The Art of Interior Design
In addition to creating presentation color boards, working drawings, and blueprints, I am often asked by clients to draw a sketch or color rendering of a completed room or space. This enables the client to better visualize the completed interior design concept, as it would appear. Although working drawings are necessary to facilitate remodeling and new construction through the universal language of drafting, renderings enable us to have more freedom in our artistic expression, while sparking the imagination of a client. I recommend this part of our service often, and it has been well recieved by clients throughout the years.
I do not believe it is necessary to be able to create renderings to be a great designer, although it has its’ advantages. I have been drawing extensively since I was a small child, and with very supportive parents, who actively encouraged me through constant art instruction and practice, I was able to enter design school with that edge. When presenting a design concept, a rendering can help the client imagine the space, and give them the confidence to move forward with implementing the project, to completion. It can also provide an opportunity to identify the need to change something to better suit a clients, personal tastes, and preferences.
I prefer black and white sketches to full color renderings, because I would rather let the beauty of the selected fabrics and color samples speak for themselves, with the clients own imagination filling in the colors and patterns. However, there is no substitute for a color rendering to convey a complete concept.
The samples shown are drawn in two different styles. A black and white quick sketch of a mans den, presented as the concept sketch for the 2007 Orange County Philharmonic House of Design, and a full color rendering of our concept for the upcoming 2011 Philharmonic House of Design which opens this March. Although drawn in different styles, the overall ambiance of each completed space can be visualized by the client, or in this case, the most discriminating committee of design professionals and philanthropists.
Besides a natural talent for Interior Design, the Sources that we Interior designers draw from are the single most important tool to bring to the creative project table. Besides thousands of fabric sample books maintained in our fabric libraries, there are furniture, cabinetry, casegoods, accessories, plumbing, lighting, and hardware books at our fingertips. Most successful Interior design firms maintain an elaborate library of tried and true sources, and I maintain catalogues including glossy pictures and actual finish samples to afford the client the best visualization of the products I select for their home or office. Sources are constantly changing, and library management is an ongoing activity for most designers.
