An Insight into Interior Design
The world of design accommodates for many different roles, ranging from graphic designers, animators, architects to interior designers. This week's post is written by one of our fellow content creators, Mia Tsujimura, who has kindly shared her experience and point of view, having studied and worked in the interior design sector. giving us the opportunity to explore what studying interior design is like at university and in the workplace.
First let’s get to know you in a bit more detail!
Hi everyone, I’m Mia and I am currently working as an interior designer in London. I am originally from Tokyo, Japan but I’m also half Danish. I moved to London when I was 18 and I graduated with a first-class degree in BA Interior Design at Regent's University in 2019. I got my first role as a junior designer in the workplace design industry and since then it's been quite a roller coaster journey. I experienced my first unexpected redundancy during Covid and since then, my perspective towards my career has never been the same. I started my journey as a content creator in 2021 January not only to share my passion for Interior Design but also to inspire everyone who was going through their designer journey.
I am currently working as a workplace designer 9 to 5 (which I loooove) and create content and videos on socials when I get to do them. I am particularly interested and passionate about sustainability in interior design since I wrote my dissertation on it at uni, and it is definitely something that I would like to share on my feed more.
Let’s talk about uni!
What made you choose the subject, university and location that you ended up studying in?
I was always surrounded by a mixture of Scandinavian and Japanese design growing up and was especially very close to Danish furniture since my dad was a big collector and also used it in the restaurants my parents owned. But I think the main reason why I wanted to become an interior designer, started from my experience when I had to move to Denmark for high school. When I moved from Tokyo to the countryside in Denmark, I experienced a dramatic change in culture and it was difficult for me to adapt to the new language, and I struggled to make friends at the time as well. Denmark is also very known for having a long dark cold winter so we tend to stay home and we have a culture of appreciating time spent in our homes. I spent a lot of time indoors during my high school years in Denmark and this experience made me aware of how interior space can affect our emotions, our mood and our health. I became really interested in how the space you surround yourself with could make you feel happy, unhappy, nostalgic, energetic, productive and so on. eventually, I decided that I wanted to become an interior designer who could create comfortable spaces for other people too.
What are some common challenges interior design students face? Are there any particular challenges you faced during your time at university?
Being okay with criticism and being confident with your work. I think it's very common for us designers to spend hours and hours on our own work and when someone tells us they don't like it, we take it very personally. I still struggle in my professional days to not take criticism personally. Being confident with your own work and always standing up for yourself is essential, but it also requires a lot of experience and knowledge to back up your design decisions. I definitely think while at uni, make as many mistakes as possible; we will never get better if we are afraid of risks and failure. And by challenging yourself with trying a new presentation style, using a new skill set, or embracing a unique concept, you will definitely be able to train yourself to get ahead of your peers.
Studio culture varies greatly in architecture school. Some students are open with their peers, tutors are supportive and in general, healthy working habits are encouraged, and constructive criticism is passed around. However, we often hear a lot of students who went through toxic studio environments. Peers are unnecessarily competitive with each other for the wrong reasons (wanting to be better than others rather than trying to better themselves), the need for all-nighters is either implicitly or explicitly suggested, and there’s a lot of discussion on students ‘stealing’ ideas from one another.
Do you think the same issues exist in interior design? What was your personal experience with your studio mates and tutors?
Oh definitely yes! We had many of us crying after the crit session because some of our tutors could get quite mean.
Digital skills are an important topic in architecture. There’s a lot of discussion around how much responsibility universities have to prepare us for the reality of a digitally-driven architecture industry, and how much it is down to students to navigate this freely and independently.
In your opinion, where does interior design fall into this discussion?
I think universities have a big responsibility on training students with the most current software used in the industry. Students enrol in courses not knowing anything about the industry and we pay a lot of money expecting them to prepare us for the professional career. Yes, students also must take initiative to develop their own technical skills, but universities should provide the insight and opportunity to explore software used in the industries to grow our knowledge and skill set. I think from my university experience, this was something that lacked the most, and most of my technical skills came while working or by self-learning.
In architecture school, we’re encouraged to be creative and take risks with our designs. Some studios have very abstract briefs, whilst others have more practical project requirements. Nevertheless, this is the time for us to push the boundaries and explore the limits of architectural design to an extent that might not always be possible in the industry. Does the same apply for interior design, or do you feel you have that creative freedom to express yourself as a designer?
University is very good at training your creativity and teaches you to push the boundary. I struggled to adapt my creativity as well after I graduated, because once you start to work in practice, there will be many constraints such as functionality, practicality, regulations and the budget as well. My university actually taught us practicality and at the end of the day, we had to present our ideas by at least having explored how they could actually work.
In Architecture, building performance, locally sourced materials that have low embodied carbon and striving for net-zero energy projects are just some of the aspects of our design approach that are fundamental to achieving true sustainability in the built environment. What does sustainability look like in the interior design industry?
Looking at how we can reduce energy consumption throughout all phases of the design process is absolutely important, using locally sourced materials that have low embodied carbon and striving for net-zero energy projects is part of interior design as well. Just talking about materials there are so many things we need to consider, such as where it comes from to how it's made, what it is made of and how it's transported, and most importantly how it's been applied to space. I've come across many recycled products that will become non-recyclable just because of the final glue that's been used to apply on the interior.
On top of that, interior designers also need to consider how the user will feel and use the space eventually. Even though we tick all the boxes for the environmental aspect, if people don't feel comfortable, enjoy the space, or are not functional, it will cause further refurb in the near future anyway.
Is there anything you wish you knew before studying/going out into the working world?
Interior designers need to learn a lot of technical software lol. And your work will mostly involve long hours of computer work! But creating something from digital ideas to physical spaces is a very rewarding part of our job :)
You have recently shared your experience attending a startup focussed workshop with your audience which didn’t solely hone in on the design sector but more on the business side.
After this event, how important do you think it is for designers to step out of their comfort zones and teach themselves about other sectors which can link to their work?
I would have never expected to say this myself, but I think it's very important for any creative careers to have other subject knowledge. I especially think business knowledge is essential as a designer because we often lack the skills to sell our work! At the end of the day, we need to be able to market our brand and creativity.
What advice would you give to anyone who is considering studying the same subject and for those who are about to start their careers?
Interior design is not an easy subject to study or an easy career. My university life was lots of late nights, drawing, making, and reading. It looks like a glamorous career but you also need to work hard as well. If I would tell anything to my student self, I would really recommend students to be active outside of their uni life, such as by attending workshops, applying for internships/work experience and meeting as many people as you can. I was definitely one to freak out by the word “networking” but this can be even by creating good relationships with your peers, your tutors and with your friend’s friends.
That’s a wrap for today’s guest blog post with Mia! We hope this was an insightful read, whether you’re an architecture or interior student, or just curious about what it’s like studying and working in the Interior Design industry.
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See you soon with a new set of fresh content!
