The Interior Design Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Profitability

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Finding Your Place in Interior Design

What it Takes to be an Interior Designer

Five Traditional Ways of Working

Working Styles

Specialization and Specialties

Finding Your Place

Measures of Success

Chapter 2: Starting or Changing Your Business Type or Structure

Initial Considerations

Planning Ahead

Advantages

Disadvantages

Getting Feedback

Buying an Existing Business

Selecting the Right Form of Ownership for You

Dealerships

Joint Ventures And Associations

Considerations

Chapter 3: Planning for Profit and Growth

Developing a Firm

Planning or Designing

Setting Goals

Formulating a Business Plan

Planning for Profit

Selling Your Business

Considerations

Chapter 4: Setting Up a Design Studio

The Right Location

Equipping Your Office

Inventory

Considerations

Chapter 5: The Design Team

Forecasting Requirements

Staff Positions

Finding the Right Employees

Interviewing a Prospective Employee

Salaries and Benefits

Employee Evaluations

Termination or Resignation of an Employee

Employee-Related Letters

Hiring Consultants

Considerations

Chapter 6: Business Development

Market Development

Public Relations

Advertising

Selling

Considerations

Chapter 7: Charging for Your Services

Job Pricing

How to Charge

Fee Bases

Methods for Saving Expenses

Determining the Fee Structure

Contracts and Letters of Agreement

Considerations

Chapter 8: Succeeding in Project Management

The Programming Phase

The Schematic Design Phase

The Design Development Phase

The Contract Phase

Placing Orders

The Contract Administration Phase

Freight Claims

Client Retention

Client Loyalty

Considerations

Chapter 9: Working with Sources and Contractors

Selecting Sources

Working with Your Suppliers

Buying Methods

Buying Service

Working with Your Contractors

Considerations

Chapter 10: Managing Your Office

Management

Management Styles

Time Management

Meetings

Delegation

Handling Mail

Recordkeeping

Protecting Confidential Material

Copyrights and Intellectual Property

Using Office Tools

Considerations

Chapter 11: Managing and Securing Your Financial Position

Your Profit Forecast

Cash Management

Overhead Costs

Banking Relations

Establishing Credit

Insurance

Taxes

Considerations

Chapter 12: Growing Your Firm and Your Professional Skills

Evaluation

Developing Yourself and Your Staff

Educating Your Staff

Attending Seminars

Additional Design Education

Considerations

Epilogue

Appendix: AIA Document B171 ID

Professional Associations

CIDA

Accredited Programs

Glossary

Recommended Reading

Designers’ Business Forum

Index

Cover Image: © iStockphoto

This book is printed on acid-free paper. ffirsi02.gif

Copyright © 2013 by Mary Knackstedt. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Knackstedt, Mary V.

The interior design business handbook : a complete guide to profitability / Mary V. Knackstedt, FASID, FIIDA.—Fifth edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-13987-5 (cloth); 978-1-118-31157-8 (ebk);

978-1-118-31159-2 (ebk); 978-1-118-32818-7 (ebk); 978-1-118-32819-4 (ebk); 978-1-118-32820-0 (ebk)

1. Interior decoration—Practice—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Interior decoration firms—United States—Management—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Interior decoration—United States—Marketing—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

NK2002.K57 2012

729.068—dc23

2011051092

Preface

Design creates change. Designers are therefore leaders in the progress of the world.

But being a leader has challenges of its own. Today’s designers are under great pressure to perform at a high level, often faster than ever before. This means designers’ business procedures must complement their creativity.

These procedures are key to our success—whether in developing products or services or in communicating with clients. When we use the right procedures, the business portion of our organizations can complement the creative process beautifully.

We deal with business issues every day. We engage in business development when we seek new clients. We deal with finance every time we handle money. We sign contracts and letters of agreement, address personnel issues, and seek out new resources. We cope with masses of paperwork, including specifications and orders.

To stay in business, we have to understand business. We don’t have to earn business degrees or be personally capable of performing every business function, but we do have to be able to talk with and understand the people who are specialists in these fields. We must relate to other industries, including the financial and legal entities that are part of the business world. A good, basic understanding of specific business functions is necessary for every staff member, not just the person running the design company.

Everything that affects business in general affects the interior design business. When insurance rates go up or certain types of insurance become expensive or unavailable, we may have to modify the way we do business. The state of the stock market, the price of oil, and the value of real estate all affect our clients’ attitudes toward buying design services; therefore, they affect us.

When designers are comfortable dealing with money and financial issues, it gives them a tremendous sense of freedom and enhances their creativity.

Though business procedures are taught in design schools, I feel they are not emphasized as extensively as they should be. The Interior Design Business Handbook was written primarily for practicing interior designers, whether working independently or within large firms. It covers the full range of business activities and procedures for the life of a practice, from choosing a location and running a business on a daily basis to selling it when you’ve decided to retire. It is also useful to students and as a training manual for support staff members. Give a copy of the book to your bookkeeper, accountant, and other consultants so they understand our field better.

This fifth edition of the Handbook addresses many new issues not included in previous editions. Financial issues and many general procedures have changed significantly. Technology has been part of that change. Interior designers are also dealing more on an international basis, and technology has allowed us to have more virtual relationships. The Glossary includes an extensive list of business terms designers use regularly; the descriptions have been tweaked to be as user-friendly as possible. Many more subjects could have been included, but then the book would have been difficult to carry. It was imperative to keep the book as concise as possible, yet to convey the important issues that are in front of us today.

