You've been working as a freelance designer with moderate success for about a year; that is, you're able to pay your bills and you like your apartment, but you haven't started your own firm, and you aren't taking any vacations to Fiji. You see a $1000 crowdsourcing project posted on a job board or website that seems to be a perfect fit with a project that you've been working on in your spare time for a while now, so you decide to submit that completely original design that you've probably put about 50 hours of work into. Then, surprise: The company picks your design, and they contact you via email, sending along a WMFH contract for you to sign, handing over all of your rights to anything related to that design, for eternity. Hm. You poke around online, and find that this company has a track record of using, reproducing, altering, and often selling off designs that they've bought from neophyte designers. So, what do you do? Why do you make this decision?
Knowing that I would not receive any credit for my design if it won the competition, I would not agree to the WMFH. As an interior design student I feel like I have a good understanding of the pride that a designer has in all of their designs that they create; especially the designs that are acknowledged as being the best of the best. If I were to enter a design in a contest I would be sure to put a lot of time and effort in creating the "perfect" design for the client. Design presentations take hours and hours to develop and put together. I would hate it if I did not receive any credit for a winning design of mine after dedicating myself to the project. I would pass on this opportunity and would much rather find a client on my own to ensure that I would get credit my designs. Receiving credit for designs is much more important that the possible money that could be made by entering this contest. Money can only get people so far, but having the reputation of a prestegious designer will get designers much farther in their careers.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Interior Design Code of Ethics
After reading the code of ethics found on the IIDA, International Interior Design Association, website I believe that one of the most important ethical issues that interior designers deal with is the issue of pleasing their clients while abiding by laws and codes. In the IIDA code of ethics the two codes that best explain this struggle are under the categories of the interior designer's responsibility to the public and the interior designer's responsibility to the client. The code of ethic that falls under the public category states, "In performing professional services, Professional and Associate members shall at all times consider the health, safety and welfare of the public." The code of ethic that falls under the client category states, "In performing professional services, professional and associate members shall refuse to consent to any decisions by their clients or employers that violate any applicable law or regulation, and which, in the professional and members' judgement, will create a significant risk to public and safety." Interior designers have the struggle of incorporating the requests of their client into a design without violating any laws or regulations. The struggle for the interior designer is to try and make the client understand why some of their ideas cannot be used in a design without loosing their business. A designer could try to go against the IIDA code of ethics regarding laws and regulations however this would only put the clients well being and the designers credibility at risk.
Rampino: Innovation Pyramid
Innovation of Use:
Innovation of use refers to "the degree to which a product improves or modifies its usage, perhaps adding new functions, as compared to products already on the market" (7). In the interior design field new and improved materials are always being developed to solve many different design issues. One issue that many designers come across is the issue of controlling sound travel in spaces where they would rather not use walls to permanently close off the space. An easy way for designers to create multiple spaces within a larger space is by using curtains as dividers. The only issue with using curtains is the issue of noise levels in the space; Annette douglas Textiles created a type of curtain that solves this issue. This textile business developed a curtain that is aesthetically pleasing, light weight allowing light to filter through, and has the ability to absorb a high a large amount of sound. This type of curtain is called the "Translucent Acoustic Curtain". After researching this curtain I found out that it absorbs 5 times the amount of sound than an average curtain can. I also learned that this innovative design won the prestigious innovative award 2012 Best of Best Red Dot product design.
Typological Innovation:
Typological innovation "relates to the deviation of a product from its formal archtype" (9) In the interior design industry there are a countless amount of door types that a designer can specify for the projects that they are working on. However, all door serve the same purpose of allowing a client to close off a space for privacy. A new door design by Sung Young Um is the perfect example of typological innovation. This door functions just like any other door but also has the ability to break from its frame and fold down into a tent shaped shelter providing protection for one person in the event of an earthquake. This door is called "The Quick-Shelter Door". This door was designed to solve the issue of people not having enough time to evacuate a multiple story building in the event of a natural disaster. Having this door installed in an apartment on the 10th floor of an apartment building in an area with a record for experincing earthqukaes would definitely give the occupant piece of mind knowing that they have a form of shelter if they are unable to evacuate.
Innovation of use refers to "the degree to which a product improves or modifies its usage, perhaps adding new functions, as compared to products already on the market" (7). In the interior design field new and improved materials are always being developed to solve many different design issues. One issue that many designers come across is the issue of controlling sound travel in spaces where they would rather not use walls to permanently close off the space. An easy way for designers to create multiple spaces within a larger space is by using curtains as dividers. The only issue with using curtains is the issue of noise levels in the space; Annette douglas Textiles created a type of curtain that solves this issue. This textile business developed a curtain that is aesthetically pleasing, light weight allowing light to filter through, and has the ability to absorb a high a large amount of sound. This type of curtain is called the "Translucent Acoustic Curtain". After researching this curtain I found out that it absorbs 5 times the amount of sound than an average curtain can. I also learned that this innovative design won the prestigious innovative award 2012 Best of Best Red Dot product design.
Typological innovation "relates to the deviation of a product from its formal archtype" (9) In the interior design industry there are a countless amount of door types that a designer can specify for the projects that they are working on. However, all door serve the same purpose of allowing a client to close off a space for privacy. A new door design by Sung Young Um is the perfect example of typological innovation. This door functions just like any other door but also has the ability to break from its frame and fold down into a tent shaped shelter providing protection for one person in the event of an earthquake. This door is called "The Quick-Shelter Door". This door was designed to solve the issue of people not having enough time to evacuate a multiple story building in the event of a natural disaster. Having this door installed in an apartment on the 10th floor of an apartment building in an area with a record for experincing earthqukaes would definitely give the occupant piece of mind knowing that they have a form of shelter if they are unable to evacuate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)