Category: Interior Design News

Businesses save thousands of dollars on concept designs each year by allowing interior design students the opportunity to develop a professional interior design for their physical establishments, but to the design students it’s one more chance to show that they have what it takes to succeed in their chosen profession.

It can feel like a make-it-or-break-it project, but at the end of the project the rewards can be enormous. Big interior design projects like this one (reported in the Chicago Tribune yesterday) are typically reserved for fourth year interior design students, but provide a lot of insight into the stress and rewards of finishing up a degree at an interior design school:

(Chicago Tribune) May 3^rd, 2012 – Carly Branch’s first interior design project for a real client may involve creating a new look to an extension at Little India Restaurant & Lounge on Charleston’s East End.

For her senior capstone project, the University of Charleston interior design major created a professional-level interior design plan for the Indian restaurant.

To decorate the 3,000-square-foot space that co-owner Harish Anada purchased, Branch, 22, said she wanted to stick to a cheap budget while maintaining a sophisticated feel.

Anada might use the extra space to accommodate larger parties and a younger crowd, according to Branch.

Branch’s design included enough seating for 100 people, a 25-foot bar, a stage and black ceilings with the walls painted in red, orange and yellow accents.

Branch wanted to preserve the Indian culture in the design but also incorporate a firehouse atmosphere because the building that houses the current restaurant is an old firehouse.

When Anada said he wanted a game room with a pool table, Branch convinced him that having three additional seats at the bar would be a better design choice, she … read the full story.

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Interior designers are more than home decorators. In fact, they are more like architects and engineers that the general lay person might assume. Students from one interior design program challenged this common misconception by designing concepts and models for a project meant to provide temporary and inexpensive homes for those displaced by natural disasters and other temporary homelessness.

As reported by a local newspaper, when the students in this class displayed their work it became apparent that interior design is about solving problems – no matter the complexity:

(Isthmus) May 4th, 2012 A little house made almost entirely out of corrugated cardboard sheets and tubing is currently on display in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s lobby as a part of the museum’s bi-annual Design MMOCA contest, in which artists of various fields are asked to use a piece in the museum’s permanent collection as inspiration for an original work of art.

Using the painting Abstraction, Belief, Desire by Pat Steir as creative catalyst, the structure was designed in five weeks by UW-Madison’s Interior Design I students. Entitled “Disaster Relief Shelter Project,” the work is both an art installation as well as a prototype living space for people affected and dislocated by natural disasters.

The project was conceived by UW-Madison faculty associate Lesley Sager and her interest in the works of Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, as well as the concept of “Design Thinking” in which designers investigate problems and devise solutions by working creatively within the context of a particular field. Requiring the acquisition of knowledge as well as the ability to creatively posit solutions for real-world dilemmas, Sager thought the endeavor would be a challenging and meaningful collaborative experience for her beginning interior design students.

Choosing the topic of temporary homelessness, Sager split her class of 21 into seven groups of three and asked each to conceive a living space made out of recyclable….Read more from Isthmus.

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MSU’s interior design students sweep competition

UC design majors test skills on East End

Interior design schools around the world are packed with the youngest generation of designers and most of them are focusing on one important facet of their business: sustainable interior designs that are environmentally friendly and affordable. A public library in Michigan is getting to take advantage of this trend by recruiting area interior design students to help build a new library. Thanks to an honors interior design class, their design will be future friendly:

The village of Shepherd is creating a new public library with the help of some Central Michigan University students.

HON 321G: Design for Good is a special topic Honors class taught by Sue Bowlby, an adjunct instructor of interior design. It is a service learning class based on helping the residents of Shepherd renovate a building into their new library.

“They already have (a library), but it’s about 900 square feet — like a closet,” said Holly senior Amy Crockett. “So they have a new building, which was an old pharmacy building in downtown Shepherd, and will give them about 4,000 square feet.”

Though the class is an interior design class, it is comprised of students with a wide range of disciplines. Out of eight students, two are interior design majors; the others have majors ranging from integrative public relations to neuroscience and communications.

The class will come up with an idea and make a proposal, but the library officials have the final say on what is implemented, said Alpena senior Steve LaBrecque.

“We’re giving some options and doing the work for them so they can just decide,” he said.

Crockett is an integrative public relations major, so her role in the project has been promotion throughout the community, and she said response to the project has been positive… read the rest of the story at Central Michigan Life.

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