Professional Practice for Interior Designers. Christine M. Piotrowski
This site allows you to compare wage information by state. You need to click the tab “Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports and Media” to find the information on interior design. There is other information on that site related to job search.
A useful report is published by ASID is titled: The Interior Design Outlook and State of the Industry. There is a charge for this report for nonmembers, but it is well worth the cost. It provides information on economic outlook, employment, design specialties, and other interesting information. Readers may also want to check with the International Interior Design Association or other professional associations for additional reports on economic and demographic topics. This report can be found on the ASID Web site www.asid.org under the tab research.
Interior Design magazine annually provides interesting statistical information on very large (“giant”) interior design firms. This information gives a glimpse of the economic impact of the interior design profession. The January 2018 issue reported group earnings at $4.1 billion in fees.*** This report also indicated median salary rates ($75,000 for “designer”).
The Interior Design magazine report also provides information on the amount of fees earned by specialties, including residential and the largest firms that do foreign projects. Remember that salary rates in this report are for the 100 largest design firms participating in this annual report; they may not reflect salary rates in your area. Note also that these types of data reports lag approximately one year from when the data were obtained.
*U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Employment Statistics: 27‐1025 Interior Designers” (as of January 2019). Available at www.bls.gov/oes
**U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Outlook Handbook.” Interior Designers. January 2019. Available at www.bls.gov/ooh
***Zimmerman, January 2018, pp. 103–120.
WEB SITES RELEVANT TO THIS CHAPTER
www.asid.org American Society of Interior Designers
www.cidq.org Council for Interior Design Qualification
www.idcec.org Interior Design Council for Continuing Education and, Inc
www.interiordesigncanada.org Interior Designers of Canada
www.iida.org International Interior Design Association
www.bls.gov U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
www.careeronestop.org CareerOneStop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor
www.ncidq.org National Council for Interior Design Qualification
KEY TERMS
ateliers
Brand
Commercial interior design
Contract design
Ensembliers
Interior design
Profession
Pro bono
Residential interior design
Social responsibility
Vignette
KEY NAMES
Elsie de Wolfe
Norman deHaan
Dorothy Draper
Charles Gelber
Florence Knoll
Eleanor McMillen
William R. Moore
Louis Tegre
ORGANIZATIONS
American Institute of Decorators (AID)
American Institute of Interior Decorators (AIID)
American Institute of Interior Designers (AID)
American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) (formerly FIDER)
Institute of Business Designers (IBD)
Interior Design Council for Continuing Education and, Inc (IDCEC)
Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC)
International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
International Society of Interior Designers (ISID)
Interior Designers of Ontario www.arido.ca
Interior Designers of British Columbia www.idibc.org
National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ)
National Office Products Association (NOPA)
National Society for Interior Designers (NSID)
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Each chapter concludes with several situations that may or may not involve ethical behavior or other professional choices and challenges. These scenarios can be discussed individually or in groups. As you read these scenarios, consider ethics, good business practice, and overall professional conduct.
1 It came to Phyllis's attention that her boss was considering hiring a designer—Jane Doe. Phyllis knew Jane because they worked together at a different design firm a few years ago. Phyllis knew that Jane had been fired because the other employer discovered Jane falsifying several types of client documents in connection with projects. Jane found out this information from someone at that previous firm after Phyllis had left the firm. Phyllis was not sure what to do—keep quiet or report Jane's behavior to her supervisor.
2 Alex has been designing hospitality spaces in the East for six years. She has become increasingly interested in sustainable design and is planning to become LEED® certified. A former client, Robert Smith, has contacted her about the design of his second home in Wyoming. Because Alex started in design at a residential furniture store/studio, she feels very comfortable in doing the project.Mr. Smith wants to use green products, but is concerned about the extra costs. He heard from a friend that “green stuff costs a lot of green.” The client wants Alex to do the interior planning and specification and to use green products if they do not cost too much. He is also reluctant to pay the fees that Alex plans to charge to cover her travel. He suddenly says, “Let's reduce your carbon footprint by not having you travel to the job site at all.”
3 Roberta owns a design studio and specializes in the design of high‐end residential projects. She has recently lost two projects to a competitor where a former employee now works. One of those projects was for a former client couple, who are building a very large penthouse in Manhattan.Roberta is quite upset about losing the project for the former clients. She thought they had gotten along very well and doesn't understand why the clients would go to someone else. She