Over the past year of studying Interior Design at Huddersfield University, I have had time to reflect on the skills that I have developed over the course of the year which I can compare to the end of first year.
Our first project was ‘Discover Huddersfield’ where we were tasked to create both a research-based group presentation as well as an exhibition stand linking to this. Group work has always been a strong trait of mine, stemming from my years of part-time work in the hospitality industry as well as being an active Netball player. I have a good team spirit but am more than happy to take on a leadership role if it is required of me. Creating a group presentation was a smoother process in second year as we have had more time to get to know each other and I have become confident enough to speak out if the roles are not shared equally. Discover Huddersfield restricted me to design within a 2m x 2m x 2m space which came with challenges. I had to adapt my design many different times in which I learnt the value of patience, self-motivation and problem solving; all which will contribute to my career in Interior Design. During this project I also developed both my visual and verbal communication skills through documenting the design process, creating a 3D scale representation model and finally presenting a combined document one-to-one with my tutor. This encouraged me to include every aspect of my design process however looking back now, I could have improved my development for this project further with more ‘free’ sketches and modelling. I still need to become less afraid of making mistakes and understanding that I will learn from them.
First Year Final Model:
Second Year Concept Model:
Our second project of the year was producing an idea for the Retail Design Expo in which we were delegated ‘Berghaus’. This topic involved developing a strong concept after thorough research into the brand and target audience. This was my first attempt at retail design and it was more positively challenging than I anticipated, due to the needs of the customers, however it has confirmed retail design is not what I want to specialise in once I graduate.
Design Realisation was my final project of second year in which I chose the ‘Choc Affair’ brief. Although this was a retail brief, I wanted to be challenged by combining it with hospitality after speaking to the company themselves. This meant I learnt how to approach a company/client professionally in order to gain a useful response. This project also included conceptual and critical thinking, much like the Berghaus brief, however I was able to develop these skills further in terms of research and design development. I produced a functional concept model which I compared to my first year attempts and there has been vast improvement in terms of imagination whilst modelling. I also was more pushed regarding time management due to not having access to the Universities facilities, though I can turn this into a positive knowing that in the future I am still able to self-motivate and produce work under a tight time scale. Producing a fully functional set of technical drawings allowed me to further develop the skills I gained in first year however I then transformed them into lightly rendered visuals for my client presentation document, using a range of software from the Adobe Suite.
First Year Client Renderings:
Second Year Client Renderings:
Overall, second year has allowed me to develop all of my industry skills that I gained in first year, which will allow me to further challenge myself in the future. I am satisfied with the progressions I have made in terms of personal skills such as confidence, team working abilities and time management however there is always room for improvement in regard to software abilities. I would like to improve my efficiency on AutoCAD as well as perfecting the presentation of working drawings by using more suitable line weights and annotations. Industry standards may change, and I will have to adapt again in order to be up to date, which I am prepared to do to excel further.
References
Brightspace. (2019). Reflective Blog Posts. Retrieved from https://huddersfield.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/59427/viewContent/501666/View
Pictures – Authors Own