Pro Practice Manual

TRANSIT FREQUENCY + ACCESS Professional

Practice Manuel

CANNON DESIGN JUSTIN NUJUMA

STEPHANIE

JAMIE

CONTENTS Project Schedule Codes of Ethics Interviews + Response Lectures + Responses

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PROJECT SCHEDULE

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CORPORATE INTERIORS PROJECT SCHEDULES 1. Visionary Meeting

Informal understanding with the client about their intentions, what they are looking for, their vibe and how the project will help their business.

2. Schematic Design

Informally go into schematic design from the visionary meeting by puling ideas from the client meeting, and understanding how the design will work; test fits, looking at multiple spaces, determining what building works best for them.

3. Process Design

Learning about the client and creating different types of spaces in the building. Help develop the program.

4. Design Development Getting into Construction Documents and really developing the space. Materials and finishes happen during this phase.

5. Construction Administration Visiting the site and seeing the project being built.

++ Sarah Adams, Level 3 Corporate Interiors 7

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CODES OF ETHICS

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Drew Ranieri

Assistant Principal SCB

Rule 4.201 Dignity and Integrity: Members should strive, through their actions, to promote the dignity and integrity of the profession, and to ensure that their representatives and employees conform their conduct to this Code.

Members shall not make misleading, deceptive, or false statements or claims about their professional qualifications, experience, or performance and shall accurately state the scope and nature of their responsibilities in connection with work for which they are claiming credit.

As Associate Principal at Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Drew Ranieri has had multiple experiences as an architect in the professional world. As my mentor, he would always have great advice to share based off of past experiences, which is why I chose to interview him. I thought that he would have great examples of the violation of various codes because he has been practicing for a longer period of time.

What are real world examples of violations of this ethic?

How would one know when he or she is close to stepping over the line?

What would be an appropriate way to handle such situations?

What are possible negative consequences of acting responsibly?

An example that pertains to college students who are graduating and beginning their job search would be resumes and misrepresentation. A resume is an important document that will help represent you and the work you have done in the past.

By misrepresenting a resume, you are lying to professionals who are interested in hiring, especially if you just graduated college. Yes, jobs are important, but you definitely do not want the first step you take after graduation to be deceiving to 10

your potential employer. There is no such thing as being close to stepping over the line. You either lie about something you did or you don’t. There are cases where designers will play with their ¬word choice to make themselves out in a better light, but lying is lying. As soon as you write something on your resume that is not true, you have crossed the line. It is hard coming out of college, especially when you don’t have much experience. How do you expect people to hire you if you’ve only worked at mediocre jobs that are not design related? But still, you don’t want the first impression you make in the professional world to be a lie, because people will catch on soon and then your career will suffer greatly.

Another example that occurs after a few years of practice deals with switching jobs and representing the pervious firm’s work as your own. An individual who worked for SCB went to a new office, and showcased SCB’s work as his own. He never mentioned to the hiring firm that this work he portrayed was not actually his, but the some of the work that SCB has accomplished over the past few years. This individual knew that he was stepping over the line by misrepresenting SCB’s work in order to get a new job. When SCB realized what was occurring, they immediately made this individual take the work off the website. If the individual did not comply then legal actions would have been taken to stop this individual from stealing their work.

One last example of this code deals with taking on project from other firms and possibly gaining a bad reputation. SCB had recently taken over a project from another architecture firm. Somewhere towards the end of the design phase, they realized that the client had never put their name on the contract, so the firm that was working on the project previously was gaining recognition for the work SCB had done. SCB tried suing the client for copyright infringement because they were technically stealing the work SCB had done. In the end, they decided to drop the lawsuit. SCB had to cut ties with the client. Unfortunately, now the client could talk to potential clients and taint SCB’s image.

Misrepresentation of work is an issue with multiple levels of severity. Resumes are the least severe in the sense that designers looking for jobs often embellish their work to make themselves appear more qualified for the job. As long as they are not lying about a task or job performed then they have the right to portray themselves in a better light. Misrepresenting work, or not giving credit to work is the more serious offense. All firms should be included in the work when designers are showcasing some of their talents. Misrepresentation of work is very serious and can result in lawsuits depending on the severity of the action.

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INTERVIEWS + RESPONSE

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Jill Kurth

Knowledge Manager City Planning Group CANNON DESIGN

Eric Zachrison

Vice President City Planning Group CANNON DESIGN

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What did you study in school?

evaluate me in a “360” fashion. So I ask principals that I’ve worked with closely to give me feedback.

J: Landscape architecture and some planning What do you like most about your job?

What is your job title?

E: Yeah, we’ve definitely been moving more towards a model where we’re using roles as our job titles because principal or vice president doesn’t really tell you anything about what the person’s role will be on the project.

J: I’ve always liked being an advocate and I’ve always liked being a designer, and I didn’t know that I could merge and blend both.

I first met Eric when I moved to India, to help the team work on a design for a city over there, and the exposure to the dreadful conditions over there made me think a lot about not only the formal qualities of design, but how that seemed less important in the face of using design thinking to solve real problems.

It’s been up ‘until this past year in our work in South Texas, that I’ve felt that ultimately at the end of the day, I’m a design facilitator and advocator at once.

What are your day-to-day tasks, and scope of your project?

What are some of the things you wish you could change about your job?

J: In the office, we approach things by either having an astronaut role or an argonaut role.

I think from a very big picture, the astronaut role means you are constantly participating in simultaneous conversations about different aspects of design, understanding how they influence each other and then both understanding how they reflect back our expression of the greatest aspiration and the vision for the client, and also understanding how they can translate to be on the ground. So it’s that testing and jumping scales in line with the vision and mission of the client. How does a design decision that maybe has to do with campus housing affect the simultaneous conversation that is going on with infrastructure, the transit, our sustainability goals, and in regards with environmental restoration, and how would that decision that we’re working on now, how would that get articulated and expressed in a finer grain.

The argonaut version is making sure the richness in a project’s success that deals with all this complexity is making sure everyone’s on the same page. A lot of that is the dissemination of information and knowledge.

J: It’s a really difficult profession in regards to calibrating the work load, figuring out where the next project is coming from and the stops and starts of each project.

