As of midnight December 31st, 2014, designers wishing to become members of the Interior Designers Institute of British Columbia (IDIBC) will need to have graduated with a degree in interior design. A certificate or diploma will no longer be sufficient for incoming members. This change has come about because the profession and the industry have evolved to a level far beyond what anyone would have imagined when IDI came into being in 1950.
Evidence-based research, Building Information Modeling, biomimetics are just some of the terms used in the industry that were unheard of 30 years ago. Since the mid-1980s, technology has changed the profession to a point that programs offering an interior design education have had to completely restructure their courses to address the needs of today’s industry. And this is not going to end here. Already, curricula throughout North American design schools are going to have to be re-evaluated to determine their relevancy as the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) looks at revising standards for design education. In November 2014 CIDA’s Future Vision study group met to discuss the direction of design education and determine the new standards to be set forth for design programs accreditation.
As students start their design education they quickly discover that what was viewed on HGTV is not exactly the reality of interior design. It is a demanding profession: dealing with deadlines and stakeholders such as clients, contractors and consultants; budgets and building codes, to name but a few challenges. But when a project comes together and the clients are happy it brings a glorious sense of job satisfaction, with the added bonus of potential repeat clients.
Are students prepared for the rigours of this demanding industry? Presumably the national and provincial associations feel that without a degree, the answer is “no.” There are aspects of the profession, namely commercial, retail, hospitality and institutional projects that require an extensive body of knowledge.
However, the varied nature of interior design lends itself to other avenues of specialization. For example, residential design, kitchen and bath design, furniture design, journalism, interior photography, and lighting design are all career paths a student could consider. Do these require a degree? Not necessarily. Design schools are looking to offer programs that provide an education that is allied to interior design, but can offer an alternate route.
One might wonder if by tightening the membership education requirements and continuing education units required to maintain membership whether the provincial and national bodies have shot themselves in the foot, so to speak.
This may not be the case. Firstly, designers who would previously have procrastinated about joining IDIBC are now clamouring to get in before the January 1st deadline. And secondly, the real reason behind this move is to advance the notion of a Practice Act. Currently, B.C. has a Titles Act protecting the name “Registered Interior Designer”. Only Nova Scotia has a Practice Act for interior designers in Canada while Ontario and Saskatchewan have Title Acts that protect the name of “Interior Designer”. There is still no system in place in B.C. to protect the public from unqualified practitioners offering interior design services.
It remains to be seen whether the B.C. provincial government will ever agree to a Practice Act for interior designers, as they have for architects and engineers. The interior design profession has certainly done its part to forward this endeavour. Back in the late 1990s the Alliance For Canadian Design (ACD) brought together architects, landscape architects, graphic designers, industrial designers, fashion designers and interior designers. This was funded in part by the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) a ministry of the Canadian federal government. During meetings it was very apparent that the interior design sector was well organized having in place a professional exam, the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ); an education accreditation process (then the Foundation for Interior Design Education and Research now CIDA); errors and omissions insurance; industry surveys; provincial and national associations with links to international bodies; and continuing education units. Ultimately ACD’s demise was due to a lack of government funding, and short sightedness on the part of the government of the day.
As design associations, colleges and universities promote the profession of interior design, the next generation of interior designers will enter the profession well prepared for the rigours of the industry and hopefully will be able to have a Practice Act to support and protect their right to practice their chosen profession. Their education is the first step.
Anne Savill, MCSD, RID (Fellow), FIDC, is principal of Savill Design Associates. Since 1996 she has been a part-time instructor at British Columbia Institute of Technology.
