Skills and Remits of a Professional Interior Designer

Artistic Vision

Interior designers use their personal sense of style to develop a scope of aesthetically pleasing and compliant design layouts for commercial or residential environments. Like all creative skills this requires a blend of training and personal flair in addition to legislative and compliant obligations. It is this personal style that separates one qualified designer from another. Compliance is never subjective, it is compulsory for every designer to stay up to date with relevant legislation.

Creative direction

Interior designers configure the internal space layout to provide improved;

• Safety to move around in
• Spatial performance
• Visual enhancement through the selection and collation of compliant and fit-for-purpose products that enhance the well-being and performance of those who will use the space.

Detail of scheme

Interior designers create a design scheme for client approval using colour and product selection. They then generate working drawings for the contractors’ functions such as electrical switches and sockets, heating plans and plumbing locations. Designers will provide the technical CAD product drawings and codes of recommended appliances for overlapping contractor skills such as Architects, engineers, plumbers and electricians as well as other trade contractors such as a joiner or tiler. Designers would also generate tile layout plans, flooring layouts as well as furniture layouts and plumbing locations for decisions such as taps; wall or deck mounted, basins; inset, underslung or deck mounted. Each decision in design impacts on the decision for tradesmen when they quote for their installations. Commissioned CAD drawings depend on terms and conditions with the designer.

Interpersonal skills

Interior designers need to be able to communicate their vision effectively with clients and other members of the design and build team. Their time, once specification and finishes schedules are agreed, is spent on ensuring their design interpretation is not amended by other skills without direct consultation so as to eliminate error of custom-fit orders. Throughout each project procurement, professional designers will attend the site with suppliers, installers and managers, to ensure collaboration with other designers, engineers and general building contractors are adhered with.

An internal interior designers diarised record of amendments and changes is advised as sub-contractors may not be directly engaged with the interior designer and without good management from the Project Manager disputes could arise.

Visualisation

Interior designers need a strong sense of proportion and visual awareness in order to understand how the pieces of a design will fit together to create the intended environment. Computer generated images (CGI) are used to demonstrate to the client what the end result will look like before ‘design freeze’. Once design-freeze is confirmed no further amendments should occur to the designer’s specification.

Problem-solving skills

Interior designers must address challenges, such as construction delays or unavailability of certain materials, incorrectly delivered or damaged products while keeping the project on time and within budget. Designers will also need to review the entire scheme for adverse effect whenever a change occurs through construction amendments. As such, changes can alter custom-fitted measurements provided to sub-contractors after design-freeze. Changes that occur after design-freeze may impact on schedules and cause both delays and additional costs from the interior designer to review, amend and address such changes. When design-freeze is confirmed the designers ‘scheme’ is completed. A day rate attendance throughout procurement is advised to respond to any questions as they may occur.

For more information, designers should contact us.

Disputes

At present, almost entirely around the world, the interior design profession is unregulated. This means that when disputes arise between a designer and a client or the public, neither the designer or the public have the appropriate regulatory support that other recognised professions enjoy (such as Legal, Finance and Health).

The Society of British and International Interior Design (SBID) has since 2009 led a campaign to lobby government for change to this Dickensian categorisation to protect the consumer from risk. As a professional interior design association, we are one of twenty professions invited twice annually to directly consult with the Bank of England on the risks and opportunities the industry faces and has been the representative body exclusively representing interior design at the All Party Support group for business at the House of Commons.