So I think you’re asking me what I would change about my job and I’m kind of responding to a difficulty about the nature of the profession. For example, we’ve done all this great work in Brownsville and the project is coming to a close and if we hadn’t won this project now we wouldn’t have known what to do. There’s a lot of stress involved in terms of making sure there’s a steady stream of projects, and the pursuits of projects.

You have to have a really thick skin because for how many projects you apply for and know that you’re never going to win a project unless you put your best foot forward.

J: That is a good question! For the project we just won, my job title is knowledge manager. I think having job titles is a disservice to the landscape architecture profession. Having a title can be very constricting to that regard.

Who evaluates your performance?

J: Peter Ellis who is my direct principal in charge reviews me but then I can ask for other individuals to

What is rewarding and difficult about this job?

E: There’s nothing difficult about this job. *laughs* J: After winning the UT South Texas merger, and having a conversation with the client and seeing their excitement/ relief that we’re going to continue on with them in their journey into this unknown future, and their feeling like “oh my gosh we’re so happy and relieved you’re going to be here to help us through it” is a huge satisfaction. And it goes much deeper than

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knowing that we did our job, it’s like feeling our work is constructive and meaningful and we’re helping our clients achieve their ambitions and goals.

J: In fact, I sat next to a man who’s high up on UT system that’s overseeing the merger, a community leader and a reporter at dinner last Friday night, and the reporter asked, “What about the master plan? What types of buildings are there going to be?” and I said, I don’t even know if this process is necessarily about buildings, this process is about the design of solutions, and solutions can take many different aspects. My role is to facilitate and bring expertise and help these people accomplish their goals.

Do you still design?

J: Well, if I answer this question narrowly, like design is just drawing physical solutions, then in the past year it’s gone down to significantly little. But if I broaden that definition to orchestrating solutions, then I would say its much bigger.

I like to think my time and ability to sit down and create drawings that express an idea like placement of streets, courtyards and parks or whatever, has just kind of been on hold and I’ll eventually return back to it because if anything, I’ve learned that careers are made up of many different projects and nothing’s guaranteed and you never know. You have to make the best of what you’re working with at the time. It could be that the next project is very physical and I can revisit that again but I certainly believe now that it’s the integration of policy that affects those physical decisions. It always bothered me when the designers actually got to the table, so many decisions had already been made that govern that design so it was kind of like the boundaries of your cube were already given to you.

How long have you been working at Cannon?

A year and a half, we came on as a city design group Before that what were you guys doing?

E: Peter Ellis left SOM in fall 2010 and started Peter Ellis New Cities and then he and a couple of people went

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over to India. I was hired in February 2011 and Tim joined and then later, we hired 11 Indian staff over there and Jill was the last member of the team we brought on as a landscape architect. And when we got back here we started chasing after projects and we went after a project designing University of Nebraska, Lincoln, but we felt like we needed an education group to be a part of our team. We already had discussions with Gensler, Perkins & Will and Cannon Design about joining them. All three of these groups wanted a Chicago planning group so we talked to each group but we went after the project with Cannon’s education group and it was just such a natural fit. We were going to have this great institutional planning ability. Every city needs education and healthcare and Cannon was already thinking about these aspects as problems that are community wide and regional wide. We could have gone to any of those groups we had mentioned but we were really afraid of ending up kind of like the SOM planning group, which is; if you see an SOM master plan there’s always the one or two buildings SOM wants to design and are key to the master plan.

We were really afraid that any large group we joined would ask us how are we going to help them design more buildings. Some of the leadership meetings we had early on, we told them, we don’t know that every city we work on will necessarily need a new building and Cannon was really onboard with that and they made it easy for us to come along.

But on the other side we knew every community would need healthcare and education. We don’t have to do what SOM does, which is whatever you’re building of course you want an 80-story tower in the middle of it.

There will be an education and healthcare component.

It gives us a broad depth. But there were a lot of other reasons that we like this too, I mean we found that the different consultations that we saw being able to help drive us and just the openness of people to a different way of approaching projects which was exciting.

J: Well, and the exciting thing too in terms of the timing of being brought on is that it’s been made very clear that Cannon Design is intent on morphing their services to innovate the design profession from across the board. The depth of expertise at cannon design is amazing, and to be challenged by executive and senior leadership to say, how can you think outside of the box for strategic services to help our client, what are

people not doing in the market place that our clients would want. Being part of an organization that wants to innovate like that is really cool!

Why do you think SOM is stuck to having the building component be key to their master plans?

E: It’s really simple, it’s a math problem. Urban planning doesn’t earn a very high revenue in comparison. On a project like that, they are going to center the business district and plan 2 dozen blocks in Beijing, and the fee would be the upwards of 1 mill dollars, but designing an individual building through CDs could be 5 or 10 times that. UP is not a profession that has those bigger projects.

J: Having a design team that can understand the facilitation of the strategic initiatives that will ultimately affect the physical and the built world, I think will become more and more common. They’ll realize they need it in order to compete with one another Advice?

J: Nothing is really certain. To think from where you’re standing that you want to do or be this, it’s great to set really high standards for yourself and go for it but over the course of a career you never know what will happen so make sure you’re open and that you’re taking risks.

J: However, also, architecture is getting more commoditized that they are planning expertise that are becoming more and more essential for our clients to help them accomplish their goals E: There’s a lot of architecture that used to be very complicated, I mean traditionally, SOM did these super amazing high-rise towers that were very complicated to design, but now that isn’t such a specialty, it is becoming more of a commodity, more and more firms can do this work. Tim has a statistic that says 1% of buildings in this country are actually designed, and the rest are built by engineers or based on plans from another building or they’re prefabricated. As technology becomes more efficient that percentage will go down. We’re trying to get ahead of that to the point where there are a lot of other things that we can do with our design thinking besides/ in addition to, and those may be completely separate, like some of our master planning efforts don’t involve buildings, others just make the buildings much more rich.

Would you say clients now see the importance of urban planning?

E: Some of them. There will still be some clients that understand it, recognize it and see a value in it but it is very difficult. There is no way to quantify the value of what we do and in a lot of cases, you could point to areas that don’t have a master plan that didn’t turn out as well as areas with master plans.

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Sue Kim

Interior Designer LEVEL 2 CANNON DESIGN

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Why did you become an Interior Designer?

