How to Become an Interior Designer: All You Need to Know
Becoming an interior designer is a good option if you are fascinated by beautiful things and full of creativity. You can associate imagination with real things and create delicate products. With the industry projected to continue growing, the time is right to consider a career as an interior designer.
Before you choose your career as an interior designer, you need to consider it. Below are some important steps for you to follow.
Step 1: Understand Interior Designer descriptions and responsibilities.
Interior designers design and create living and working spaces for a variety of clients, either as freelancers or as part of a design firm. They usually have their sense of decorating rooms and arranging furniture and have an innate flair for color, spatial arrangements, architecture and textiles.
Interior designers are in charge of space planning and product research, coordinating with project stakeholders (home and business owners, contractors, stores) and establishing timelines, and finally overseeing construction and executing the design.
Step 2: Think before you do: whether is it worth to be an interior designer
Maybe many people think it is easy to become an interior designer because they are good at decorating their home. But here is much more to being an interior designer than just home decor. Inspiration and idea are crucial in designing work, but it is thorny to get it. Besides, the deadlines are usually specific and strict, depending on the client's schedule. When you face a bad client, you may encounter satisfaction with the plans or budgets and even have to revise them though you are about to finish. And the payment at first is not high.
Though cons seem devastating, they are also apparent. Before making decisions you should take that in consideration.
You can express your personal creativity and get more satisfaction added by the appreciation from the client. What's more, you won't get annoyance of having to impress anyone other than the client and you have the authority to move up in the industry. Above all, you can meet with different people and interact with them.
When choosing a career, you must consider pros and cons. If you think pros outweigh cons, it is sensible to take it.
Step 3: Research Best colleges and universities for interior designer
1. University of Texas – Austin: UT Austin is a highly rated public university located in Austin, Texas. It is a large institution with an enrollment of 37,740 undergraduate students.
2. University of Florida: Florida is a highly rated public university located in Gainesville, Florida. It is a large institution with an enrollment of 31,384 undergraduate students.
3. Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech is a highly rated public college located in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is a big institution with an enrollment of 26,603 undergraduate students.
4. University of Wisconsin
5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
6. Purdue University
7. Michigan State University
8. The Ohio State University
9. Florida State University
10. George Washington University
11. Indiana University – Bloomington
12. Texas Christian University
13. Iowa State University
14. Baylor University
15. University of Cincinnati
16. University of Oklahoma
17. The University of Alabama
18. Rhode Island School of Design
19. Oklahoma State University
20. Washington State University
Step 4: Go through College
While a formal education is not an absolute must, most interior design firms require designers to hold at least a bachelor's degree. A degree in the specific field is preferred, but one in another area is generally acceptable as long as it is related in interior design, such as drawing and computer-aided design (CAD).
As a license is usually needed to get into the career, you'd better choose a good school and take a program that focuses specifically on interior design for you need at least a bachelor's degree and two years of on-the-job training to take a licensing exam.
Some core courses include Introduction to Interior Design, Elements of Design, History of Built Environment, Drawing & Composition, and Quick Sketching for Interior Design, Design Showroom Protocols and Procedures, Color Theory & Application, Perspective & Rendering, Building Codes & Standards, Computer-Aided Design, Textiles, Materials & Applications and so on.
Interior designers need to learn knowledge on a wide range of topics, such as building codes, inspection regulations, and universal accessibility standards.
A bachelor's degree in any field is acceptable, and interior design programs are available at the associate's, bachelor's and master's degree levels. Thus, if you want to further your education, you can attempt to obtain a master's degree.
Step 5: Internship Opportunity
Interior designers, particularly those starting out, may find it difficult to get hired without existing work experience. So working experience is essential.
Interior designers can offer services to friends and family, or volunteer to help local non-profit services or organizations, or even small business unable to pay a professional designer. New designers can even work on their own homes. Developing the skills needed when real paying jobs come along is the most crucial.
Portfolio is the priority when seeking a job. You should take quality photographs of all of your work and compile them into a professional portfolio. So internship period can help you accumulate this work and improve your portfolio.
Colleges can usually provide you with valuable internships and you can also search online. You can gather much information about internships from many approaches. There are many chances provided by prestigious companies. You can search enterprise websites and follow them. You can also ask your relatives, teachers or classmates.
Internships may feature lower pay and fewer hours, but they are a great way to earn applicable related experience. During your internship, you will be surprised to see that you are not only more mature to being human. Stepping out of the college's ivory tower, you can learn many professional skills and get access to new horizons. Your world can be broadened.
Step 6: Prepare relevant skills for interior designer
1. Creative and Technical
Visualizing the client's goals and transforming them into an attractive and functional interior environment is necessary for every interior designer. This is creative and technical work. They apply concepts of color theory, two and three-dimensional design techniques, and the addition of sensory elements to balance the visual and visceral experience of a room.
2. Communication skill
An interior designer must be extremely comfortable with meeting new people and collaborating with a wide variety of different personalities. Exceptional verbal, visual, and written communication skills to work with collaborators and clients are crucial.
3. Project Management
Superior project and time management skills are pivotal in interior designers' daily work. Since you'll likely be working on more than one project simultaneously under strict deadlines, it's crucial that you develop the ability to multitask well and stay organized.
Step 7: Find relevant interior designer jobs, and apply it.
An NCIDQ Certification (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) and an excellent portfolio are indispensable when applying for jobs. The portfolio may involve an internship component that will give you some experience and help you start making contacts in the industry.
Most colleges can offer a lot of support when it comes to finding jobs. That support can make it much easier to launch your interior design career once you finish school.
Anyway, interior design is a competitive business. If you fail many times, this is normal, just keep trying and don't give up.
Important Tools for a successful interior designer
Some tools are indispensable for a successful interior designer. Here lists some free tools: Houzz, SketchUp, Planner 5d and Home by Me, Colormind or CSS Drive Colors Palate Generator Colorjive or Olympic Paint Visualizer.
Develop your career path
Employment of interior designers is projected to grow over the next ten years, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Job prospects are best in high-income areas, because wealthy clients are more likely than others to engage in remodeling and renovating their spaces.
SaIn short, if you are outstanding enough, you can be wealth as an interior designer.
What does an Interior Designer do?
An interior designer creates indoor spaces that satisfy the client's needs for aesthetics, safety and function.
With vast experience and knowledge of designing the interior, a qualified interior designer will always tell you this estimated cost of this complete project of interior designing.
According to the requirements and desires of the customers, a professional interior designer will try to provide the best designs and innovative designs for decorating the interiors.
Interior designers need to be educated in the history of design, the structural integrity of buildings, building codes, ergonomics, spatial concepts, ethics, psychology, computer-aided drawing (CAD) and much more.
Hiring an interior decorator or interior designer helps to keep a project on schedule and under budget.
What skills do you need to be an Interior Designer?
People who work as interior designers have in-depth knowledge of the history of interior design, a practical understanding of fabrics, a working knowledge of construction materials, and a thorough knowledge of present-day safety standards.
As an interior designer, you'll be expected to effectively communicate your vision to your clients and practice excellent listening skills.
With hard work and a little ingenuity, creative minded individuals who enjoy working with people, who have a knack for staying organized and managing large projects, and who understand and appreciate the concepts of design can enjoy a long-standing interior design career.
After the completion of formal training, interior designers can enter a 1-year to 3-year apprenticeship to gain experience before working on their own.
Interior Designers can proficiently craft an interior and exterior structural and aesthetic building design, model and even develop diverse types of structures at the same level, if not surpassing some Architects.