High Schoolers Get the Low Down on Interior Design
Twenty young women from the YWCA of the City of New York (YW-NYC) “College Knowledge” program visited NYSID to learn about the interior design profession. So can you, at the Summer Pre-College program or during one of our online admissions chats.
“If you are a visually creative person, interior design can be a great and impactful way to apply your art skills. When you’re practicing interior design, a room becomes your canvas and you’re making it a total experience.”
On February 20, a diverse group of girls from public high schools around NYC visited the New York School of Interior Design to learn about interior design as a profession from Barbara Weinreich, NYSID’s Director of Undergraduate Programs; Brett Cione, NYSID’s Director of Admissions and Recruitment; and Francisco de León, a practicing designer who teaches in NYSID’s undergraduate and graduate programs.The high school students came to NYSID through the YW-NYC’s College Knowledge winter break camp, one of the organization's Girls’ Initiatives designed to inform, engage, and inspire girls in New York City by exposing them to information about academic and career opportunities.
“The impetus for this workshop was the chance to expose students to interior design as a career. Oftentimes, high schoolers don’t even know that interior design is a possible profession,” says Weinreich. “Unless you have a model of an interior designer in your life, it can be a career that goes unconsidered.” Indeed, a 2019 report from IIDA Educators Roundtable notes, “The design community must promote awareness about the value of interior design. Outreach activities at elementary schools and community events, in particular, have the potential to reach large portions of the public, spreading knowledge about what interior design is, what interior designers do, and why it matters.”
After an introduction by Weinreich, de León provided a visual and verbal immersion into the field, answering the question, What is Interior Design? Here’s some of the thinking that was expressed.
What Is Interior Design and Where Can It Take You?
Interior design is an applied art that requires you to think about how other people live and how the human body moves through space. The point is always to improve people’s lives by improving their environment. Interior design draws on the fundamentals of proportion, scale, texture, light, and color, which are taught, alongside computer rendering, documentation, and communication skills, at NYSID. Though the fundamentals stay the same in every job, there are many possible paths within an interior design career.
Here’s a snapshot of four possible paths interior designers might take in their careers.
interior design company
Working for an interior design company that specializes in interiors, that is, selecting and arranging furniture, finishes, fabrics, lighting fixtures, art, and more for clients.
architecture firm
Working for an architecture firm, such as Gensler or HOK, as an expert in interior design. In this role, you might be using spatial skills often associated with both architecture and interior design, that is, creating floor plans and furniture layouts to create optimal flow, circulation, views, privacy, and other elements within a space. You might also be applying your knowledge of finishes and furnishings to specify furniture, materials, hardware, lighting, and more.
BRAND
Working for a brand, such as Equinox or Ralph Lauren. Many companies—both national and worldwide—hire interior designers to create branded home product lines and/or branded spaces, such as hotels or retail environments.
institution
Working for an institution. Universities and hospitals often hire in-house designers. In this role, interior design can be particularly meaningful, as designers are creating spaces, selecting furnishings, and specifying finishes that optimize wellness, healing, or learning.
Interior design is taught in a hands-on way at NYSID. “In Color for Interiors class, our students actually mix colors and apply paint to learn about color theory, hue and intensity, for example,” says Weinreich. So it’s fitting that after a tour of the school with the admissions department, this “College Knowledge” day culminated in a hands-on inspiration board collage project and pin-up presentation led by de León. The task was to use images to create a mood board for a specific client of the student’s choosing.
De León says of the day, “The students were visibly interested and engaged. They asked great questions about what interior designers do and how we work. I think they really enjoyed learning about our profession and the many opportunities available to graduates of our school.”
Interested in Learning More About Interior Design and NYSID?
If you’re a high school student who would like to learn more about interior design as a career, there are great opportunities on the horizon:
NYSID SUMMER PRE-COLLEGE
Pre-College I: July 6–16
Pre-College II: July 20– 30
Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors come together for two weeks (or a month) during the summer, at NYSID, to get a taste of interior design education. “If one afternoon can be so much fun, two weeks of design boot camp will be even better. For example, we get to visit showrooms and interior designer’s offices, and work on a project such as the design of a residence or hotel,” says de León, one of four instructors who team-teach Summer Pre-College at NYSID.
NYSID ADMISSIONS EVENTS
In light of public health concerns, NYSID will be holding several online admissions chats. Find out more information!