Overview
We kick off this podcast with an overview of why the podcast was named Mile Long Trace. Hint hint there is a metaphor in the name plus we unpack the term design practice and share a design process tip you won’t want to miss.
Lastly, we begin to get to know each other. I expose my background in commercial interior design. The raw side of it. The side no one ever tells you about in school.
So what surprised you about the field? What was one thing you wish they had told you in school? Head on over to our Instagram feed and share! Can’t wait to hear from you.
SHOW SUMMARY
Why the name Mile Long Trace - Reason #1
The concept of the mile long trace exercise is that you take out a fresh role of trace and begin to ideate on a design problem. The caviot is that you are not allowed to tear the trace off the role and start over.
Why Mile Long Trace - Reason #2
Mile Long Trace is a metaphor for the iterative process of interior design. As many of you have seen, the process of designing a space for a client is never linear and is often times unique on many levels such as the project parameters, the client relationship and dynamics, and the design teams scale as it works towards meeting the project scope.
The Practice of Design
Practice as a verb “perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.” - Oxford Dictionary
Podcast Overview
This podcast focuses on the process of practicing commercial interior design. Each week we will dive into the profession of commercial interior design to unearth or as I like to say it unpack the idiosyncrasies of our profession. We will explore a range of topics from the facets of the tools and methods we use, the engagement we have within design teams and clients, the quirky obsession with acronyms, the design process from facets of schematic phase to construction.
My goal is to help you feel more rooted in the profession of commercial interior design because a true design practice is one that takes years to hone and I am sure many designers can agree every day you learn something new in the design field.
Show Host Background
I am a commercial interior designer and educator. I have a BIARCH in Interior Architecture and MA in Whole Systems Design. I have spent the last 15 years practicing commercial interior design. I spent 8 of those years in higher education at two different CIDA accredited institutions.
I have worked among 65 interior designers at a 300+ person architectural firm
I have worked with 1 other interior designer with 20+ architects
I have also had a sole practice
I have been in the educator seat and taken a school through a CIDA accredited site visit
I have been involved in strategic planning sessions to help elevate the profession
I have sat on my local chapters IIDA board for 8 years
In all those positions I had to learn how to find my voice in the chaos of the fast-paced workplace environment
Power of Connecting
To have the ability to connect. As Malcom Gladwell states, “connectors are people who link us up with the world. People with a special gift for bringing the world together.” (Tipping Point).
I truly am passionate about helping elevate others to find their voice in design. I love connecting with design professionals to explore inter-relational challenges. I enjoy enriching and honing others design process. At the end of the day this field requires something more out of you. For many of us it fills a creative void that is lurking inside and is so much more than a pay check. It fills something deep in our souls. In our DNA.
I hope you will subscribe and join me on this journey where I will share war stories, we will laugh, hmmmmm maybe cry, pull ourselves up and elevate your interior design practice.
So what surprised you about the field? What was one thing you wish they had told you in school? Head on over to our Instagram feed and share! Can’t wait to hear from you.
Keep designing yall!
Credit
Branding & Graphic Design work by Andrea Schwoebel https://www.andreaschwoebel.com/
Cover Art photo by Kasper Rasmussen on Unsplash
“As the ideas are sketched out the trace begins to cascade down the edge of the desk into a pile on the floor. This leaves a robust archive of the process of design iteration and a lineage of ones thought.”
- Elizabeth