I had no burning desire to be an interior designer at first. I had the opportunity to come to the United States to study, after I finished college in Korea. I thought interior design would be fun, so I studied up until I got married, and then I stopped. I went back to school around 30 and realized that interior design is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Looking back, I’m glad I went back to school when I did because I feel if I studied interior design at a younger age, I wouldn’t have focused as much.

Was it hard going back to school?

Nope, it wasn’t hard at all. I mean, I didn’t have much of a life, but I really enjoyed it. It depends on your situation, whether it’s hard or not.

What are your roles and responsibilities?

Some of my roles and responsibilities include: + Design portion + Client relations + Presentations + Overseeing docs + Actual production + Finish selections + Overseeing construction CA + Quality control Who evaluates your performance?

It’s typically the people who interview you, as well as design managers, design directors and principals.

the movie industry glorifies our profession, making it seem more like decorating than design.

What is particularly rewarding about this profession?

At the end, you see your vision come true. During the process, I usually look at the project as sections but in the end I see the whole thing come together.

What is particularly difficult about this profession?

Client relationships are very difficult. Each client is different and they usually have different visions than we do. We try to come up with the best solutions, but sometimes they have a special interest, which interferes with what we think is the best solution. It’s all about finding the right balance between what the client wants and what we think is best and convincing the client we have the best solution.

Another thing that is difficult is the work / life balance.

Life is consumed by work, and there is no distinction.

I’m not complaining because I chose this path and this is what I want, but sometimes it’s very hard.

What role does technology play in your position?

Technology does not play as big of a role compared to junior level. When you get to the senior level, your role is more management of the overall project, rather than specific tasks. I need to know the basic skills when it comes to technology, but I don’t know how to do 3DS Max or even Revit 3D. My billable hours are higher, so if a junior level interior can complete the task, then they will.

What could be improved in Interior Design education and training?

What do you like most about your job?

I love the creativeness, being able to collaborate with different people, detailing and seeing everything come together at the end.

What would you like to change about your job?

Our profession is under appreciated, compensation wise. People, such as clients, or even design managers, don’t know how much work and effort we put in. And,

Real world experience such as internships, and working on actual projects are really important! I learned a lot of things in college, but it does not compare to what I’ve learned in the real world. Colleges should teach the basics of real world training and teach all the disciplines together, not separate.

What shifts do you see happening in practice?

The market is changing, the budget shrinking, the

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schedule is tighter, and there is more competition.

Firms used to focus or specialize in one thing, whether it was healthcare design, or corporate design, but ever since the economy crashed, firms have had to become more versatile in order to stay alive. For example, HOK in 2008 almost didn’t survive. The only focus that had work was healthcare, and because they were diversified enough, they were able to push through the hard times.

Is diversifying a bad thing?

No it’s not bad. It’s definitely a good thing, and very necessary.

Where do you see the profession in the next 10 years?

I don’t think interior design will change that much, but the projects will be more environmentally friendly. The projects will also be more diversified, as well as the designers. The designers will be more multi-talented and there won’t be many specializations.

Advice?

Is this really what you want to do? If so, then you will enjoy working hard. If you think this job is 9-5 and this job is about decorating, then you are not in the right profession! You have to show how much passion you have, and you have to work really hard.

Interior design is very competitive and in order to be successful, inspired, and have great design concepts, you need to read about what’s happening in our industry. Having that knowledge will make you stand out and show to your managers that you are serious about your profession. Also, get an internship so you can have experience and also so you can build your network. Networking is the most important thing in order to get a job.

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Peggy Sorenson Interior Designer LEVEL 1 CANNON DESIGN

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Why did you become an Interior Designer?

What do you like most about your job?

I liked the idea that we can make a space better, and examine the functions of the space and make a difference.

I like that every day is different. I also like seeing an idea come to reality.

What would you like to change about your job?

Is this your first job?

Nope, I had an unpaid internship at a non-profit organization called Design for Dignity. Design for Dignity brought design services to other non-profits who need the help but cannot afford it. If you go into pro-bono design, you’ll see how they solve problems in different ways as opposed to a regular design job.

How did you go about applying to Cannon Design?

I knew someone who worked here, and she referred me to her manager.

Cannon has a Corporate Interiors studio and a Corporate & Commercial studio. What’s the difference?

They work together, but a lot of the projects I work on are just interior spaces. We have an architect on the project but they aren’t building the infrastructure because it’s not a new building.

What are your roles and responsibilities? + Attending the client meetings, working with senior leadership + Works to put the client presentations together + Working on the plans to make sure they reflect what the client wants + Work on finish plans and palette and pulling materials + Furniture packages + Coordinating the furniture order

I wish it were more efficient. I struggle with time at the computer and time in the meetings. It would be great if I could merge the two and get things accomplished more in real time.

What is particularly difficult about this profession?

The amount of risks you have at hand, for example, something as little as power in the floor being placed in the wrong spot. If everything lines up the way it’s supposed to then everyone is happy, but there are so many little parts that are challenging to line up.

What could be improved in Interior Design education and training?

There should be more of an emphasis on the real world, and what actually happens once you graduate.

There is a big learning curve when you start working at a firm and colleges should do a better job trying to lessen the learning curve maybe by making an internship a requirement to graduate, or something along those lines.

What shifts do you see happening in practice?

I see a major shift in sustainability, and product health. Flexibility and managing the unknown are also important, especially when it comes to technology because who knows what type of technology we will be using 10 years from now?

Where do you see the profession in the next 10 years?

Who evaluates your performance?

To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve only been working here for about 3 months. I would assume the entire team, and the project architect. Everyone is equally important.

I hope to incorporate pro-bono design into my every day work, and make a difference in areas that need the most help. I believe that people who can benefit the most from design cannot access it.

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What other non-profits have you looked into?

The great thing about Chicago is that there are so many different types of non-profit organizations in the city. I know of Latent Design, which focuses on groups who cannot access designers. And also, The Right Livelihood Project, which isn’t a non-profit, but they positively impact society by choosing projects that are meaningful.

If Pro-Bono design is something you are interested in, then you need to find organizations that can balance the challenges of the type of work you wish to pursue.

Advice?

Don’t underestimate the importance of you being yourself, especially in design. And you should really understand your strengths and weaknesses and always remain positive! A positive attitude will go a long way.