This book is for the practicing designer who wants to be assured of a continuously profitable business—in terms of profit and quality. Moreover, the information in this book is experiential: It has been taken from situations that arose in the many firms with which I have consulted. It has been researched and gathered in a real, hands-on fashion during the many workshops, programs, and classes I have held with designers, architects, and professionals in related industries. At these meetings, many new questions surfaced. If I did not have a solution, I asked my consultants for their assistance in finding one. Once we did, we asked the designers in these programs to try the particular procedure. If appropriate, we tested the procedure in our firm. As a result, I can state with confidence that every procedure in this book works. They are being used daily in successful design firms throughout the United States—including my own.

I believe interior designers have a great contribution to make to the world. It is my hope that The Interior Design Business Handbook will enhance your creative energies by making the business end of interior design not only comprehensible but rewarding—in every sense of the word.

Acknowledgments

My goal in writing this book is to present business procedures that complement designers’ creative abilities.

Without the help and encouragement of many special people, I could never have completed a book of this scope and complexity.

Special thanks to the late Samuel Ledger, for teaching me to understand accounting procedures better.

To Laura J. Haney, for teaching me to write and for developing and refining earlier editions.

To Barbara Trainin Blank, for her assistance in editing this book and several others, as well as many articles.

To Lauren Poplawski and Doug Salvemini of Wiley, for their hard work.

To Attorney Jane Alexander, for her legal expertise.

To Gary Harshbarger of Gunn-Mowery LLC, for updating me as to current insurance information and practices.

To Scott Micklewright and Bryan Reidell of Mid Penn Bank, for their review of the section on banking issues.

To Alan Wycheck, for his expertise in photography.

To Attorney Marcie Einhorn, for her review of the section on debt management.

To David Bullock and Adam Nornhold, for their technical assistance.

To all my designer friends and fellow members of ASID, IIDA, IDEC, IDS, and IFDA, for posing questions that inspired research and sharing their views on a variety of issues.

To the consultants and business friends, who helped develop ways to improve professional business practices for designers.

To my support staff, who helped me live, run a business, and write a book at the same time.

To all the designers in the Designers’ Business Forum, for testing and proving that these techniques work and add to the success of their businesses.

To the many design firms with which I have been working—using their firms as testing laboratories for the many procedures described in this book. Fortunately, these procedures have worked for them, so we have evidence that they work well.

And to my friends, who thought I had deserted them during the long, arduous process of writing a book.

CHAPTER 1

Finding Your Place in Interior Design

Whether you are considering entering the field, or you have been practicing for many years, it is valuable to consider its different aspects. A review of the abilities that are usually part of the successful designer will help you define if these talents are natural to you, or perhaps you need to design your career to have others fill in where you have weak spots. A review of the specialties is also very worthwhile.

As designers, we are usually not happy in doing the same thing year after year. This is why we create change. So, as you review the specialties, consider the ones that may fit your market. You may want to add them to your practice, or find another designer with that specialty to partner you.

Interior design is a very socially interactive discipline. We work with clients to define their needs. We often have many consultants on our team to develop design solutions. We then orchestrate the workings of many different types of resources, craftsmen, and artisans. Today, there are not as many large design firms as there were in the past. Considering the special needs of today’s clients and the independent spirit of many of those in our industry, there is movement toward teams, joint-venture groups formed on an as-needed basis.

This often permits design work to be done on an even-higher level. The team leader can select the very best talents for the job.

We see the entrepreneurial trend in many types of businesses today. Interior designers are entrepreneurial by nature. So, this process is really very effective and practical and also provides a growing and developing opportunity for each member of the team. Designers enjoy new challenges. The system really fits their personalities.

Interior design is a profession, a career, a vocation, and a lifestyle. It is not just a job. To practice successfully, it is important to have a clear idea of what interior design involves, as well as an appreciation of its demands. It is important to have the combination of personal attributes and interests a professional interior designer needs.

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN INTERIOR DESIGNER

Design expertise comes from exposure and experience, a combination of academic study and on-the-job learning. Every one of your experiences contributes to your design vocabulary. Design education stresses problem solving. The four-to-six years you spend in the formal study of interior design gives you the informational tools to use in your work. Problem-solving skills may be the most valuable tool of all. Interior design demands a tremendous amount of ongoing research. To be a responsible designer, you must study new technologies; new-product specifications; laws and regulations; changes in building, fire, and safety codes; and environmentally responsible issues. With each new project there is more to study and learn. Your education never ends. Learning is part of a designer’s lifestyle.

Interior design work, by nature, requires that those who practice it learn to temper their innate idealism with the practical demands of reality. You design for real people in the real world. In every design project you undertake, you must be willing to strike a balance between what you envision as the ideal and what you can achieve within the project’s practical constraints.

Interior design is creative work, and it attracts talented, creative people. In fact, without talent, you cannot go far in this field. Your challenge is to direct and focus your creativity. You will have no problem coming up with new ideas, but it is often difficult to determine which ones should have priority.

The days of sitting at a drafting table and drawing pretty pictures are over—if they ever existed. Designers have to make things happen. Social contacts are important in acquiring new projects. You must like people and be able to get along with all kinds of people and inspire their confidence. Take the following personal inventory to help determine whether you have what it takes to be an interior designer.

