Week 9: Already?!

Monday morning first thing I rendered a few nurse station options. We then had an office meeting to go over what everyone had on their schedules the next couple of weeks. After the office meeting I finally finished combining all the F100 sheets from all the projects. Now all the reps can be contacted, so they know what projects their products are being used on. I also called a textile company to hold some upholstery. Monday afternoon Brennan and I started working on some contractor boards. Tuesday we continued working on the boards. We are now just waiting on a few samples to come in for the boards to be complete. I also got to place finishes in an excel file as part of a furniture package.  Once the furniture package stuff was done Brennan and I pulled the materials for a presentation board. At the end of the day Tuesday the Momentum rep showed up. She has rented the ice-cream truck for the day! Her son was also with her. He was so cute and had an umbrella ready to escort each of us outside to the truck in the rain.Ice-cream truck I got Reese's if you were wondering.Wednesday Lorraine got me started on using Access to do a set of furniture specifications. It was fun! I had a standard to follow, but it still took me a few hours to start to feel comfortable with the program. I was bugging Lorraine all day long with questions! Thursday morning I finished up the furniture and gave it to Lorraine to proof read.Furniture SpecsI then rendered a wall tile pattern and a floor pattern. Thursday afternoon Brennan and I started working on laying out a presentation board for one of the designers. Friday was Friday the 13^th! Rebecca placed finish materials on a presentation board and I emailed the pictures to one of the designers for approval. Lorraine gave me back the furniture specifications to correct. There was defiantly a lot of red on them! So I did the corrections and then had my final review with Rebecca. I can’t believe I have already been at Inner Design Studio for nine weeks! The summer has flown by. In house testing...it comes off!

Design Philosophy:

Inner Design Studio’s design philosophy is to create “timeless, custom designs – on budget and on time.” They are fun, energetic and understand how to create designs that their clients love. They assist their clients from start to finish. It is their ultimate goal to make sure their clients are pleased. Interning at Inner Design Studio has been very educational and a lot of fun!

Alli and Monika are both project designers at Inner Design Studio.

Alli (left) me (center) Monika (righAlli is a dog lover and knows how to spell every word! Alli is more than likely to breakout in song if she hears a word that may remind her of a song. She also likes to take daily strolls around the office to help her wake up (I tried it and they really do help to wake you up!).

Monika used to be a teacher, so she has been really helpful walking me through how to do things. Her husband (who is an architect) and her are currently renovating their house all by themselves! Monika also keeps me up to date on free things that are happening in the Nashville area.

Week 8: What day is it?

With the 4^th of July being in the middle of the week I got my days all mixed-up. I thought Wednesday was Sunday, and when I got to work Thursday morning I thought it was Monday! I was so discombobulated this past week. Throughout the week I continued working on the F100 sheets, but most of my week was spent on art. I was helping Lorraine pull artwork. Like I said in a previous post, picking art is not as quick and easy as it may seem. We had to make sure the pieces that would be seen in a sequence would tell a story. We also had to take into consideration the various paint color that would be near the art. Once we had all the pieces picked and where they would be placed we then formatted them in excel and publisher files. The pieces are now ready to go in a furniture packet to be sent out for review. I hope you all are still having a great summer!Picking Artwork

Presentation techniques; computer applications

When the designers are trying to communicate their ideas to a client they use a variety of techniques. There are usually always meetings, emails, and phone calls that take place between the client and designer. For most projects there are two presentations. The first presentation is a loose presentation. This is where the designer shows a few schemes and ideas they have for the project. The second is a fixed presentation where all the finishes that have been picked are shown together one last time for the client to see. The fixed presentation would include a presentation board of all the finishes. Some of the things that are included in these presentations are floor patterns, elevations, 3D renderings, materials, and lighting. Artwork is picked once all the drawings are done. Then an artwork package is put together. The furniture is shown in plans from the beginning, but it is not until the end of construction documents that the furniture is actually picked. A furniture package is put together with fabrics and finishes along with plans that locate each piece. When the designers are getting these presentation materials ready some of the computer programs they use are AutoCAD, Revit, Google Sketch up, Photoshop, Publisher, Excel, Word, and Access. You all should be familiar with most of these programs except Access. Access is what they use for their furniture specifications. I have also introduced them to 3Ds MAX for their 3D renderings.