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Sarah Adams Interior Designer LEVEL 3 CANNON DESIGN

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Why did you become an Interior Designer?

face after the design is completed.

I’ve always been a creative person, always into fine arts. I’ve also been intrigued with understanding how things are built. I like construction and seeing how things get put together. I also love how you can think of all these ideas and actually see it built.

What would you like to change about your job?

I wish the schedules were less hectic, and I wish we got paid more!

What role does technology play in your position?

What are your roles and responsibilities? + Get own projects + Design medium sized projects + Primarily creative designer role + Construction Documents and Renderings + Materials and Finishes At what phase of the project do materials and finishes enter?

They come much later in the design phase. In my mind I’ll have an idea of the material and an idea of hard and soft tones in response to lighting, but I’m, more interested in the experience of the design and understanding how the volume works. I don’t like to get bogged down in the little details yet.

Do other Corporate Interiors feel the same way?

Yes, decent amounts of corporate interiors are on the same page, but it does depend on where you went to school. Different materials and finishes are good things to know and you need to understand what to use, but at the end of the day a solid surface is a solid surface. I’m more concerned about the volume of the space Who evaluates your performance?

Mark Hirons, the design principal for corporate interiors.

Technology plays a great role. I’ve always used Adobe Suite programs, SketchUp and different 3D rendering programs like Revit and 3Ds Max. We are constantly video conferencing with different clients and partners, pretty much everything we do is digital. We’ve gotten better at accessing the same documents, and file sharing, you probably didn’t notice. I always have my phone with me in case I need to bring anything up or send a quick email to a member of my team. Without technology, our Profession would be so much more difficult.

What could be improved in Interior Design education and training?

Making projects and design a little bit more realistic as far as having to deal with more ADA, code, and really understanding how things function. Overall, projects need to be more technical. Also, while in college, professors need to push concept-based design because not all schools do. Pushing concept-based design is when you can be free and colleges need to push it as much as you can because that’s the only time anything goes. When I was in college, there were people who were good at developing concepts and sticking to them and then there were people who just didn’t care. It’s very important to have a strong reason why you are making the design decisions that you are.

Concepts definitely help you sell projects later on.

What do you like most about your job?

Corporate Interiors were in charge of designing Cannon’s new office correct? If so, what were the design goals and concepts behind the new office?

Seeing the end result. You have to really enjoy doing what we do because it’s a lot of hours and people are not always 100% thankful for the hours you put in. But it’s very exciting to see what you can create and how it comes alive, and seeing the expressions on the clients

The main concept was bridging people together. In our previous office, we were all separated on different floors and we did not collaborate as much, so in the new office we wanted to have everyone on one floor.

We had the choice between a few office buildings but

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we chose this one because it was the only building that let us all exist on the same floor.

The steel structure in the lobby represents the different bridges of Chicago and how we are all coming together to an area that is this social hub, which is the café. There’s a gradient of color and different graphics by the elevators that are continued throughout the space and become more agitated as you approach the central hub.

We wanted to make the employees feel more apart of the company, and we also wanted our visitors and guests to see our process, which is why we have everything in the open so people can see our process, and we provided many collaboration areas on the corners of each area so that guests can easily view our work.

adobe software, which is able to translate over into a wall graphic. I don’t necessarily care about typeface; I mainly care about the bigger picture. Our office does have a few in-house graphic designers.

Advice?

Definitely stick it out! It’s hard when you first start out because you need to gain the confidence, but after a few years you’ll be amazed at what you learn. Don’t be intimidated with seniors, you learn that you are capable of designing; you learn more as you go and it gets easier. Not all firms are scary and bad, it’s a lot of hard work but it’s rewarding.

What shifts do you see happening in practice?

Technology will continue to be part of design, but even at a greater scale than it is now. Things will have to be done faster and faster, and client expectations will higher because of technology. Instead of telling a client that you will give them, I don’t know, a rendering of their space within a day or two, they will want it within a few hours. Another thing that will change is the cost. People want everything at a cheaper price.

Our industry is very competitive so everyone’s trying to outbid each other to the point where even if you do win the project, you won’t be making much of a profit.

Some of the positive shifts I see happening in the future are a general understanding of design and how important it is by the public, for example, Target sells very inexpensive but well designed products. Also, more companies will understand branding in order to get more employees and to increase employee morale.

Does Cannon have a studio specifically for branded design? And what about graphic design?

I think the DC office has a branding studio. Branding is not something you need to be taught, it’s something you just understand, as far as implementation goes.

I did a lot of branding for my old firm, and I also did graphics for spaces and realized that graphic design comes into a lot of stuff that you don’t even think of!

My undergrad was in fine arts so I’m naturally good at

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Dominick Gallegos Architect CANNON DESIGN

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Why did you become an architect?

I’ve been drawn to architecture ever since I was a kid.

In high school, we had to fill out a questionnaire about what career we wanted to pursue and I bubbled in architect. I had no idea what it would end up being.

I thought it was a typical career but during college I learned it was far from it.

is clear to others, that’s when collaboration occurs.

Communicating the idea and strength of the idea is very important. We don’t want any one-trick ponies.

What about in terms of mediums?

Mediums will always change but structures are similar.

Some firms communicate in different values, but you still have multiple players.

Do you regret choosing architecture?

No I don’t. I love it and I love the application of design.

Before college I had no idea what architecture meant, but during college I had grown to learn the importance of design. And surprisingly, not that many people are great at it as you would think. Architecture would do better to break down the old hierarchy and egos. Only a few architects are worth the ego.

Ego? The brand is someone’s persona that brings ego into it. As you develop and feel more confident, you need to have a sense of how to push your ideas forward.

You need to have some type of agenda.

And what’s your agenda?

Being better at communicating, and how you involve other people in the building. There are a lot of talented people in architecture but only a small fraction will make an advancement early.

What’s the best way to collaborate with others?

For you guys, the majority of school is individual work.

Build confidence on your skill set, and quickly see what you can do and figure out what you want to do.

Group projects are good but challenging especially while in school because you don’t know yourself well enough. Group projects are important in school because they are a good challenge but they shouldn’t be the majority of projects you complete.

When you get into the profession, collaboration has to be more visual in it’s day to day but you have to build around an idea. It’s hard to collaborate when the idea is not clear enough and when the idea is not represented well. When the identity of the project

What have you learned in regards to firm culture, and how people work in various firms?

