Fast design? You just might get what you ask for.

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In this fast paced world, everything has to be fast, fast food, instant noodles, speed dating, everything has to be done not today but yesterday, interior design is not an exception.

It’s nothing new for commercial projects being fast paced, tight deadlines due to tight budget control, the result? poor craftsmanship and poor handling of construction details in both aesthetically and functionally. Why am I not surprised to see this kind of fast paced design practice happened to the high-end residential projects?

Many design firms are trying to come up with a way to digest those high-end residential projects in very short period of time in order to maximize the profits, one way they come up with is to standardize designs by giving all of the clients several pre-designed packages to choose from, package a, b, c, and d. These packages can be different in prices or design styles. The clients pick the one they like and the firm starts to build, because everything is pre-designed with certain styles, colors, and furniture and accessory selections, the design process and construction time frame can be shortened dramatically, of course, the cost also can be lowered. You might think the money saved will go back to the clients, but because it is still called high-end residential project, the design fees remain the same, the extra savings go right back into designer’s pocket.

Which design company will not happy to charge like high-end residential projects but design like commercial grade quality?! It is not the design professionals’ fault but the clients’ responsibility. Next time, if you want your 10,000 sq.ft house to be done in 6 months? you might get what you ask for – a pre-designed package, and you might never find out about it until one day you visit your relative’s or friend’s house and find the interior design in his or her house is almost identical to the one in your home.

Mystery of Made in USA

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When I heard the news talking about the US Olympic team’s uniform being made in China, I found it fascinating because I have also encountered similar things throughout my interior design career. The word “Made in China” has become such a scary word and many furniture companies started to sell their products by telling customers that their furniture was not  made in China but in the US.

I also had been on this fear of Made in China wagon by avoiding specifying furniture that was made in China for the high-end residential projects until one day, I saw a security safe that was recommended by the client was delivered to the job site, and I found multiple defects on it, I started complaining about its poor craftsmanship and low quality and said this safe must be made in China. Then, I saw the tag attached on the safe wall saying “Made in USA”. Besides embarrassing, I started to think what I did was totally stereotyping. I hate people judging me based on stereotypes, so why should I judge a product’s quality based on its origin?

I remember back in the 80’s, people were making fun of the products that were made in Taiwan, but now, Taiwan’s products are famous worldwide for the superior quality. Many Chinese restaurants in the US are owned by Chinese, but the food served by lots of them is actually Americanized. So, I really would suggest interior designers judging the quality and service of a product based on its manufacturer and brand reputation, not by what country it was made at.

Interior Designer or Decorator

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NCIDQ has the interior designer vs decorator defined in a very analytical way. However, I have my own interpretation about who is an interior designer and who is an interior decorator.

The one key word I can use to define interior designer vs interior decorator is the word – “custom”. Has any custom designed items been incorporated into the space by the person who designed/decorated this space? Let’s give you an example by using a bathroom remodeling case. If I only selected tiles, slabs, plumbing fixtures, sink cabinet, wall sconces, or wallcovering/paint colors to put in a bathroom which the layout stayed the same, I only can say I did a decoration job because I did not design anything in that bathroom but only chose things that other people designed to fit into that bathroom. I didn’t design the tile patterns, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, wallcovering/paint, or sink cabinet by myself. Therefore, I can’t say I designed this bathroom but I decorated this bathroom.

On the other hand, if I altered the bathroom layout, added a window, or added a shower to make the bathroom more functional and more visually appearing, I could say I designed this bathroom because I altered the structure based on my design ideas. If I “custom” designed the sink cabinet or light fixtures just for that particular bathroom, then I could say I designed the bathroom. If I used the tiles which the tile patterns were designed by me in that bathroom, then I could say I designed the bathroom. If I used the faucet that was designed by me in that bathroom, then I could say I designed the bathroom.

So, if you only selected fabrics for bedding, window treatment, or furniture upholstery in a space, you are a decorator, if you only selected furniture from retail stores or furniture venders to fit into a space, you are a decorator, if you only chose paint color or wallcovering to put on the walls or chose slabs and tiles for the floor, you are a decorator. If you chose plumbing fixtures, appliances, or light fixtures that were not designed by you to put in a space, you are a decorator, or you can say you did a decoration project if you have done real design projects before. Pulling other people’s designs or creations to fit into a space does not make you a designer because you didn’t actually “custom” design anything in that space.

Old design habit that is not “Green”

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I realize some design practices in the interior design field actually fundamentally block the practices of sustainable design. For examples, to obtain LEED credits for the Materials & Resources 1.2 – Maintain Interior Non Structural Components; 3.1 – Material Reuse; 3.2 – Materials Reuse – Furniture and Furnishings for the commercial interiors, interior designers and contractors must decide to reuse building and construction materials as well as furniture and furnishings, well, many contractors and interior designers still charge certain percentage on every product they buy as a part of their profits which means the more things are reused, the less profits the designers or contractors will make.