Personal Inventory for Prospective Interior Designers

1. How important is interior design to me?

2. What kind of lifestyle do I want to have?

3. Do I have the innate creative abilities to become a successful designer?

4. Am I willing to spend the time and money required for the necessary formal training?

5. How much time do I want to devote to design work?

6. In general, do I like the people in the field enough to work with them?

7. Do I have the personality to work with any kind of client?

8. Do I enjoy planning and organizing?

9. Am I self-disciplined?

10. Am I self-motivated?

11. Do I have better-than-average physical and emotional stamina?

An interior design career depends on organization. From beginning to end, every project involves myriad details; keeping on top of things is absolutely critical. Even if your firm has someone on staff whose job it is to expedite the projects, you will always have to deal with mountains of details.

Interior design demands high energy and passion. It is almost never a nine-to-five business; on occasion, it is a 24-hour-a-day profession. Interior designers need physical and emotional stamina to fuel their long hours and to cope with the pressures of completing a job on schedule and to their clients’ satisfaction.

Most extremely successful designers—those with annual personal incomes of $200,000 to millions per year—are addicted to interior design. They live it, eat it, and sleep it. It is a passion they cannot live without. But design addiction can also be destructive, and the most successful designers are those who have managed to merge good business practices with their positive addiction.

This book is about how you can integrate your love for the creative parts of interior design—and the way of life that comes with your career—with good business practices. It is about success with profitability.

FIVE TRADITIONAL WAYS OF WORKING

Today’s world is different. Designers often specialize in subjects they have never heard of before or needed. The field is ever-changing and requires a creative mind as well as an understanding of business to position oneself properly in a profitable way. As you look through the traditional ways to practice, you will find you will incorporate a number of them or grow from one to another. It is wise to look at the traditional standards to see the possibilities.

Designers may fill many different roles in their relationship with clients. Traditional roles that designers have held in the past include designer, agent, merchant, employee, and contractor.

Designer

In this capacity, the interior designer provides only professional design services: drawings, documents, and purchasing specifications for required interior elements and furnishings. The scope of the work may include parts of or the entire interior plan.

Agent

The designer acts as an agent on the client’s behalf, placing the client’s orders with manufacturers, dealers, or showrooms. The monies go through the designer’s firm or under his or her name. The designer is responsible for managing this process. The designer may also do the design and charge a fee for it.

Merchant

Many design firms procure and sell merchandise. The designer becomes a merchant when selling merchandise. In some smaller communities, there is no choice for the designer but to act as a source of materials and to see them appropriately installed. The design firm may also charge a fee for the design.

Employees

Some designers are employed by design, architectural, or facilities-management firms or retail stores. They are usually paid salaries. In some situations they are paid commission. The designer’s services may be included or offered for a fee.

Designers often work for companies that manufacture products for interior projects. They may assist in designing or selling these products. Since many products are unusual, a designer’s input is often required to demonstrate the proper use of the products.

Contractor

The designer may act as a contractor by employing the workers required to do construction, hang wallcoverings, finish surfaces, do drapery and window treatments, and so on. In some states, the designer will be required to carry a contractor’s license when providing these services. The craftspeople may be directly employed by the design firm or work on a freelance or contractual basis.

WORKING STYLES

Interior design is a very socially interactive discipline. We work with clients to define their needs. We often have many consultants on our team to develop design solutions. We then orchestrate the working of many different types of resources—consultants, contractors, craftspeople and artisans, and others.

Today there are not as many large design firms as there were in the past. There is a strong movement toward joint-venture groups forming on an as-needed basis.

This often permits design work to be done on an even-higher level. The team leader can select the very best talent for the job.

We see the entrepreneurial trend in many types of businesses today. Interior designers are entrepreneurial by nature. Designers enjoy new challenges. The entrepreneurial system really fits their personalities.

Independent Practice

Lifestyle is so important in today’s world. Designers and many other professionals select to practice alone because it fits their style. They often team with other professionals. This style of working gives designers the opportunity to control their own schedules, the type of work they do, and those they work for and with. Technology permits designers to have others perform many of the required tasks virtually or on a part-time or as-needed basis—and often at a very high level.

If you work independently, you can do whatever you want at whatever speed you choose. If you want to work only one day a week, you can. If your forte is specialized work, perhaps you will need to work alone. If you are certain you have mastered your art to the point that you can perform every task within your specialty, and have the personality to work alone, an independent practice may be for you.

Apprenticeship

The value of an apprenticeship cannot be overestimated. Working with a firm or directly under a person of great talent can be a designer’s way to the top. When designers see something done, they can usually replicate it. Often designers are limited in their careers because they did not serve an apprenticeship or residency before beginning their own firm.

Apprenticeships are often very difficult to find today, but they are ever so valuable. They are not only for the beginner but are an excellent way for a practicing designer to learn a specialty. We all want to grow; this is a great way.

Teams

Teams are the way many designers work today. The team may be part of the company or corporate structure, or it may be composed of principally independent designers or specialists. They may be in the same city, or in different parts of the world.

Group Practices

Interior designers are also working together, as attorneys and physicians often do. They may share a business manager, an expediter, and other professional management personnel. This gives them opportunities that they could not have alone.

When designers work with other designers, they have the opportunity to test each other’s designs. When three other people look at a design and all say, I don’t see any problems, obviously the chance of the design being done successfully is much greater than if it is done in isolation. This process is important to high-quality design work.

Increasingly, clients want one firm to control the entire project. Multidisciplinary design teams of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, and engineers have an advantage in bidding for larger projects. They prefer teams that have had experience working together.

