hi guys welcome back to our channel the
number one place for people who love
design art and all things creative
i'm jacqueline and i'm an interior
architect and designer here at dnb
in today's video i'll be talking about
everything you need to know before
starting interior design or
interior architecture maybe you're in
high school or maybe even younger
and you have an interest in interiors
but you want to learn a bit more before
committing to it as a career
or maybe you're deciding between
architecture or interiors and you want
to know which one is best for you
i'll also be sharing with you guys some
things i wish i had known before
starting
interior architecture school and also
just things that i've learned throughout
the years that i had
no idea about before and you guys also
asked me a lot of questions related to
studying in interior design
or working in the field of architecture
so i'll be answering some of those too
so if you're interested let's jump in
okay so let's start with some
misconceptions around the job and just
clear some things up
when i was in high school and in fact
even when i was around eight years old
i knew that interior design was what i
wanted to do however
looking back i had no idea what the job
actually
entailed i thought that the job would
consist of picking out fabrics
designing mood boards choosing furniture
and then
decorating a space all to give a final
reveal
to a client which is about five percent
of what the job
actually entails and i think that the
main reason people have this
misconception
including me back then is because of all
of these makeover shows on tv
they only show you the fun bits and the
highlights if you like
when i applied for my degree i actually
had no idea that interior decoration
interior design
and interior architecture were three
separate things
of course the three areas all
interlinked with one another and
they're not completely different but
there are certainly different aspects to
each one whereas i just thought that
there was this interior design umbrella
and all these things fall underneath it
when in actuality it's more like a venn
diagram of three
separate things my course was just
called interior design
but in your first year you learn the
three main aspects and then in your
final year
you actually choose one to specialize in
and of course i chose interior
architecture
which is something you need to be really
careful about when choosing a university
course because
some courses decide to title themselves
interior design
when in real life you're only learning
interior decoration
or some are called interior architecture
but you're actually learning all three
aspects so it's quite confusing
but just make sure you do your research
and find out what they're actually going
to teach you
i would describe the field of interior
design as kind of a spectrum
starting with interior decoration then
moving to interior design
then onto interior architecture then
architecture of course
and on the opposite side of the spectrum
are the structural engineers
and interior architecture as you can
imagine is much closer to architecture
than people realize
maybe you're like oh my god what is the
difference i don't know
but don't worry because i have a whole
video on that on the channel and i'll
link it up there
go watch it and then come back here and
we'll carry on
it's really important for me to give you
a disclaimer that the title interior
architect
doesn't exist in all countries which
just makes it even more confusing
i believe that in north america it's
illegal to call yourself an interior
architect
and interior architects in america just
call themselves interior designers
even though technically they are
interior architects
i believe it's because of a lot of
technicalities and grey area between
the interior design and architecture
communities in america so
there's that but speaking from a uk and
european standpoint it's not like that
here
we interior architects very much do
exist
and there are jobs for interior
architects that some of the biggest
architectural practices so please don't
tell me in the comments that interior
architects are made up
you guys also ask me a lot do you need
to do
exams in order to become an interior
designer and the answer to that
is yes in northern america and no in the
uk and i believe the rest of europe
i believe you carry out your ncid cues
over in america
and but here it's just project work and
lectures
whilst you're studying interior design
or interior architecture
but for architects there is an exam
which leads me on to the topic
architecture or interiors a lot of you
asked me this question and to be honest
with you there's multiple reasons why i
chose
interiors over architecture so let's get
into them
the first being it takes three years to
become an interior architect
but to become an architect it takes
anywhere from five
to seven years that number varies
whether you want to become
chartered or not and this is just my
opinion but i didn't want to spend
all of my 20s in education honestly i
just wanted to get out there and start
creating cool
and i know that there might be people
that are cynical and say well yeah but
they can design a building and you can't
but to be honest with you you learnt a
lot of architectural knowledge
on the course so could i design a
building from scratch
yes is it legal no however what happens
when i do want to knock down a
load-bearing wall
or make really big structural changes i
don't just leave it and run away
i'll do my designs and then i'll look
for a pre-roll from a structural
engineer
and then they are the ones to stamp it
and approve it
so it is a bit annoying in that way but
usually i'm not making
huge structural changes anyway and i