Pam is the senior project designer at Inner Design Studio. She is always the first one at the office each morning. Pam is very focused and always busy. She has three boy and lots of animals. A fun fact is that she has a turtle named Stalker because he will do just that!Pam and me

Week 7: Everyone is low on yardage

First thing Monday morning my computer was having issues so Lorraine gave me a furniture package to proof read. Then Boris came in and fixed all my computer problems. He saved the day once again! I also got to place furniture in a floor plan in AutoCAD. Monday afternoon I put together the furniture package I had previously proof read.  I then pulled a few samples from the library. Tuesday morning I started to pull all the discontinued Azrock VCT samples from the materials library, but just to be sure I wasn’t taking any current samples from the library Brennan contacted the Azrock rep to come in and update. I then called two textile companies to see how much available yardage they had in stock so we could put the appropriate upholstery in the furniture packet. The two companies turned into 6! Everyone was very low on upholstery, but I think we finally got it figured out. We finished putting the furniture packet together so it could be sent out. Wednesday I pulled the F100 sheets together from all the current projects to make an excel spreadsheet. Once all the information is together in the excel spreadsheet I will then be able to alphabetize the sheet. Thursday I continued working on the excel sheet that I still have a good bit of work left to do. I also helped Lorraine quickly change a few items in a furniture packet and filed some items in the materials library. Friday was my half-day so it flew by, yet again. I pulled flame spread information for a few materials and finished a floor pattern in AutoCAD. Friday I also got to meet another doggie! I hope everyone is staying cool and hydrated. I wish you all a Happy Fourth!Lightning

Client/Staff interactions; assessment processes; client types

Email, phone calls, and meetings are a few ways the Inner Design Studio staff interacts with their clients. At Inner Design Studio they try to have a casual personable relationship with the client. Right now they are currently working on implementing a survey for client to fill out once a project has been completed. Sometime they have the opportunity to do another project for the same client. When this happens they often ask the client how they liked the result of the last project. From there the designers learn what they should or shouldn’t carry over into the new project. The designers are constantly learning from their projects. Weather it’s during a walkthrough or a phone call from a contractor, the designers learn what materials can and can’t do for future projects. Inner Design Studio has started putting together a notebook with paints, finishes, floor patterns, casework elevations, and a floor plan. They do this for the facility’s convenience incase a janitor or someone in the facility needs to paint over or replace anything. There is not currently a post occupancy evaluation process, but they are working on it.  Inner Design Studio is involved in healthcare design. Depending on the project the designer could be working with the head of the facility, the head of a particular department within the facility, or a committee. No matter whom the designers are working with they do the best they can to create the type of environments their clients desire. 

Anni and meAnni is the Controller at Inner Design Studio. She handles the numbers and also many other various tasks. I will be sitting at my desk and out of nowhere Anni will come running around the corner! She is so sweet and always smiling or laughing. Anni is the mother of the office. She is always making sure everything and everyone is okay.  A fun fact is that Anni has a pet rooster!

Week 6: Oh Technology!

All day Monday I rendered a nurse station and patient room for a project.  Tuesday morning I rendered a couple of floor pattern options. For lunch a rep for Novateur gave a presentation. Laura, the rep, had this particular flooring that I am very curious to see installed and cleaned. You all can see what Novateur has to offer HERE. After the presentation Anni showed me how to update my project list on the server. With the rest of the afternoon I worked on the two renderings from Monday. Wednesday morning I sketched out a few options for a nurse station. I then went to the library to see if one of the samples I had ordered had come in. The sample wasn’t there, but came in on Friday. Wednesday afternoon the designers got new iPhones! Thursday I worked on renderings and a nurse station elevation. Thursday afternoon we had an office meeting and I got a new computer! One of the designers got a new computer, so I got her computer. Friday was a little crazy. First thing that morning one of the girls got “the blue screen” on her computer and the printer and email systems were down. Luckily all the computer problems got fixed and the day went on. Friday I tweaked the color on the renderings, boxed some carpets up to be shipped back, put a furniture package together, and emailed a few reps. Then late afternoon Friday Gail and Jim (pictured below) did a joint presentation. They are husband and wife! Gail is a rep for National Wallcovering and Jim reps Concertex. They were a hoot! An interesting fact is that they went to Ireland for their honeymoon.