I’ve learned that if you work with too many people who are 9-5 and have no sense of growth and development than too much of that’s not a good environment.

They could still be great people to work with, but you need a culture that’s about growth and different opportunities.

Do you fall into niches while at various firms?

When you’re hired, the firm will put you where work is needed or where you are good. It’s on you to look for other opportunities. You need to be an entrepreneur for your own job. Definitely do side projects! More people will be interested and want you to help with what you’re doing. If you’re asking to learn, then there’s no ego in that. If you build confidence in the areas you struggle with, then they will know you’re interested. Always do enough to impress but not enough to over do because you won’t go over-thetop all the time. Be very selfish in the sense that you know what you want and how to get there, but don’t be egotistical. Build on one direction you want to go, figure out what you need to do to get there, talk to people about how they got there, and always look out for yourself. You can do these things without walking over people.

How does firm size impact certain roles you are put in?

Bigger corporate firms put people in certain roles all the time. The bigger the project, the more people involved, the less you are connected.

Smaller corporate firms are limited in projects, but not

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skills. If he stayed in a small firm I would have learned more skills quicker but I wouldn’t have been exposed to big firm things.

How did you get to where you are today?

Most of your career opportunities are based off of people you know. When I graduated college, I got a job, but a good portion of people I graduated with got laid off during the recession. Don’t take it personally!

I worked for RTKL which has about 15 offices around the world, then I worked for HOK which has about 20 offices around the world. I then moved to BSA LifeStructures and designed hospitals and high-rise buildings. There were about 200 people and we had in-house engineers and interiors. Overall, I’ve had about 5 jobs, including internships I had while at grad school.

be amazing all the time. Work less competitively and put more of your work out there. Build a good form and environment for discussion and development of both projects and ideas and build meaning into what you do, don’t just do it because it looks cool. And analyze your precedents, take the analysis and throw the images away, nothing is original but your thinking has to be genuine.

You went to grad school? Do you plan on teaching?

I would teach but it’s hard to get into. In order to teach, I need to build enough of an academic background and I would have to write a few more papers and have some work published. It’s definitely something I’ve always been interested in and I even planned on teaching eventually, right after I get more experience.

How is your work/life balance?

For now I’m able to go out and have fun. When I worked at HOK, I worked late hours. Half the weeks would be long weeks but I was working with a lot of people I liked so I enjoyed it for the most part. Work/ life balance is on you. If you set boundaries for yourself, you can do the work you need to in order to make an impression. You are more able to set boundaries at a bigger firm as opposed to a smaller firm where you may be doing a wide range of things.

What is particularly rewarding about this profession?

Making stuff is the most enjoyable part.

Advice?

Have fun! No matter what you do. Always find ways to continue to have fun designing even though it won’t

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Lisa Lim

Lead Graphic Designer CANNON DESIGN

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Why did you become a graphic designer?

I liked how graphic design has a certain sense of art and science. It’s definitely more business than art, which is what I originally thought. I like how you think both with your left side and right side of the brain and how you pair it up at the same time. I wasn’t sure about graphic design at first but one of my teachers were really persistence. My teacher helped me out a lot and really opened up my eyes to design. Understanding how a “type” and image can come together to create something is great; the exciting part is figuring out how to make it work.

Did you go to school for graphic design?

Yes. I have a Bachelors in Fine Arts and minor in photography.

Photography sounds like fun!

I did everything myself! I developed my own film! I like the fine art of photography and how you change things as you develop it. It takes a little bit of planning before you execute it.

What are your roles and responsibilities?

I am the global graphic design leader and I lead all graphics for the firm. I have about 5 people on my team.

We primarily market Cannon Design. We occasionally will do stuff for clients depending on the project scope but we mainly focus on marketing Cannon Design. We focus on how we (Cannon Design) present ourselves in a market place. And we also focus on everything that has to do with out brand.

Does your department focus on branding other companies?

The brand group was created as a side group that has refreshed the entire brand of design. It’s about communication, how we work, and who we are. We primarily focus on marketing and materials. Branding is another line, and they work with how they can brand the experience and the corporation. We recently went through the process of rebranding Cannon Design and we found it very interesting and we figured we could

offer the same service to our clients! We’re definitely trying to get more into branding for our clients.

I’m majoring in interior design but I’m also very interested in graphic design. How do you see the two disciplines coming together?

To be honest, I’m not sure. I think it depends on what you like about graphic design. But I see a great opportunity that you can create for yourself. Not many people try bridge interior design and graphics.

The most graphic design I have seen in an interiors project would be wall graphics and branding to help with the clients identity. But you have the opportunity to create something for yourself. What would your ultimate project look like? In order to figure out what you want to do, you have to do it! As soon as you get to a point where you know the technique and practice over and over again, where will you go with it? You won’t know what it looks like until you figure it out and explore for yourself. Ask yourself, what spaces have you walked in recently that have both interior and graphic aspects that impact you! How did they get there? Also, networking is key. You should check out organizations such as AIGA to look for a bridge. They might have opportunities to connect with different types of people that can help you. Definitely meet other people/disciplines who are interested in the same thing and maybe even do a bit of free-lancing.

Don’t be afraid to create your own project! It’s better to pick something and try it and see where it takes you that way, if you realize you don’t like it, or it’s not something you want to pursue, you have more of a direction to go in.

Advice?

Get out and do it, no matter what! This is a very critical concept! Make sure you try everything, no matter how “beneath” you it may seem, go out and do it!

Go pick out tablecloths for an event or go interview someone who has no relations to what you work on.

Opportunities are very critical and no opportunity is a bad one! The first couple of jobs I had, I did the weirdest things! I definitely started out as the low man on the totem pole.

Be a sponge! Soak it all in! No matter who I worked

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for, I always learned something new! And always be very critical no matter what you do. You’ve got to do it yourself. Your process gets refined by all the difference processes you do, it’s always worked for me. You have to know what you want to do before you can design it.

And no matter how high up on the food chain you are, you still have to know how to do things.

There should be a shared appreciation between designers because all designers want to know how to design things. It’s about adding value to things you design. How do you add value to the work you do? Is it just getting it done? That could be the case, but then there are also people who really want to add their thought and value and know that they did the best they could. It’s very hard to add value to design, that’s the difference between contributing and being happy and loving what you do as opposed to paying the bills.