think that's better than giving
seven years of your life to education
but
like i said that's just what my
preference is i just didn't want to be
in education
for that long but education aside it's
also
actually a lot quicker to do projects in
interior design
than in architecture if you're working
on a large architectural project
you'll be on that project for years
whereas with interior design
those projects only last a couple months
usually
so i just felt like you get to be more
creative as you get more chances
to do projects within interior design
and thirdly with architecture
you would learn cad history of
architecture the design
process and also the aspects of the
engineering side of a building
whereas with interior architecture or
interior design
they're still cad but the engineering
side is replaced with software machines
and i much preferred the idea of
completing a space with the soft
furnishing
side such as the lighting paint
furniture installations etc rather than
not do that and learn about the
engineering side of things
and don't get me wrong of course we
learnt about the engineering stuff with
an interior architecture
but just not to the detail that you
would on an
architecture course if that makes sense
and also one of my reasons for picking
interior architecture over architecture
is that if you think about it we are
inside a space
most of the time right especially in the
last two years
and i feel that interior design plays a
much bigger role in the way people
feel and act within the space whereas
architecture
simply dictates the way people use route
ways and how
people interact with the building from
the exterior i like to describe in a way
that
architects give us a plain canvas to
work with
and we are the ones who do the painting
although i'm pretty sure
architects will disagree with me on that
one which is actually something i want
to
dip into a little bit not too much and
that is the snobbery from architects
architecture and interior design have a
symbiotic relationship
and there's no doubt about that you
cannot have one without the other
however sometimes i feel that architects
think they're superior to interior
architects and interior designers
which i don't think is fair i respect
architects and i know that i won't be
able to do my job without their skills
right but sometimes i feel it's kind of
a
all architects kind of be interior
designers but not all interior designers
can be architects kind of vibe
from summer architects which i
absolutely do not
agree with i mean just take that show
grand designs for example
there are sometimes some gorgeous
buildings being made
but then completely ruined by poor
interiors
to spend all that money on a beautiful
property
to then just make it ugly inside you
know the bit you spend the most time in
i just don't understand last time i
checked you spend the majority of your
time
inside your house not staring at a court
in steel facade
also it's about people's reactions to
their interiors
i wanted to move people i wanted to make
them so emotional and happy when they
saw the result
that they cried you know that classic tv
reveal moment
and that never really happens if you
show someone a front door or fancy
staircase
remember people don't react to walls on
concrete they react to environments
and your job as an interior architect is
to create environments
that will ultimately dictate how people
will move
act think and feel within that space
okay so my next point is comparing
projects you do at uni
compared to ones you do in real life the
truth is at university
they get you to create very out of the
box and avant-garde style projects
and those are not very common within the
real world the reason why they do this
is to
expand your computer skills design
skills your creativity and just develop
you
as a designer but unfortunately chances
are you'll probably be doing much more
boring and smaller projects in real life
maybe not if you end up working at oma
okay now let's talk about what you'll
actually learn on an interior
architecture degree
okay so here in the uk it splits into a
three-year degree
and in those three years you're going to
learn architecture and interior design
history
famous architects and designers
different design styles and movements
building regulations in code how
interior design projects are run
creating briefs
user profiles schematics
programming and schedule of
accommodation
plans sections and elevation drawings
architectural terminology how to read
architectural drawings
lighting plans hvac materiality
computer aided design rendering software
adobe creative cloud 3d model making
how to create mood boards sketching like
a designer
interior design terminology in theory
sustainability and design
ff e packs architectural detail
drawings commercial residential and
architectural sectors
the riba plan of work conceptual design
and so much more another thing which i
had no idea i'd be doing so much
is presenting and i think it's the same
for architecture too
but in interior design you'll be
presenting your project and concept to
your professors and peers
weekly and that can be for a final
presentation
or just a pin-up or crit as it's
normally known
and for me that was usually three times
a week and of course
no one loves presenting but you do
eventually get over it
and learn to not give it about
presenting in front of other people
in our first week i remember our
lecturers made us do a presentation in
front of the whole class which was about
60 people nothing prepared me for that
looking back they
definitely threw us into the deep end
but i'm actually glad that they did
because by practicing a lot that's how
you actually
overcome the fear of doing it but this
is just an fyi if you really
