhibitions and always be in touch with the market so as to have knowledge of materials available, new materials introduced etc.”

According to Payal More, a student of JJ School of Arts,“If your institute does not teach Computer Aided Design it is better to do the course from a reputed institute which will award you a certificate on completion. An additional skill like doing a course in Vaastu Shastra also makes sense since nowadays lots of clients want to design their homes according to the principles of Vaastu.”
Opportunities and scope

An interior designer need not be an architect to be successful,though in Mumbai there are very few exclusive interior designers’ offices. Most of them are architects who have trained themselves to become interior designers too. As in many other fields, theoretical knowledge has to be backed by plenty of hands-on experience.

However as Veena puts it,“If an interior designer wants to get the right kind of exposure he should work under an interior designer. Or if under an architect, then someone who has a separate department with interior designers working on interior designing projects.If on the other hand he were to work in an architect’s office, only on the drawing board, it is going to dilute his efforts.”

Earning levels can start from Rs 2,500 as an apprentice and go upto Rs 15,000 as a design co-coordinator (as a designer’s assistant). A person whose work is very good can even be made an associate/ partner. One can also start his own practice where one can earn anywhere between 10 -15 per cent of the total cost of the project. Earnings in this field largely depend on the person’s creativity and his skills.

Zubin Zainuddin,noted architect and interior designer talks about the selection process, “While selecting an interior designer we take a person who knows our body of work and wants to be associated with the kind of work we are doing. It is a symbiotic relationship.”

Another unique aspect of this career is the ability to join this stream of work at any point in life. Like an artist one can take up this career with nothing but only the basic qualifications and an aptitude for the job.
Institutes

Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad The first of its kind in India, its School of Interior Design (SID) offers a full time, AICTE approved, 10 semester Professional Education Programme in Interior Design leading to the award of Bachelor of Interior Design by Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University. Minimum qualification is HSC in science with 50 per cent aggregate, admission test and interview.