Technology permits us to connect with team members who may be located in different parts of the country and still work as one. We have the benefit of professional knowledge as well as the stimulation of other exceptional professionals. I often work with specialists in other states, yet we work so closely, you would think we’re in same office.

The key to developing a successful firm is to understand your firm’s capabilities, to realize its strengths and uniqueness, then seek work that is appropriate to your team. Some functions are easily filled by others, but the key areas of your firm should be controlled by the principals of your firm. This gives you the positioning you need. Review your market. Understand the needs and the social dynamics of the community in which you are working. Put together a working structure in which you can develop new business in a natural and profitable way.

Design Associates

At one time, people became design associates because they didn’t have funding to go off on their own or were not ready to start their own company. Today, many interior designers who have been practicing independently are associating with larger firms. They can work as hard as they want to. If they work on a project that is highly profitable, they profit accordingly. If they elect to do a project for little markup, perhaps as a marketing effort, this may also be acceptable. Of course, certain overhead requirements must be met. If designers decide to take time off—for example, to study—this is their decision, because they are paid only for performance.

Experienced designers have found that being a design associate is one of the most profitable and most pleasurable ways to work. Let someone else handle the business problems; designers want to design. Also, if clients know there is a well-managed business and purchasing division, they are less likely to question pricing, billing, and other contract issues. In addition to high-quality management, the larger company atmosphere can also provide designers with sources and tools they could not afford on their own—a high-tech environment, library, consultants, support staff, network of communication with other designers, and so forth.

This arrangement also permits the designer to work as an independent contractor. Designers cover all of their own expenses and are responsible for their own design work. The managing company handles the actual processing of the project. The gross profits are usually split at different levels, depending on the varied responsibilities and levels of performance.

We want to work on the projects that use our best talents. There’s no point in designers spending 75 to 90 percent of their day doing tasks they are not good at.

Design/Build Team

One of the major trends in our field is design/build, in which a team works together to produce a project. In this case, the designer may partner with an architect, civil engineer, contractor, and various other vendors to build a complete project with efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

SPECIALIZATION AND SPECIALTIES

At one time there were basically two specialties in interior design, residential and contract. Today there are many. Successful designers may specialize in a very small area of design. Thanks to technology, they are able to work easily throughout the world, assisting other designers, architects, and professionals.

Many designers will combine two or three specialties but usually have one as their lead. If the market fades in one area, they can shift their focus to another. It is fascinating to see how our background directs us to a specialty.

Specialization most often produces a higher level of design. Specialists know their work; it is easy because they have done it many times. This lowers the risk of error and speeds up design production. They know how to be creative without getting into trouble.

Client demand may require you to change your area of expertise. A designer in Ohio who specialized in education interiors found over time that although she had become a specialist and did some of the most up-to-date and innovative designs for education, the demand was no longer there. She was forced to change her orientation and began designing psychological and psychiatric spaces, working with many therapists to develop spaces to support their therapies. When interest in this dwindled, she found herself specializing in interiors that supported profit-making endeavors—professional services, manufacturing, general business, and spaces with a marketing or production component. In each circumstance, she was able to use some of what she had learned in the previous specialty. Still, she had to study, bring in many consultants, and do a lot of traveling to master the new areas.

Today this could be done easier and faster, but it is still a serious and expensive investment. Changes can be expensive, but they are often the best thing that can happen to creative people. Boredom is one of their greatest problems. Developing a specialty out of another specialty is a profitable way of making a change.

Interior design is becoming more specialized than ever; some of the best and most interesting jobs are in the specialties.

The following sections offer brief looks at more than 140 areas of specialization.

Acoustic Design

Sound is an integral part of every environment. Controlling sound is a science. When people live and work closely together, quiet is a luxury. Specialists in acoustic design consult on projects that included concert halls, conference rooms, offices, restaurants, and residences. Video and teleconferencing rooms need the sound to be contained. In contrast, restaurants need a certain amount of noise to sell food. In any space, from residential to the most technologically demanding environments, there are sounds we want to hear and sounds we don’t want to hear.

Adaptive Reuse

Reusing old buildings for new purposes is a growing trend. As cities change, there is greater concern for sustainability and protecting available resources.

Older buildings are often reused for very different purposes than they were originally designed for. A landmark building, once an office building, may be converted to a residence. The location may be wonderful but no longer appropriate for commercial use. There are many subspecialties within this specialty.

Administrative Headquarters Design

Every major company or organization has an administration building with needs and demands that require design. The demands change as the industry changes; interior designers streamline and develop spaces to support workflow. At one time designers just designed offices, but today interactive and social environments are very important. Sometimes, more important decisions are made over a cup of coffee than in the boardroom.

Airplane Design

Airplanes range from a standard passenger carrier to a flying conference room or living space. Designers must consider design elements in terms of weight, fire safety, and psychological and environmental effects. There are many variables and requirements, from the most utilitarian to the most luxurious.

Amusement Park Design

Parks may have many purposes and service many types and ages of people. The designs often include experiences that involve all the senses—not just the visual. The designs may be directed to recreation and fun or marketing or to incorporate learning experiences. Safety, efficiency and traffic patterns that keep people moving in appropriate ways are among the considerations.

With the high level of technology available today, the amusement park experience has gone beyond anything anyone could have imagined. These designers are not just artistic; they are also very skilled in scientific thinking and the use of technology.

Apartment, Condominium, and Co-op Design

With more multiple-housing developments in every part of the country, this specialty presents major opportunities. There is a lot of competition in this market. Those buying or renting apartments often look beyond the plan of the living spaces. Social, recreational and health clubs, workshops, and crafts areas are key. Shared office and conference or meeting rooms are available for those working at home.

