Home is where the story begins: Interior Designing

Home is where the heart is! But to an interior designer, home is where the ‘art’ is! We all know that making living places more aesthetical is the job of an interior designer; and the market is brimming with examples of excellent interiors all over the world. But little do we know that “creativity at its best, forever on test” would be the best way to sum up the life of the interior designer. Not only is the designer faced with a constant need to keep developing new ideas such that his work is non repetitive, but also he needs to be intuitive of his client’s taste. Whether it is traditional, modern, contemporary, shabby chic, Bohemian, rustic, Scandinavian, etc., every individual has their own sense of aesthetics; and for the designer to crack the choice of his client would surely be a daunting task, but if right is half the battle won. Also considering the fierce competition in the field, this is surely not a cakewalk. Needless to say that creative, intuitive, evolving, people person and good at illustration are a few traits that one would need to be a successful interior designer. Wiki nicely sums that “Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interiors, sometimes including the exterior, of a space or building, to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the end user.”

The door

There are several doors to enter the world of interior designing. After 10+2, one can opt from Bachelor or diploma programmes available at various colleges throughout the country. The course prepares one with subjects like arts, design, history, construction material, CAD, landscaping, acoustics, model making, spatial planning, plumbing, furniture designing, costing, etc. A complete understanding of all aspects of construction parameters within a built space is a must for the students. Case studies, visits to interior/exterior wonders and projects during the final year help the students get one step closer to the real feel before they enter the market.

Vogue Institute of Fashion Technology (VIFT), Bangalore, offers MBA, bachelors, diploma and weekend programmes as well. Founded in 1996, VIFT has been ranked as one amongst top ten designing colleges in India by India Today and Outlook magazine for consecutive years. Vogue institute focuses on development of a critical mind while reinforcing the students’ creative and analytical capabilities to help them to create better and most comprehensive interior environment. The various interior designing courses ensure that the students are trained in a systematic and coordinated methodology; this methodology is most often preceded by research, analysis, and integration of knowledge into a more comprehensive creative process.

Vogue Institute of Fashion Technology shares close ties with the interior designing industry, thus helping students to receive first-hand information of the interior designing industry. Those who want to pursue a career in Interior Designing can take up these courses to learn developing design solutions that are safe, functional and attractive and meet the needs of the space user.

The window

The course opens the window to several job prospects. Depending upon the specialization (residential designing, commercial designing, landscape designing, institutional designing, etc.), the student is fast absorbed in architectural firms, hospitals, furniture dealerships, hotel planning, retail planning and other places that require spatial designing. They get to work as interior designers, co-ordinators, planners, consultants, stylists or freelancers or can be entrepreneurs.

Getting to the roof

As per human psychology, every person or artist believes their own work or thinking to be the best (this holds true for lowly artists as well!). Interior designing is one domain where the person is working many a times opposite his own choices. Designing here is not about your own style or choice to be dumped on the client; but it is about the client’s outlook and how he wants his space to look. This is where excellent people and communication skills come into play. This fine balance of judgement between the client’s taste and his own design decisions is what can decide the designer’s success in this field.

Finally, I guess only the Interior Designer has the good fortune, whether at home or workplace, to say, “It’s so good to be home!”

– Ritu S.

(Ritu has been associated with various reputed colleges in Goa, Bangalore and Vadodara as faculty in the field of fashion design).