Also, when it comes to design, it’s not about how well you do it, but how well you respond to it. Everyone is the same until you react to a certain design situation.

How do your reactions set you apart from everyone else?

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Personal Response Professional Practice is a great way to reach out to different professionals in various fields while in Chicago. I have learned a lot from the professionals I have interviewed. They all had their own unique background stories with how they ended up where they are, and where they strive to be in the coming years. They all have their own opinions on design and other various topics, but it was very interesting seeing the diverse range of ideas and opinions within one firm, Cannon Design.

For my professional practice interviews, I decided to talk with three interior designers at three various levels, one architect, one graphic designer, and two “planners�. I chose to interview these disciplines because I wanted a better understanding of how interior design functions within a bigger firm, and I wanted to learn more about the other disciplines and if they ever interact differently with each other on various project.

Sue, Peggy and Sarah were the three interior designers I interviewed and they helped me understand how interior design works with other disciplines in a firm. They all love interior design because of its fast-paced nature, and because of the creativeness and the detailing. They love being able to see their visions come to life in the final product. They all mentioned the learning curve they had when they graduated college and how working in a firm was completely different than an undergraduate experience. They said that they wish school prepared them more for the real world by either having internship programs that are mandatory, or just by having more projects that are realistic and reflect how a project would be in a design firm, and I agreed to this. Virginia Tech Interior Design does not do the best job when it comes to encouraging students to have professional experience, and offering externship programs to design students who wish to seek internships during the semester.

Another topic the interior designers all mentioned was how the market was shifting, resulting in tighter budgets and expecting designers to do more work for less money.

There is more competition and not a lot of firms that specialize in certain aspects of design because they need to be versatile to survive in this economy.

Peggy and I bonded over our passion for working in Pro-Bono design. Peggy interned at Design for Dignity, which is an organization that brings design services to other non-profits who need the help but cannot afford it. She is very interested in pursuing a career in pro-bono design but said that she needs to get general design experience first because pro-bono design firms have a different atmosphere and different set of rules than regular design firms. Peggy was a great example of how to achieve a career in pro-bono design and what that entails. I now know that general design experience is very important before breaking off into fields that are not as flexible, like pro-bono design or even residential design. The processes are completely different and if I were to start out in pro-bono, it would be harder to come back to a regular design firm because I would not have the right type of experience. If I do decide to pursue pro-bono design, it will come later on in my career after I have had enough general design experience and after I know exactly where I want to go.

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Lisa and Jill were extremely helpful as well in terms of design and the different disciplines working together. Lisa is the head graphic designer for Cannon Design and she mainly focuses on Cannon’s image and marketing strategies. Lisa and her team recently re branded Cannon Design and realized if they were able to brand their own company that they should start offering the service to other companies as well. She is in the midst of jump-starting company branding at Cannon Design. I interviewed her because I have always been interested in graphic design, and how graphic design and interior design can mesh together to create something amazing. I asked her how she saw interior design and graphic design coming together and she said “to be honest, I’m not sure”. But by putting myself out there and talking to other professionals that are interested in the same areas as I am, we should be able to work together and define what it is we are trying to achieve. Not knowing how interior design and graphic design comes together is not a bad thing, in fact, that’s where the fun is! Figuring out my own career and how I can sculpt together these two design related jobs will be very interesting, full of trial and error, but very rewarding as long as I take opportunities that can lead me in the right direction. I won’t know what it looks like until I figure it out and explore for myself. I just need to take something I’m interested in and pursue it. If I realize later down the road that I am no longer interested, then at least I have more of a direction to go. Lisa definitely helped me realize that it’s okay not knowing what I want to do. As long as I am willing to explore many options, I can figure it out along the way.

Jill and Eric helped me understand the different disciplines and how similar they really are. All designers know how to design, whether they are designing a chair or a city. Scale should not matter. If you’re a designer you can design anything because of the way you were trained. During the interview I asked Jill what her job title was. She said that job titles can be very restricting. For the current project she’s working on, she guessed her job title would be “knowledge manager”, and yet she graduated college with a degree in landscape architecture. Eric chimed in and talked about how they are moving towards a model where they are using roles as the job titles because design principal, or vice president, says nothing about what the person’s role will be on the project. I like this idea because some majors and job titles are looked down upon even though they are respectable.

Dom, an architect at Cannon Design, talked about the importance of knowing what you want and how to get it without being egotistical. I think the work place would benefit from these types of individuals who are driven. As we develop more confidence in our field, we will understand how to push our ideas forward. We will see what direction we want to take our career in, which is extremely important to figure out early on, but not by stepping over other people. There’s no ego in taking charge of your future, talking to a professional about how to get there, and looking out for yourself, but you can do that without taking advantage of other people.

These interviews have definitely influenced my future and where I see my career and myself. They helped me realize that it is okay to not know my career path yet and to be open to different opportunities and explorations I might not have considered. They taught me how to go after what I want and how to be a good person while pursuing my dreams.

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LECTURES + RESPONSES

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Adam Whipple Project Manager Newcastle Limited

Laura Fisher Managing Director IPM Consulting Ltd.

Summary: Adam + Laura explained the multiple options we have as designers after graduation besides going to work at a design firm like majority of designers do. They went into detail about their lives and how they achieved their accomplishments, and then went into detail about the other jobs available to designers that we never really considered.

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Personal Response Adam mentioned solution-based design thinking and how that can affect the design of a space. Defining the problem is key to figuring out how to solve it. If the problem is not thoroughly defined, how can the design benefit the most? Multiple people only look at the surface of the problems, but sometimes there are deeper issues that need to be resolved. If those issues are ignored, then the design of the space will reach its full potential as the designer had intended. Researching to figure out the core problem is what will help lead the design process in the appropriate direction, and help the end result be beneficial to the most.

Adam and Laura spoke about the different options after graduation and how there is a vast array of jobs that architects and interior designers can strive towards.

During the lecture, Adam said, “If you don’t like what is being said then change the conversation,” which helped me understand how important it is to start planning my future and figure out what I want to accomplish. It is no longer about the next job; it is about how I plan to shape my career and where I want to end up in the long run. These days, it seems as if it is acceptable to change jobs more frequently, but what is the advantage of that? I can’t see the value in working at a job with no intentions of moving up. It’s very important to have a career plan, especially in this field.