Also, in South Florida, most of the projects are built based on one design principle – we design as it builds. Many designers don’t even have a drawing for the contractors to build, instead, many designers just design everything on site verbally or with some simple design sketches faxed to the job site for the contractors to build. To design a LEED certified building, a lot of design details need to be addressed before the construction even begins. Many strategies also need to be determined prior to construction. How can anyone design any LEED certified project by “saying” designs on site?!

Interior Design Market Comparison between Taiwan and China

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Interior design is a relatively new industry in China, but I was shocked by how adaptive the Chinese interior design market is compares to Taiwan. Interior design has started to flourish during the economy boom in the 80’s in Taiwan, but throughout the years, I realize Taiwan still has a long way to go in terms of design sense and creativity. Even though the clients’ design tastes have been improved throughout the years in Taiwan, the designers’ design sense still can’t keep up with it. What I observed was copying design ideas from overseas, poor execution of design elements with full of improper designs. Many design elements looked cool if you look at each of them individually, but because they were all borrowed (copied) from somewhere else individually and put together without any logic or common sense, they don’t look connected within a space. On contrary, I have seen extremely well executed matured interior design in China. As a country just started her economy boom in the late 90’s, the transformation in China is super fast.

Compares to China’s more internationalized interior design market, Taiwan’s market still remains local. While China welcomes the interior designers from around the world including Taiwan to work in China, Taiwan has shown the resistance to accept foreign educated interior designers. Most of the interior design companies in Taiwan do not value foreign educated interior designers’ creativity or artistic trainings but only care if they know how to draw AutoCAD in Mandarin version, how to use metric system, and how to calculate material costs accurately. If you don’t have those skills, you can be as creative as you can, you will never be hired. Even if you are hired, the salary offered can be extremely discouraging.

On the other hand, China embraces foreign educated interior designers with opened arms (and higher salary), the design companies there don’t care if you can speak Mandarin or use Mandarin version of drafting software, if you can estimate costs precisely, or if you are familiar with metric system or local building codes. Those are not what they want from the foreign designers, what they want is the design sense, the creativity, and the ideas because they know things like the language, estimation, local building codes, or the sources of the materials can be learned, but creativity or design ideas can’t. Many interior design companies in Taiwan mistakenly think creativity and design sense can be learned, that is because they don’t understand the difference between learning and copying, maybe that was why I saw so many copied design ideas in Taiwan.

What I have learned from this experience is that giving anyone 5 years, most of them can estimate costs precisely, supervise construction site or do computer drafting or rendering well after 5 years, but none of them can be more creative after 5, 8, or even 10 years. People can be born to be creative but can’t learn to be creative. So, if I ever hire an interior designer, I will emphasize and value more on his/her creativity level than anything else.

Integrity of interior design

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When I took a marketing class last month, the instructor recommended us using a flash drive to save our portfolios and give to people as a marketing tool. So, I asked the instructor if I save my portfolios in the flash drive and give to people, will my designs be copied by other people much easier? and there was a designer who attended the same class said, of course someone will copy your designs, we all copied someone else’ designs, so it is just a pay-back. I was thinking, it is you, not me! so don’t put me in your category.

I have seen many designers read interior design magazines and tweaked someone else’ designs when they were designing projects, and I totally disagree that kind of design practice since I don’t think tweaking equals to designing. Designers copied someone else’ designs and made some minor adjustments for avoiding being called piracy, but for me,  it is still a crime. We designers are supposed to create, not tweak.

For maintaining the integrity of not to tweak other people’s designs, I always stayed away from interior design magazines when I designed a project. I forced myself to come up with my own design ideas without being influenced or affected by other people’s designs. By doing that, I trained myself to be more creative, in the same time, I kept my integrity as an interior designer, no tweaking, just creating.

Calling yourself an interior designer?

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Before calling yourself an interior designer, ask yourself if you have passed the NCIDQ exam or licensed in your state. Otherwise, just stay with the term – decorator, and I will deeply appreciate it.

DIY? You will pay big for it.

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Don’t be misled by those “do it yourself” shows; things are not as easy as it apears to be. I suggest not to touch the structural elements in the house, leave them to the professionals. Otherwise, you will pay huge for your mistakes.

Linsanity in design world?

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Jeremy Lin had been overlooked for so long maybe because of his ethnicity as some have reported. As a straight Asian male, I have my own taste of stereotyping in the interior design field. In the profession that is dominated by Caucasian females and gay males, it has been hard for me to attract clients. Hopefully, Lin’s success story will help people breaking the barrier of stereotyping and uncovering the true talents. Yes, I am an Asian and a straight man, and yes, I can do interior design, and damn good at it. Just like Jeremy Lin, what I need is just a chance.