Day by day many designers are feeling the pressure that comes with cancelled orders, an absence of new projects and generally trying to adapt to a new normal: socially-distanced living. Even at the best of times interior design can be a lonely profession, especially if you're a sole trader, and as creatives we need interaction, stimulation and opportunities to bounce ideas off one another for a truly unique ultimate design.
I often use the hashtag #designernotdecorator but this can be misinterpreted as snobby or condescending to decorators, that is not my intention. I spent years studying design, taught by design professors with their own practices. More and more now there are people who say they are interior designers as they have done a short course in interior design or worse an online one promising to train them everything.
It breaks my heart to see the interior design profession become diluted with untrained individuals who haven't undergone thorough training in the design process, just because the have "an eye for design". That is why being a member of a professionally-accredited organization is so important to me, I continue to be a member of the New York Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and a member of The African Institute of the Interior Design Professions (IID) and am thrilled to have been recently appointed as one of their Ambassadors for the Gauteng Region. I believe that joining a professional organization is critical in keeping abreast of the latest knowledge and practices locally, regionally, and globally. It helps the design professional to stay abreast of current technology and new materials and techniques and certainly advances us personally and professionally.
During this pandemic, designers who matter right now aren’t necessarily those who are singing their own praises on social media, but those who are using their skills to push real life initiatives and charity work, without planning how the next instagram post or story should look like. Don't get me wrong, I love instagram, but with the algorithms nowadays I'm seeing multiple posts from the same people every day, several times a day. I don't want to appear unsupportive and unfollow, but I've become more selective in my likes as I definitely appreciate a more unfiltered feed in my insta.
Yesterday evening I joined my ASID NY colleagues for a "Happy Hour" Zoom session, it's a weekly occurrence and I always look forward to an hour's banter. We don't discuss Covid-19 and we don't drone on about how we can't work, we just provide a kind of online sanctuary where we can support each other - kind of an alcoholic pastural care session, be kind to one another and laugh. On the other spectrum, this morning I attended a zoom meeting of the Marketing Committee for IID, where again we discussed how to adapt to these strange new times, and how life will not revert to normal once lockdown is lifted.
So another idea for a different kind of preparedness is to revisit rusty skills: Sketch, sketch, sketch - that's what my professors used to constantly say. One can always improve, do a freehand sketch or drawing every single day. So grab those pencils or brush pens (a favourite of mine) and put pen to paper - anything, whatever inspires you. Be innovative.
#staysafe #stayhome
xo
I often use the hashtag #designernotdecorator but this can be misinterpreted as snobby or condescending to decorators, that is not my intention. I spent years studying design, taught by design professors with their own practices. More and more now there are people who say they are interior designers as they have done a short course in interior design or worse an online one promising to train them everything.
It breaks my heart to see the interior design profession become diluted with untrained individuals who haven't undergone thorough training in the design process, just because the have "an eye for design". That is why being a member of a professionally-accredited organization is so important to me, I continue to be a member of the New York Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and a member of The African Institute of the Interior Design Professions (IID) and am thrilled to have been recently appointed as one of their Ambassadors for the Gauteng Region. I believe that joining a professional organization is critical in keeping abreast of the latest knowledge and practices locally, regionally, and globally. It helps the design professional to stay abreast of current technology and new materials and techniques and certainly advances us personally and professionally.
During this pandemic, designers who matter right now aren’t necessarily those who are singing their own praises on social media, but those who are using their skills to push real life initiatives and charity work, without planning how the next instagram post or story should look like. Don't get me wrong, I love instagram, but with the algorithms nowadays I'm seeing multiple posts from the same people every day, several times a day. I don't want to appear unsupportive and unfollow, but I've become more selective in my likes as I definitely appreciate a more unfiltered feed in my insta.
Yesterday evening I joined my ASID NY colleagues for a "Happy Hour" Zoom session, it's a weekly occurrence and I always look forward to an hour's banter. We don't discuss Covid-19 and we don't drone on about how we can't work, we just provide a kind of online sanctuary where we can support each other - kind of an alcoholic pastural care session, be kind to one another and laugh. On the other spectrum, this morning I attended a zoom meeting of the Marketing Committee for IID, where again we discussed how to adapt to these strange new times, and how life will not revert to normal once lockdown is lifted.
So another idea for a different kind of preparedness is to revisit rusty skills: Sketch, sketch, sketch - that's what my professors used to constantly say. One can always improve, do a freehand sketch or drawing every single day. So grab those pencils or brush pens (a favourite of mine) and put pen to paper - anything, whatever inspires you. Be innovative.
#staysafe #stayhome
xo
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