SDA: Interior designers do much more than pick colors

Cheryl Doran, ASID, is president of the Springfield Design Association and senior designer at Pellham Phillips Hagerman Architects and Engineers in Springfield. She also teaches commercial design at Southwest Missouri State University.

The Springfield Design Association's mission is to provide a positive and supportive environment to all levels of interior designers in our region.

The mission also is to increase professionalism, keep our members current on new developments, support and encourage students entering the design field, and to inform and educate the public.

Positive and supportive

We are promoting a "Mini Market" to the trade. It will be held Nov. 14 at the Clarion Hotel. This market is to have more than 50 national and international vendors previewing their new and upcoming products. This will allow regional designers to learn and see what the economy is moving toward. In the past, designers have traveled to Chicago, Dallas and New York to preview these products.

Increasing professionalism

Many of our designers are professional members of the prestigious American Society of Interior Designers, International Interior Design Association and registered as commercial designers in the state of Missouri.

To become members of these organizations, it is necessary to pass a standards exam consisting of building codes, health and life safety codes, programming analysis and many other standards unique to the profession. Also, to become a professional member in these organizations, an individual must have a four-year college degree and two years of diversified experience.

Scholarships

Every year we award two college scholarships. This year, the winners are Laura Daly and Janel Gildehaus from the SMSU interior design program.

Inform, educate the public

We don't just pick colors! Recently, there have been a lot of news reports on Ozarks Technical Community College.

In one article, it was said that the college should have had its graphic design program do what the hired interior designer did. As that hired designer, I want to educate the public on a few issues why the graphic design department should not be the interior designer although graphic design departments are important and do have their niche.

Life safety. The graphic design department does not have the knowledge, resources or education to select a fabric or wall covering that will not burn should it accidentally catch on fire, or know the fire resistive standards of materials and finishes. The department also might not know how to select ergonomically correct chairs, or how to meet building and barrier-free codes for the Americans with Disabilities Act, or to meet building codes for occupant loads and barrier-free access.

Materials. The graphics department does not have the knowledge, resources or education to select a carpet that won't wear out or soil in a couple months and have to be replaced, costing the school extra money. The department also won't be able to select proper finishes so they can be cleaned and hold up to student abuse.

Designers have to know about the durability, flammability, dimensional stability, scale, comfort, maintenance and appearance of finishes. Other material selections that might be problematic for the graphic design department might be floor materials, which, if incorrectly selected, might cause more accidents. The department also could have trouble selecting proper acoustical treatments for sound control and selecting proper ceiling materials.

With all materials and finishes, designers have to know the substrates they are being applied to. For example, what type of a substrate can ceramic tile be applied to and how is it to be installed? Therefore, we designers have to be able to write the specifications for the contractor to follow.

Furniture, fixtures and equipment. The graphics department does not have the knowledge, resources or education to select office furnishings that will look attractive, function properly for each end user, and have the flexibility to be moved and rearranged with the expansion of the college. Also, the department is not able to create furniture bid packages and budgets so area dealers can bid on projects.

Other areas that might pose problems for the graphic design department could be the coordination of electrical and mechanical elements with furniture ordering and placement, and the design of custom millwork. An example is the student services' seven-person information desk, which took programming and communicating with the owner on functionality.

Skills and talents. Designers offer many other abilities that the graphics design department might not have.

Designers have to think three-dimensionally, and be able to draw elevations and renderings of interior spaces to communicate to the owner how it will look. Designers also space-plan an interior space to make it function properly, and consider circulation patterns so no space is wasted.

Designers also lay out interior spaces with relationships to surrounding areas, and understand what areas need to be adjacent with other areas.

These are just a few of the reasons why you would want to hire a professional interior designer versus an amateur. The few extra dollars spent for a professional interior designer will probably save thousands in wear, care, health and productivity. Next time you read an article, as an informed consumer, you will know that we don't just pick colors.