Jim and Gail

Furnishings, fixtures and equipment resources Reps are constantly stopping by, calling, and or emailing to keep the designers up to date on their FF&E resources. Inner Design Studio has a very neat and organized resource library. A rule when a rep stops by the library to place something in, they must remove something as well.  This little rule helps the shelves stay clean and orderly. All the resource books are placed alphabetically in their designated areas. Inner Design Studio has a very efficient filing system. There is a spot for everything. Brennan, the resource librarian, is in charge of keeping the library organized and up to date. She is constantly organizing new samples and keeping track of the reps that come in the library.  Clearly labeled plastic bins and folders are where all the fabric samples are stored. The labels and organization of the library make it very easy to navigate.

Week 5: All Smiles

On Monday I finished up a last few touches on some of the contractor boards from the previous week. Next I proof read a furniture specification package (it wasn’t as dreadful as proofing an English paper!). I also got the opportunity to do a Photoshop rendering. Matching the paint colors to what actually printed out was a bit tricky. Monika kept saying, “You’re so close.” I did finally get the colors to look pretty similar, but don’t we all wish the actual print color and the color shown on the computer screen would just matchup? Tuesday was busy! Two people from the Bradford Group (the marketing group I mentioned last week) came to the office Tuesday morning. When I got done printing labels for a presentation board, I was stolen to do a mini photo shoot! It was fun, but I was not picture ready. Check it out here. After the people from the Bradford Group left, a man stopped by with his dog Sunni (see picture below). Also on Tuesday I had my mid-term review! I can’t believe how fast the summer is going. After lunch do you ever get that afternoon slump where you feel tired? Well at Inner Design Studio there is always someone who gets everyone out of their afternoon slump and on Tuesday it was Sarah. She livened up our afternoon! Also Tuesday afternoon I put together a flame spread folder of all the different materials specified in a project. When I was reading through some of the warranties this one stuck out the most: “Our warranty does not cover any act of God,...”. I thought that was funny. Wednesday morning I finished up pulling the flame spread information together and put away some materials in the library. Then I compared a presentation board to the specifications and made sure everything shown on the board was specified. I also did a few floor patterns in AutoCAD for a project. Thursday I scanned in some materials, so they could be use to render a few of the floor patterns I had done on Wednesday. Then for lunch a Wolf Gordon rep gave a presentation. After lunch I worked on exporting some Revit files into AutoCAD so I can use them for a rendering. I also sketched out some floor pattern options for another project. Thursday evening was a special treat, as the local Maharam rep, Jean Marie, along with the regional sales coordinator, Kristie took us to eat at Wild Ginger. It was so good! If you are ever in the Franklin, TN area you should go there. Did any of you watch the Justin Bieber concert on the Today Show Friday morning? Friday was pretty quiet in the office because a few people where gone on vacation. But Grady, the groundhog that lives behind the building, made a morning appearance (see picture below). Friday was my half day, so I worked on floor patterns in AutoCAD, and before I knew it was noon. This past week at the office I laughed and learned a lot!

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day and is ready to get back to work!?

Grady eating the leavesFloor pattern exampleRebecca sporting her newest accessory, Sunni

Rebecca is the Principal of Inner Design Studio. She is the heart and soul behind it all. Every morning Rebecca walks in with her hands full and a smile on her face and always says “Good morning!” with so much energy. Rebecca is also a wife, a mother to two dogs, a sister, and a proud aunt to two nieces. I am grateful each day that I get the opportunity to intern under her.

Procurement and related business practices

Inner Design Studio has an in-house purchasing department that is talked about in detail here. Depending on the client and their client’s needs the company can also specify and send out for biding.

Project fees are determined by the scope of work and the size of the project.

Budgets are determined by the owner/client. Sometimes the owner/client will go to Inner Design Studio directly and ask for a budget. But before a budget can be set the designers have to determine the level (high/low end) of finishes and furnishings are desired by the owner/client.

Estimating and cost for a project are managed by staying with in the client’s budget, valued engineering, and substitutions.

Budgets, fees, and costs are all handled by the team that is on the project (client, architect, designer, engineer, and contractor). The group has frequent project meetings to make sure everything is on time and budget.