The last main point Adam stated, which has stuck with me ever since, is “Don’t ever think there is not enough time to do what you want.” I have set so many goals for myself that are so incredibly different, I don’t know how pursue all of them.

Some are design related and some are not, and I feel conflicted in deciding which to pursue first. Contrary to what Adam had said, I feel like there is enough time to accomplish everything we have set out, but because of sacrifices we make in order to live a comfortable, stable life, we are not able to.

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Drew Ranieri

Assistant Principal SCB

Summary: Drew Ranieri’s lecture spoke on the importance of contracts and agreements. He began by listing out the different aspects of contracts and identifying their level of importance.

Those aspects of the contract work together to create a form of communication between the designer and the client. Drew also discussed the overall design process and the duration of each phase

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Personal Response Contracts facilitate communication between the designer and the client. They help the client to understand the design process and the time line for the project, while acting as a guide for the designer to manage miscommunication issues.

Happy clients’ recommendations are somewhat essential to obtaining future projects, especially for interior design firms. For interior designers, there is a greater chance of designing multiple spaces for one client, as opposed to architects, who do not have return clients often. The treatment of clientele throughout the design process definitely affects the likelihood of their return and whether they bring more clients with them. If they are pleased with the work, they speak highly of the firm; it’s free marketing to prospective clients resulting in more business for the firm.

Contracts are meant to be beneficial to everyone involved. There is a give-and-take relationship between the designer and the client that is strained when no formal agreement has been reached. From the group work in Chicago Studio, I’ve learned the importance of keeping the main idea and goals consistent with the group’s original agreement, negotiating with others, and making sure everyone benefits from the decisions we made as a team. To do so, we would constantly question our design decisions: How am I benefitting from this? How is my group member benefitting? How are the clients benefitting?

During the lecture, Drew also touched on the client’s needs versus the designer’s visions. What the client needs the design to achieve versus actual design limitations.

There are always multiple ideas from those involved about how the space should act, feel, look, etc. before knowing all the possibilities. These initial ideas can be an aid in the beginning stages of the design process, however, if the client or designer is not willing to allow for the ideas to evolve and become stronger, great designs cannot be achieved. Great design comes from exploration. The best designs come from the genuine interest of the journey.

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Geoff Walters

Director of Quality CANNON DESIGN

Summary: Geoff discussed technical aspects and different organizations that are influencing design.

He also explained how he develops the firm’s standards for consistency, quality reviews, mentor & support.

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Personal Response A strong point I took away from Walters’ lecture was that I needed to take ownership of my education outside of school. According to Geoff, we know only a fraction of the vast amount of information in the world when we graduate and we must continue to seek knowledge. The idea of self-educating is especially important in design-related fields. There is a constant wave of new software and technological advances, and as designers, it’s imperative to keep up with it because the newest graduating class will come in with skills that we don’t have. I was unaware how important this was until I returned from Chicago and noticed the 3rd year interior design students’ work. It was at a level of detail beyond my work when I was at their level. To some relief, Chicago studio helped to bridge the disconnection between working in a studio for class and working in a firm. I gained substantial job experience and understanding of how firms operate. I was able to sit in briefly on a client meeting, and was fortunate to work with a team and learn new software.

Through these experiences, I have learned how to better communicate with other professionals. Chicago studio was an eye-opening experience that has helped jump-start my career after graduation.

The business aspect of design is something else that I had been exposed to while in Chicago. I now appreciate how equally important it is to recognize the business components as wells as the design. Walters referred to a design firm as a “3-legged stool.” Each leg is representative of the design, technical, and business aspects of the firm. That perspective has made me available to different opportunities in design and I have begun to investigate different options after I graduate. For instance, I am considering graduate school for business management to foster my interest in the business of design. I can see that as a conceivable career aspiration.

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Peter Ellis

Knowledge Manager City Planning Group CANNON DESIGN

Summary: Peter Ellis’ lecture covered how he started out in the design profession and how he pursued his dreams and started his own company partnered with Cannon Design. He mainly focused on a project he is now working on in Brownsville, Texas

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Personal Response The idea of college campuses to design cities is a very interesting concept. Ellis helped me make the connection between college campuses and cities during his lecture. Colleges are like mini-cities, only, in some cases, designed better. If cities looked to college campuses to influence their design, the word city would have a different meaning. College campuses are usually pedestrian friendly, and they have different “neighborhoods”. The idea that a city is broken down into different, smaller neighborhoods, housing the basic needs of shelter, water, food and clothing could help with accessibility issues and community morale. Each neighborhood could potentially survive on it’s own, if need be. City design is like chess, the focus is on the board, not the pieces; a network is being created that can house buildings.

The idea of being up front and honest with clients was surprising to hear from a company. Usually, when companies are asked whether or not they have completed a task when they have not, they will twist the truth to get the job. However, Peter Ellis is very up front with clients because it’s hard getting jobs when you can’t show them you’ve designed cities before. The idea of being honest and telling your clients that you have never designed what they are asking for, but you have tools and ambition to get the job done creates trust between the designer and client.

Not the knowing the answer is okay, but we are getting paid to figure it out. The clients trust the designer to have enough knowledge from educational training and technical aspects we have learned in practice that we can define problems and find the best ways to solve them.

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John Syvertsen

Executive Leadership Team CANNON DESIGN

Summary: John Syvertsen’s lecture began with a few personal topics, such as what his favorite books are and who inspires him. He then digressed to his opinions on what makes a good leader and the relationships they have with their teammates.

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Personal Response John stated, “A good leader never has to be defensive because they know there is truth in what their team says.” That statement resonated with me during my time in Chicago. Over the course of the semester, each group member has taken on the leadership role over different aspects of our project. When we had discussions and the leader disagreed with the rest of the group, we put it to a vote. Sometimes the leader just needs to get on board with the group to keep the project running smoothly. I’ve seen cases when the leader will completely disregard their members’ decisions and proceed with what they want instead of what is best for the group.

Actions like that create tension among group members, and the leader is seen as uncooperative. All members within the group should have an equal say whether they are the leader or not. The best leaders are born when they are not conscious of hierarchy, but of whom they work with and their ideas.