Aquarium Design

This specialty is not limited to aquatic parks. Aquarium design can be featured in residences, offices, other businesses and many social and community areas. Medical evidence suggests that gazing at an aquarium offers many physical and psychological benefits.

Art Consulting

Searching out existing art or commissioning the creation of art suitable to a specific interior environment. Art consultants may work for the client or as part of a design team. They provide the background to support the art investment. The specialist must have an extensive knowledge of fine-art disciplines as well as a practical and artistic understanding of interior design.

Art Dealing

Interior designers with an interest in fine art understand what people enjoy and will buy; they understand the space and know how to place art properly. This is a major asset for an art dealer, because art sells best when it can be envisioned or placed in an interior.

Audiovisual Design

Designing for entertainment areas for business, industry or residences encompasses the expanding technologies in the audiovisual field. This specialty is constantly changing. The technical requirements demand knowledge of electronics, acoustics, and lighting disciplines.

Auditorium Design

This field incorporates stage design, lighting, acoustics, and many other elements that are part of theater design. Each element is vital and complex. Productions can be made or destroyed by a very small design element of the house. The multimedia opportunities of the field are very complex and demanding.

Barrier-Free Design

Laws require commercial and public buildings to be accessible to those in wheelchairs. Barrier-free design is increasingly desirable for all spaces. Probably more money has been invested in designing for the physically limited or orthopedically disabled than for any other group. Designers review products and design spaces to ensure that standards are met. This specialty is part of almost every project.

Bathroom Design

Today the bathroom joins the kitchen as a selling point for houses. Modern bathrooms may include spa-like environments with whirlpool baths, saunas, and hot tubs. Public restrooms and bathrooms for commercial spaces demand state-of-the-art detailing. The consciousness of human factors has greatly improved aesthetics, safety, and the adaptations needed to make the bathroom barrier-free. International bathing customs have had an influence as well. Environmental concerns have brought new products and codes.

Beauty Salon and Barbershop Design

Designers may be asked to provide appropriate space for services such as waxing, massage, facials, manicures, and cosmetology, and many other services. State regulations and requirements differ. Interior designers in the beauty field often work with or for suppliers, who may offer financing and turnkey projects.

CAD Specialization

Although almost every designer uses CAD, the highly skilled specialists are still very valuable. They know all the most up-to-date techniques. Computer-assisted drafting (CAD) and drawing is increasingly important for communicating with other design professionals, contractors, and clients. CAD’s accuracy and capability to make quick changes is invaluable.

Carpet and Rug Design

Interior designers are responsible for a large volume of floor-covering sales. Interior designers often work with textile specialists to develop suitable rugs or carpets for a given situation. Designing hand-woven rugs is very different from designing for the technical demands of Axminster, Wilton, tufted, woven, or printed machines. Designers may either study textile design or work extensively in the carpet field.

Ceramic Tile Design

This field encompasses foreign and domestic sources used in functional areas, as well as for decorative effect—including as murals and sculptures.

Closet Design

Closets may be large or small. They may be in any part of the house or in almost any type of business or commercial space. Having items conveniently located is the key to this field of design, which is a very strong specialty in today’s market.

Color Consultation

Color and its effects on people is a recognized science with well-documented results. Color is the most noticed of all design elements. This specialty is used by all the design disciplines, as well as by marketing firms, corporations, governments, and medical practices—anywhere that encouraging specific reactions is desired.

Commercial Design

This specialty designs everything except residences—including retail space, businesses, offices, laboratories, factories, medical facilities, and other commercial space. Most commercial designers specialize further.

Computer/High-Tech Office Design

Designing to accommodate today’s technology use is much in demand. The requirements have changed. In some ways, they are less rigorous. We are seeing some very unusual spaces that don’t look at all like traditional offices. The design supports the desired interaction of the staff.

Construction Supervision

Designers supervise, manage, and review the components of a project and advise on decision making. Interior designers are often hired to act as liaisons between the contractor and client. They may be responsible for hiring other consultants and contractors.

Corporate Campus Design

The designer creates a total environment. The corporate campus promotes efficiency and expresses the mission of the company through design tailored to its specific needs. Campuses can include administration buildings, training centers, manufacturing or production facilities, fitness centers, and other social areas. Some demand space that can be leased to support other related companies.

Corporate In-House Design

The staff interior designer for a corporation is responsible for maintaining the company’s design identity. The designer may initiate and complete the design or hire design consultants on major design projects, as well as act as liaison between outside consultants and the firm.

Cosmetic Dentistry

The emergence of cosmetic dentistry has brought new challenges to the design of the dental office. The office must blend the professional medical requirements of dentistry with fashion and beauty to create effective, visually pleasing surroundings. The client who buys cosmetic dentistry services is very conscious of design and detail.

Country Club Design

These spaces combine aspects of residential and commercial design. The buildings must conform to area regulations and codes for fire, safety, labor, and industry. They must encourage proprietary feelings among the membership but also give the staff the tools to run programs with time and financial efficiency. Facilities may include areas for all forms of sports activities, food services, and various sized rooms for social activities and meetings.

Dental Office Design

This is a highly engineered segment of the medical field; the design specialist must have an understanding of the mechanics as well as the antiseptic and medical aspects of the discipline. The dental profession has developed business management techniques to improve time use to make dentistry more efficient and professional. Space design is an integral part of today’s dentistry.