fear presenting and don't want to go
into a career that has a lot of
discussions and presenting your ideas
24 7. but at the same time you honestly
do
get over it and even can speak in a room
of a hundred people as time goes on
trust me the next point i want to
prepare you for which is
it's a hard university course you will
hear that a lot from people within
architecture and interior design
but both are really hard areas to study
in and i'm not exaggerating either
in my first week at university i
remember distinctively our lecturers
told us that it was going to be hard
but at the time i just thought that was
our lecturers you know scaremongering us
but looking back they were being honest
and i remember my friends doing other
courses at the time and always
asking me gosh sure lecturers and the
course has got you doing an
insane amount of work and i'm like yeah
i know architecture and interior design
degrees are infamous for being difficult
and you'll find that you might not have
much if any free time at university
and it really is true i'm not just
saying this but i remember working
constantly
whereas my friends would just turn up to
an hour lecture
revise do a test and then pass and that
was it
interior architecture interior design
and in architecture are not
like that you can't just revise loads
and pass
you have to put in the hours because if
you don't it shows in your work
visually right that's why if you're
unsure about doing this course
don't do it you really have to be
passionate about it in order to survive
honestly
and if you think it's just picking
pretty cushions and paint swatches
you will get the shock of your life also
degrees in general
are just huge financial investments so
you have to be 100 committed
and sure that it's the right thing for
you whilst talking about finances i also
think it was a much more expensive
course than other ones
yeah i know it's it just gets worse and
worse and that's mainly down to the cost
of software like adobe
the amount of printing you'll do and all
of the supplies you'll need such as
laptops
cameras sketchbook paper drawing
equipment
inc model making and the list just goes
on
unfortunately it's not a course where
all you need is a laptop pen
and notebook another thing i want to
talk about briefly is job security
i find that a lot of people think that a
career in architecture would be much
more solid than one in interior design
which is actually not true i would say
that they're both equal
think about the last time you went out
somewhere maybe it was a shopping mall
well an interior designer was part of
that project a restaurant maybe
an interior designer was part of that
project hell even a hospital
interior designers designed those as
well you know and that's probably the
biggest misconception about interior
design that you'll only be doing
residential or millionaires homes but in
reality
pretty much anywhere where there is a
business institution
or community there was an interior
architect or designer that was part of
that process
a question i get asked all the time is
do i need to know how to draw
and the answer is yes and no so let me
explain
so no you don't need to be able to
because they will actually teach you
how to draw floor plans on your degree
but yes
you will need to know how to draw after
they've taught you and even after when
you go into industry and also clients
love hand drawings by the way
but the good news is you don't have to
be good
yes i honestly said that i want to urge
to you that you don't need to be da
vinci level of drawing
and i think that when you guys ask me do
i need to be good at drawing
you're conjuring up images like this in
your head all you really need to be able
to do is
create basic quick drawings it's more
about the quantity
and getting your concept across than the
actual quality
just as an example look at frank gehry
one of the world's most renowned
architects
yeah in my opinion it's nothing to write
home about
the reason why we sketch is to highlight
our ideas quickly to our professors or
the clients
all the sexy final renders will be done
on computer anyway
also what is your plan if you don't want
to draw
mock up your idea on the computer every
five minutes it's just not realistic
that's why drawing is the preferred
method but i wouldn't worry because on
my course they taught us everything
about design sketching
so i'm sure you'll learn that too that's
another thing to remember though
all design schools are different and
they vary from country to country
so you'll need to do your research in
finding one that teaches you all the
right things
you'll need to know for working in
industry i have a video here on the
channel where i give you tips onto how
to pick the right college
and also how to create a design
portfolio so i'll leave that linked at
the end of this video
i hope i haven't scared or overwhelmed
you guys with all of this
but i just really wanted to create a
video of things i wish i had known
before going into interior design school
and i hope that it was helpful for you
it really is a fun and creative job
so i hope that you enjoy all the things
along this path if you do decide to go
down it
also i actually have a whole playlist on
the channel about tips for architects
interior designers and students and i'll
link that down below for you guys
if you're new to our channel then i just
want to say welcome on this
channel we talk about interior design
architecture illustration
content creation graphic design and all
that cool creative stuff in between so
if any of that interests you
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even more people okay guys thank you so
much for watching and i'll see you next
video bye
[Music]
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