John also explored the emotional responses to design and how that can affect the overall design of the space. He believes that great designers begin their solutions based on emotions. I feel as if designers should be emotionally invested into their project to some degree. The more invested they are, the more energy they will put into the project, trying to understand the site conditions, and utilizing them to answer existing questions or challenge users to think differently. Successful design comes from emotional connections that truly test the limits of the space and the users.

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Randy Guillot Design Principal CANNON DESIGN

Summary: Randy Guillot’s lecture was overall helpful in terms of how to be successful in the design world. He discussed the top ten design goals that all students should strive for in order to be successful: 1). Build meaningful relationships through hard work 2). Communication is everything 3). Have broad influences & mentors 4). Accept that we suck at time management 5). Your client is your design partner 6). Listen to me & ignore me 7). Don’t expect the outcome. Set yourself up for discovery 8). Promote your strengths 9). Don’t be an asshole. Be kind. Do things for others 10). There is always more than one right answer 52

Personal Response 4). Accept that we suck at time management.

Time management is one of the most difficult concepts to master at any age.

As designers we are always in a battle against the clock, whether it is our ever changing deadlines, or our continuous all-nighters. We have no concept of time.

But time is not our biggest enemy, perfection is. Design will never be perfect, and should never be perfect. Process work helps to explain the though process of the designer, and is used more to understand the deeper design intentions. This is one major difference between interior design and architecture. In interior design, we are told that process work help understand the design, but should never be shown unless it is refined, and perfected. Even then, only the nicest selections should be shown because of it’s beauty, not it’s worth. I completely disagree with this notion because as a designer I believe it is important to show all of your process work while explaining the design concept. Process work will help get ideas and thoughts across better than a refined floorplan. Having us clean up or redo our process work takes time out from actually designing the space for the client, and it is all about what the clients want. At every stage of the design process, we take the time to try to make each stage perfect, which is not ideal for the beginning stages because so many ideas evolve from one thing into another, or in some cases, ideas are thrown out and new ones are though of over night. Because time is not on our side we have to chose, is it worth it to have a beautiful, compelling image or is it worth it to have process work that helps clearly represent the concept of the project and how to achieve it?

7). Don’t expect the outcome. Set yourself up for discovery This ideal is especially challenging when dealing with clients that have an exact image in their mind of what their new space will be like. Designing for the end game is not a good strategy because discoveries will not be made and opportunities for a better design will be given up. Clients that come to designers with ideas in their heads can be helpful because it gives them some sort of a foundation to bring designing with, but they need to always be open to change. We are the designers, it is our job to determine what the client needs and what the best way to achieve that need is. Design is about the journey, not about the goal at the end.

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Brian Lee Partner SOM

Summary: Brian discussed how buildings can be integrated and connected with its natural surroundings, and social context. He goes into detail about how buildings can be shaped by nature, and how buildings can make their place in the city.

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Personal Response Branding a building to its location so the building is unique and answers directly to the users of the space is important and can be done through different design phases. Design aspects such as local materials and craftsmanship to connect the building, studying the social context to create a space that the public can relate to, and having the building express itself artistically through social purpose and place for a unique feel. Branding the building to its natural surroundings is important because every space is different, no building would be too similar to one that is branded to a place because of its distinct character. No building should be able to be removed from it’s natural context, put somewhere and survive as well as it did in it’s original context.

In terms of designing, it is important to design for the client, and for the users of the space. What will be the greatest asset I can give to the client through design? Firm style as opposed to client style is an issue that can separate a building from being designed well to the best design of the year. Some firms have a specific firm style that they translate over tot heir projects. Sometimes, you can tell what buildings a firm has designed by the signature touches the firm leaves behind. Some clients do go to firms for their signature style, but I think it is important that a firm can have multiple design styles and design an array of different spaces because that would make the firm more divers and they would also have more clients and then in turn, will be able to impact a wider range of people as opposed to a specific client type. I feel as if in order for design to be well communicated, the design should be able to speak for itself and reflect it’s building surroundings. Buildings that strongly relate back to the context are the richest buildings in architecture.

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Sarah Kuchar

Corporate Interiors Perkins + Will

Summary: The lecture gave an overall description of Perkins & Will and some of the fields they have, for example architecture, interior design, and branded environments. Also, Sarah discussed how Interior Design differs from Architecture. Interior Design is more concerned with how humans work and learn. Overall, there is more interaction with clients and there is more of a potential for ongoing client relationships. The projects are faster and more diverse therefore offering more experience to the Interior Designer.

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Personal Response Sarah did a great job explaining some of the differences between architecture and interior design. She discussed the personal interactions with various clients, the increase of repeat clients, and how interior design has the most impact on how humans interact with different people in their environment. Many people still fail to realize while interior design makes a difference and how it can impact our lives.

Starting Chicago Studio, I was very nervous being labeled as an interior designer.

Interior design is a new profession that is not always appreciated in the design world, so I thought that I would have to prove myself to my peers and to other professionals at work. The first few weeks were extremely hard for me because I was struggling with where I fit in with my group. They would listen to the input I was giving but I felt as if I made little to no contributions towards the design. I was seriously questioning whether or not I wanted to continue in this profession or choose a new route to pursue.

Luckily, as we continued to move along with the project and I understood where I fit in with the group, I was able to be more comfortable and my contributions were finally being recognized by the rest of my group members. The group was able to push aside their preconceived notions of interior design so that I could help them understand what it is that I do, and how I can contribute to the group[ and to the project. As the weeks went on, we were not longer 2 architects and 2 designers, we were a team of designers who wanted to activate Wilson yards through different means of exchange. Our tasks started to vary as well. Our tasks were no longer split into architecture related design and interior related design, we were all contributing to the design as a whole and our tasks were overlapping. We completed everything that needed to be done whether it was a finalized floorplan or a site study. Our group became better at communicating and better at listening to each other, which in turn really helped me understand the power I have as an interior designer.

Before I came to Chicago studio, I was unsure of interior design. I thought I would have to prove myself to everyone wherever I would go. And Chicago studio taught me how important it is to prove yourself and how people can change their minds and opinions after working with others and understanding their roles and tasks as a designer. It was a great experience seeing my group members understand what interior design is and understand how important it is in the building.

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