Design Coordination

These designers work directly with the client to define the client’s wishes and take the information to the design specialists. They select the team of specialists and determine who is best able to do the specific work—they also see that the team works together in an efficient way—to meet the needs of the client. The design coordinator must be able to accommodate the artistic attitude and approaches of the design professionals and understand and work closely with the client. The design coordinator may work with design specialists all over the world and is responsible for bringing specialists and the client together in a productive way. It takes extensive knowledge of the field to be able to create this bond.

Design for Children

Environment affects a child’s behavior; there is a body of research indicating that what stimulates a child is not what stimulates an adult. Spaces for children must be adaptable, since children change and grow so rapidly. These spaces include every place a child might use—doctors’ offices, libraries, schools, and retail spaces—as well as residences.

Children are very demanding clients. They are very aware of multimedia experiences and have high expectations.

Design for In-Home Medical Care

At one time, patients with chronic, debilitating illnesses were confined to hospitals or nursing homes. The trend today is in-home care for these patients to enjoy the comforts of home. The residential space must be adapted to meet geriatric, orthopedic, and other medical requirements of both patients and caregivers.

Design for Vision or Hearing Impairments

The number of people affected with vision or hearing impairments grows each year. More than 60 percent of people in the workforce today have some hearing loss, and probably a much larger percentage have some vision impairment. People are becoming more aware of the problems as well as of the design, and technology solutions available to resolve them. There are successful applications for every situation, from residences to theaters.

Display and Exhibit Design

Retailers, wholesalers, specialty shops, museums, and all types of public spaces use display and exhibit design to sell products as well as ideas. These displays may be permanent or built for travel but are always educational.

Energy Conservation Design

An energy specialist advises on energy-efficient products and design planning for better use of energy. This may include adapting existing structures or developing new ones, or simply finding new uses for traditional products and appropriate uses for new ones.

Ergonomic Design

Ergonomic design is the science that relates people to the way they use things. It is based on the physical needs of the human body. Factors considered are the measurements of the human body, human sensory capacities, comfort, body functions, safety, and emotional satisfaction.

Estate Management

With the investment that owners make, properties require a knowledgeable person to secure their investments and manage all activities of the property properly. A designer may be part of the design team, acting as the owner’s representative in procurement and handling issues with contractors and artisans.

After working on the design of the property, the designers may become the estate managers assigned to update and maintain the property, furnishings, art objects, and so on. They may also prepare operations manuals, establish budgets, and handle all financial issues relating to the property.

Estate managers hire and train appropriate staff, oversee inventories, and do party planning. This position requires a person of background and sophistication.

Facility Management

This is the person or department responsible for the physical management of a facility—coordinating purchasing, repairs, and maintenance. Facility managers plan and act as liaisons between the firm’s executives and the consulting designers, architects, and engineers.

Factory and Production Consulting

This specialty includes traffic control and design to improve safety and to increase productivity. (See Ergonomic Design, previously described.) The emphasis is on keeping the environment stimulating so that workers stay alert, are productive, and are able to handle the machinery and equipment safely.

Faux Finishes and Stenciling

This is no longer a craft, but a developed fine art of finishing. Some outstanding furniture and architectural finishes have been developed.

Feng Shui

The ancient Chinese art of placement is considered the mother of the natural sciences. Harmony and balance are the goals. A feng shui practitioner serves in the multiple roles of healer, psychologist, therapist, cleric, business consultant, financial advisor, and matchmaker. The concepts are drawn from Tibetan, Chinese Buddhist, and folk wisdom.

Forensic Consulting

When a product is made or used incorrectly and results in injury or death, a forensic designer may be consulted by attorneys. In addition to expertise in ergonomics and product construction, the forensic designer must also be familiar with court terminology and the correct way to testify. This field requires not only training but a special personality that holds up well under pressure.

Funeral Home Design

Funeral homes comfort and support people at an emotionally vulnerable time. They usually include personal meeting areas for family viewing and chapel spaces that must be visually pleasing as well as practical. There are presentation, physical, and financial aspects to consider. These facilities may also include a great deal of technology, such as video theaters, social areas, and provisions for food service. This is a constantly changing and developing field of design.

Furniture Design

Interior and industrial design must be blended for good product design. The interior designer knows how and where the furniture is used; the industrial-furniture designer knows construction techniques.

Furniture Management

This person handles all the purchasing documents, usually for a commercial project. The furniture manager also handles the bidding through the final installation and is very much like a project manager on a construction project.

Geriatric Design

As our society grays, design for the mature market gains in recognition as a specialty. Retirement centers, nursing homes, and condominiums are designed to meet the physical, psychological, and cultural needs of older people. It’s not just a case of dealing with illness and infirmity, but rather, acknowledging the pleasures of life and the opportunities still available. Older people are no longer simply old; they act young, and require athletic and other activities once reserved for the young.

Graphic Design

These specialists develop a corporate image or design graphics, logos and icons that may be used throughout the facilities. These graphics may also be used on everything from business cards and stationery to websites, for example.

Greenhouse Design

Greenhouses are incorporated into residential and commercial spaces. Depending on the climate, greenhouse design can involve controlling temperature, light, and humidity. Insulating elements and the design atmosphere are other factors. Designers also work for manufacturers consulting on the design of greenhouse components.

Hard-Surface Flooring Design

Designing this type of flooring product demands knowledge of color trends, as well as a working knowledge of the properties of materials—such as wood, ceramics, marble, vinyl, and others. There are so many hard-surfaced floors and flooring products that each one of them requires specialists.

