Many design firms divide tasks for their designers, some of them are only involved in FF&Es, some are only doing CAD drafting or rendering, and some only go to the job sites. Dividing tasks can maximize the efficiency based on each designer’s strengths. However, if you are a junior level designer who works at this kind of company, you might not be able to learn the whole design process which could have negative impact if you would like to work for different design firms or run your own business in the future. If you are a senior level designer and already know all aspects of design process, working at the firms that divide tasks may give you more opportunities to focus on the tasks you are good at which will lead to better job performance and happier you.
Myth of Multitasking
Is multitasking good? Well, look at what the researchers had found, people practicing multitasking are more likely to make mistakes and always have below average job performance. Working at the firms that always require you handle multiple things at the same time which means the firms might have problematic projet management, or the firms either have the superiors or clients who are extremely spontaneous and do not like to follow the set schedules. With crisis creators around, expecting very stressful work atmosphere.
Multitasking may sound like a positive word to describe a work environment or a capable worker. Unfortunately, human brains were created to focus on one thing at a time. If you really think people truly can multitask well, the governments around the world should just legalize drive while texting.
High-end Commercial?! Yeah Right!
When I saw or heard the word high-end commercial, retail or hospitality design, I always laughed inside. I was fortunate to have the opportunities to design all these spaces mentioned above, and based on my own experiences, I have only seen really high-end residential projects, but for the commercial, retail or hospitality projects I worked on, they were called high-end, but actually they weren’t.
I had the chance to design a client’s own residence and his jewelry shop, the client demanded the quality of the designs for these 2 projects must be “high-end”. So, I proposed a super luxurious wall sconce for his 12K s.f. residence which cost 8 grand a pop, I proposed 8 but the client loved it and said I want 10. Meanwhile, I selected a nice wall sconce for his jewelry shop, with the retail project in mind, I picked an $650 sconce, and proposed 8, the client loved it but asked me to find something looks similar but less expensive, and I did, the new selection cost $500, he again said “I loved it! but is it possible to look for a similar one with lower price?” I replied “with the look and quality, the price is the best and it meets the budget, and I don’t think I can find anything else with this design but less expensive.” So, the client said “then find someone to knock it off.” I am the designer who hates people copy other people’s designs, so I lied to him saying I couldn’t have the sconce knocked off in cheaper price, so I had to find another one. The final selection was $450 a pop, less expensive, visible medium-low level craftsmanship, but it looked very similar to the very first $650 one, and the client was very happy and said “Good job! It is $400 saving right there!”
I totally understand where he was coming from, because if that project was a 300-room hotel, $5 less expensive stuff per room will generate $1500 savings, this kind of mentality for commercial, hospitality and retail projects makes a lot of sense, and it is smart and no-brainer, but if you call it “high-end”? I totally disagree. Well, maybe the look, definitely not the quality or craftsmanship.
Working at the firms don’t charge clients hourly
The clients pay flat fee tend to make more design changes and ask for more intense shop-arounds. Don’t blame them, cuz it’s free!!
Changing approved designs, especially during Contract Document phase can be really counter productive which also means the disasters waiting to happen. Changing approved designs for accommodating job site condition is understandable, but changing designs just for change’s sake can be very annoying and time consuming. Charging hourly serves as a mechanism to discourage the indecisive clients making constant design changes. Without this mechanism, the designers will always work on repeat tasks which can lead to overtime working easily. For those clients who like you to compare prices with 10 different vendors just for one single piece of furniture, charging hourly rate can also remind them not to try to save a dime but end up spend a dollar.
At last, charging hourly rates will force you monitoring yours and your employees’ time better and making sure the time is efficiently spent. Thus, good for your own wellbeing and time management skill.
Things to consider when working at the firm that has junior level people working there the longest
If you don’t see senior level people working at the company, first of all, that usually means the company is lacking of the opportunity to promote in terms of job position and salary, and because senior level people possess certain skills and experiences, they can make move quicker and easier, after they departed, junior level people become the people who work at the company the longest and enjoy the seniority. Employers will give these junior people more authority and responsibilities because these junior people are considered loyal, and if you have inexperienced junior level people take in charge and boss around the new coming senior level people, the work environment can be chaotic. Some junior level people even abuse their authority and seniority to take advantage of circumstance and turn themselves into underground bosses. They can do whatever they want because they can get rid of anyone they don’t like including more senior level people who were hired to be in charge. Employers normally listen to these junior level people’s words since they work at the companies the longest so they were considered loyal and trustworthy. As a new employee in this kind of company, no matter you are a junior, intermediate or senior level person, you definitely will have hard time at work no matter what you do unless you become the best friend with the junior level person who works there the longest. On the end, the only people who can thrive at these companies are those who know how to play mind game and politics, not those who are capable or working hard.
Love of Key West
Southernmost, Key West in 2004
Key West has been my favorite travel destination since my very first visit in 2004, and I have been traveling back almost every year since. I even got married over there in 2007. I hope Key West will recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma soon. God Bless Key West.
Details Matter
When East meets West
Every time I visited commercial spaces, I always spotted the details similar to this baseboard showing in the photo. It hurts me as a design professional to see such a careless way of handling the detail, and I am stunned to learn the design firms doing stuff like this could get the job.
Is the North Korea Crisis another can?
Throughout the history, the foreign policies of the US have not been very successful. During the World War II, the US refused to fight against Nazi and Japan at the beginning simply because the politicians were worried about mass casualties, so they decided to wait, and then one day, the US was under attack by Japan, the US had to react and joined the fight which caused even more US casualties. When you are afraid of people dying and decide to wait, there will be more people dead.
When the Chinese Nationalist Party’s leader Chiang Kai-Shek almost wiped out Chinese Communists, American government chose to intervene and stopped Chiang from doing that. When USSR was collapsing and at its weakest stage, America didn’t take it out. When N. Korea didn’t have any nuclear weapon, America decided not to act, all because America was scared of people dying. Look at these 3 countries now, if the US will fight against any of these 3 now, the casualties will be huge compared to 20 or 30 years ago. So, if the US does not take care of N. Korea while it only has 4 nuclear war heads now, when will that be?! after N. Korea can produce 40 nuclear war heads? Stop kicking the can down the road! Just go ahead and do it now!! Even adult buffalos in the wild know to kill lion cubs before they grow old. C’mon!
Asking an American Designer to Copy American Designs
When I was working in Shanghai few years ago, I was constantly asked by both the clients and employers to copy other people’s designs from the interior design magazines from the US, and the funniest part was one of the employers asked me to copy a project which was designed by me and published in the magazine few years back in the US. Stop asking me to copy American designers’ designs because I am an American designer! I had my interior design college education in the US. I also had all of my interior design work experiences in the US. Nationality wise, I am also an American. Do I need to dye my hair blonde or wear blue contact lenses in order to convince you that?! Show me some respect, You Asians!!
Darwinism in Design Related Businesses
I always thought the housing bubble burst started in 2008 would wipe out the companies that had bad reputation. However, what I saw was that many good companies were gone but bad ones still remain. I was very puzzled by this phenomenon, but now I understand why.
There was a millwork shop I used to work with, its owner was extremely artistic and skilled, but the reality is that the creative and artistic people usually are not very business savvy, their artist mindset just can’t compete with their competitors who are more business oriented but less creative or skilled. So, the skilled and creative craftsmen are all out of business but the un-skilled, non-creative businessmen with inferior craftsmanship and quality of work all survived. This kind of Darwinism doesn’t seem justified.
Dawen Huang Interior Design 