What Do I Need For Working In Interior Companies?

At the lecture given by Paul Simmons, who works for Timorous Beasties -- a design company foucuses on wallpapers and fabrics for interior.

London Toile Wallpaper, Timorous Beasties Wallpaper

Brand Style and My Style

Paul Simmons showed many brand products, although all of them are different, but I can notice clearly that they all share a same style as products in one company -- luxurious and intricately patterned. He also mentioned brand identity.

This reminds me of a collaboration project with ROMO Interior during my second year of undergraduate studies, students were required to research the brand and then design samples that can match with ROMO Interior's style. This was challenge for me because, while I had my own design style, incorporating it into the company’s identity made it difficult to fully utilize my strengths—particularly in bold color combinations. I kept thinking about: When designing products for a company, how can I balance the company’s identity with my own style?

I believe the company's requirements should come first, which means I may need to compromise some of my personal design traits. Of course, starting my own brand is also an option for future career paths.

Think Before Designing

In the lecture, Paul Simmons also talked through materials used to make products, such as whether a design is suitable for a particular environment (a living room or a public place) and whether a material is appropriate for the product (is wallpaper more suitable, or to make a wall cover fabric a better choice). This is crucial for product design.

The other thing related to this is to think what the size and colours this design will have before making. For interior, most of designs will be in large sizes and calm colours, and I need to think before every design and sample.