Hardware Design

The work of interior and industrial designers enhances the functional and decorative effects of knobs, hinges, and handles—the hardware for use in buildings and on furniture. The demand is increasing for beautifully sculptured, handsomely crafted hardware.

Health and Fitness Club Design

Personal fitness is a major industry. Health clubs are not just places to exercise but to meet people with similar goals and interests. Athletic, exercise, and recreational facilities of all sorts are everywhere. Health and fitness club design has some aspects in common with country club design. As trends change, these spaces must be redesigned to meet new needs.

Hedonistic Sustainability

Transforming the sustainability movement into something very youthful, dynamic and egalitarian. It proves that design and architecture can be economically profitable as well as environmentally sustainable. Taking a big picture view, hedonistic sustainability is what happens when you stop thinking about buildings as structures and start thinking about them as ecosystems that can be used to help create a closed loop for recycling energy, minimizing environmental impact and creating a higher quality of life.

Historic Preservation

Historic preservation demands technical and scientific knowledge and an ability and willingness to research small details. The restoration may involve the same materials that were used originally and applying and constructing them in the same manner. Great lengths are taken to preserve the quality of the original building or furnishings.

Home Office Design

The home office is a space tailored to the way an individual works. With so many people choosing to work at home, this specialty has become a very strong one. Most home offices incorporate high levels of technology. The personal systems and preferences of the residents are a strong part of the design. Professionals often select this lifestyle, because they want to work the way they feel is most advantageous.

Home Theater Design

Home theater design is in great demand. Involving extensive technical, audio, and visual knowledge, home theater rooms incorporate many different aspects of design. Depending on their use, these rooms can be both very luxurious as well as comfortable, but the owners also expect the sound to be perfect and the pictures to be crisp and clear. This has become one of the highest-budget rooms of a residence.

Hospital Design

Hospitals have such complex technical requirements. Accommodating the needs and comforts of patients, staff and visitors—along with legal and insurance requirements—places strong demands and constraints on the design. Some designers do only one part of the facility, such as the emergency room or intensive-care unit. Others may design patient or visitor areas. This is an ever-changing and demanding specialty.

Hospitality Design

The work can range from bed-and-breakfast accommodations to large hotels or resorts with conference centers. Some are practically cities in themselves. Accommodating travelers, business activities, community gatherings and celebrations are only a few of the many functions that take place in these facilities. Rental spaces, sports complexes, exercise rooms, spas, and theaters may also be featured.

Houseboat Design

Houseboats can be used for both residential and commercial purposes. There is a tremendous amount of technical engineering required to keep them afloat, as well as to meet health and safety requirements. Houseboats can be several stories high and provide sizable living and workspaces.

Human Factors

Human factors deal with our personal performance in work or personal spaces. Designers who specialize in this field often consult with owners and other design specialists to incorporate human concerns in standard and special-needs spaces.

Interior Landscaping

This field requires knowledge of landscaping and botany to understand the proper placement of plants. The designer’s work may include contracting the maintenance and design changes for seasonal updates and plant health. Plantscaping is an increasingly important component of a building’s atmosphere. Design factors include temperature, light, and humidity control.

Journalism

Through writing, designers can expand the design field, making our work more understandable to people inside and outside it. Designers can educate through the soft media; through the Web, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter; through columns and articles on design for newspapers and magazines; as well as television. Writing is a special skill, as is the ability to relate on camera.

Kennel Design

In the competitive world of breeding pedigreed pets, space design for each species is a serious business. The designer must understand animals and their needs. In kennels, there are areas for grooming and training, food preparation and nutrition, as well as testing. Maintenance and health care are a prime concern.

Kid Friendly

Designing furnishings to meet families’ needs for comfort, safety, and enjoyment.

Kitchen Design

The kitchen is often one of the most expensive parts of the house. Equipment is constantly changing. There are historic designs infused with new technology. Scientific and artistic detail goes into the design and planning of components for residential and personal-use kitchens. The designer must have knowledge of currently available products as well as the dietary requirements of the users.

The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) has created a curriculum that is offered by numerous design schools throughout the country. This program accredits designers in kitchen design.

Law Office Design

Law offices have many features in common with residences. A designer who is skilled in residential work can be excellent at designing them. Image, cost, and work efficiency are important considerations. An environment that supports legal professionals, visiting clients, and consultants provides visual and acoustical privacy. Law offices incorporate technical equipment, as well as areas for client interviews and meetings.

(LEED) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Clients are looking for not only long-lasting products but also sustainability. LEED is a recognized system for evaluating and recognizing the environmental sustainability of a building. There are many roles this professional can play in a project—from design to supporting the qualifying aspects for LEED certification. Many designers are LEED APs.

Library Design

Libraries are individual and specialized, catering to various needs. A library may be a quiet space to read, study or work, or a resource for information and communication from around the world. Libraries need space planning, with special attention to lighting and acoustics. Many libraries support the community with exhibit areas and rooms for functions. They are multimedia environments—and lending books, DVDs, art, and music are only a small part of their activities. Technology has changed almost every aspect of libraries, including card catalogues, periodical indexes, and subject-dedicated databases. Personal libraries are also enjoying a comeback. They are no longer just for English country homes.

Licensing

Designers license their names to a product line. The designer may style or develop the product or merely endorse it. This may encompass just about everything that can be used in interior spaces. Noted designers may design mass-produced, inexpensive products, since licensing fees are based on volume.

Lighting Design

Lighting, with both natural and artificial elements, is used for design, drama, ecology, and, of course, function. Technical requirements and codes are also an important part of projects.

Lighting Fixture Design

In any space, the human eye goes to the windows and the lighting fixtures. Scale, structure, engineering, and knowledge of the end use are critical components of good fixture design. New types of lamping have greatly changed this field.

Liturgical Design

Churches, synagogues, and mosques are not just monuments but living centers that actively serve the community. These buildings are used for social events, theater productions, educational lectures, and other community activities. Each religion has its own design requirements, so the designer must incorporate the specifics of that liturgy.

Manufacturer In-House Design

Designers may work on the design of products or on merchandising them. To promote sales, some manufacturers offer interior design services at little or no cost to the end user. Designers, especially interior designers, work directly for manufacturers to help align products to the needs of today’s design public.

Manufacturer Representation

This sales position is the link between the manufacturer and interior designer. Some of the best manufacturers’ representatives are former interior designers. They understand the product and know how to sell it. They appreciate interior designers’ needs and requirements. Within assigned territories, manufacturers’ reps call on designers—providing catalogs, samples, and so on. They may also assist in specification preparation and writing purchase orders.

Marine Design

This specialty requires extensive knowledge of fire codes, marine standards and regulations, weights, and materials. Many products are made specifically for marine use. Marine design may encompass vessels—from working boats to cruise liners with the size and complexity of small villages. The design demands range from stripped-down—where every inch must have more than one use—to extravagant, with swimming pools, shops, ballrooms, and health spas. The designer deals with physical, psychological, and ergonomic issues as well.

Marketing

Marketing specialists develop and position design firms with appropriate clients. Some designers are better at design work than at selling, so the need for and value of this specialty is well recognized and compensated.

Medical Center Design

Hospitals, clinics, medical campuses, rehabilitative-care centers, and nursing homes have requirements so specific and technologically complex that only a specialist could keep up with the constant changes in standards, codes, and equipment. This specialty may include emergency rooms, intensive-care units, lobbies, and administrative support.

The medical field is changing so rapidly that some facilities are not even completed before major changes must be made. Medicine is advancing dramatically, so we can look forward to much more work in this area.

Medical Office Design

Every medical specialty requires special equipment, as well as appropriate space planning, traffic patterns, and storage management. Today’s specialties use such an extensive array of high-tech equipment that offices require total replanning every few years. An understanding of medical procedures and aseptic issues, codes, legal aspects, and privacy issues codes, is needed. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) introduced regulations that force many offices to make major changes.

Medical Spa Specialization

Medical spas encompass plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and all types of skin treatments. These facilities require a considerable amount of equipment. The knowledge of both the processes used and the necessary equipment is essential for this design specialty. The medical spa may also include cosmetic dentistry, anti-aging systems, hydrotherapy, and many forms of massage and exercise treatments. These specialists often want their spaces to be more artistic and beautiful than the typical medical office.

Model Home Design

Model home furnishing may be handled by an independent designer who may also specify the architectural details of the interior to be purchased and installed by another contractor or by companies dedicated to furnishing model homes. There are also companies that rent all of the furniture, accessories, and appointments to builders for their use for several months or a year. At the end of that period, the companies retrieve the furniture to reuse in another project.

Model home design can be a promotional tool for design firms. In some areas, interior designers pay contractors or developers for the privilege of doing their models. The work may encompass all the interior architectural details, lighting, fixture specifications, and hard and soft furnishings. The furnishings are often sold with the home. In other instances, contractors consider this work part of the presentation of the home and will hire designers or lease furnishings, or both.

Modular Prefabricated Design

A high level of quality with skilled engineering can be accomplished by factory building. Understanding the requirements of building and delivery is critical. It’s not just price, but quality, that is relevant. A better product can be produced under controlled conditions. Factory-built housing or modular complexes also come with guarantees, something not usually available in standard construction.

There are companies specializing in building single units. Modular prefab construction is usually most practical when building multiple units. The designer creates a standard, builds a sample, checks all the details and analyzes the finished product, then confirms with the client. When all has been approved, the rest of the units are built. These units ship well over water, which can be an advantage when placing large complexes on islands where there are very few construction trades.

Multimedia Center Design

These specialties design spaces with extensive communication equipment, including production equipment, that may be used by an individual person or a company. The designer needs experience with today’s equipment and knowledge of ergonomic issues that relate to the spaces. This area must have the flexibility to be shared by others, such as in an educational facility, apartment building, and office center.

Mural Painting

A number of mural artists are interior designers with fine-arts backgrounds. They may first paint a miniature for the client, and then execute the full-size product on canvas or directly on a wall. Demand has increased in both traditional and contemporary designs.

Museum Design

At one time, only people with backgrounds in history or art history worked in museums. Museums today offer many opportunities for interior designers to design exhibits, promotions, and community projects. The preservation of artifacts is as important as the display; understanding the effects of humidity and lighting on artifacts is also important. Interior designers may work directly for museums or be employed by consulting firms that specialize in museum work.

Nursing Home Design

As the levels of health care change, so do the codes, systems, regulations, and requirements. Nursing homes now cater not only to senior citizens but also to young people who have short-term needs. Some nursing homes are dedicated to long-term care, so many residential features are included. The spaces vary considerably, depending on the length of stay and the special equipment the residents will require.

Office Design

There are still some traditional offices, but today we see many other versions of the work environment. Communication is key. Some offices are very creative in the way they place much emphasis