Week 1: Design Immersion

This week I started as a interior design intern at Lauderdale Design Group. My first week went really well and I am excited to further get to know the team and learn from them. It is a small firm and I immediately felt like I was a part of the team and given tasks. Lauderdale Design Group does an array of different commercial design projects ranging from higher education, corporate, financial, healthcare, hospitality, and more. The design services LDG offers consist of conceptual design, programming, space planning, interior detailing, lighting design, as built documentation, and ff&e specifications.   

UT Music Building pre walk-through meeting.My first day was a very exciting and quite a learning experience. When I first got there the team had a office meeting discussing projects and progress. Dani, a former UTK grad and designer at LDG, gave me my first assignment. I used my indesign and graphic skills to create a thank-you card and envelopes based on the graphics Lauderdale Design Group has already established on their business cards. I also spent a great deal of time filing samples in their material library. This will be a on going task I will perform as samples need to be put back. I got the great opportunity to tag along with Dani and Joy (LDG owner) on a site visit to the UT Music Building Project and do a walk through with UT’s architect and interior design team. We went through all the offices that would house desks to make sure their location was outlined correctly.

UT Music Building walk-through.

 The following day I went through the working documents for the UT Music Building and documented how many layers of gyp were on the walls that desks were against to send to Knoll so that when they install, they know what screws to use. I continued filing materials in the library as well. Because their was a client presentation with 2 different options given for the Salon Project, I put away the materials not chosen. Then I worked on the Salon Project and ordered different laminate samples. I also pulled paint colors that match the multiple vinyl wall coverings for the same project as well as pulled precedent photos.

This week I also did some work in autocad space blocking lateral files for the UT Music Building Project’s basement library. These were sent to the architect. I was invited by the team to go to lunch with Nels, the Mannington product representative. When we got back I did some scanning and digital filing. I also spent some time online finding vibrant and fun wall coverings for the Salon Project and ordering those. 

The company consists of a team of three women. Joy Lauderdale, the owner and Principle of the firm, Deborah Presson, the Design director and my supervisor, and Dani Collins, Designer. Lauderdale Design Group also has a administrative assistant and general go to girl, Cathy, and a design intern. LDG is a sole proprietorship business entity. Please review the chart for a clearer understanding of the organizational structure within the company. 

Joy Lauderdale This week I am introducing Joy Lauderdale, the owner and Principle of Lauderdale Design Group. Joy has been in the field for 24 years and is well known in the South-east interior design community. Joy has a vibrant personality and a positive attitude that is infectious. She has been great to work with and I look forward to getting to know her further. She really cares about her team and clients, and the work LDG produces radiate that perspective. She makes everyone laugh and has the great ability to make people feel at ease. 

Week 1: Exploring History

I have chosen an internship for the Knox Heritage Salvage Coodrinator, Beth. I will give a more detailed introduction of Beth another week. I have been interested in historic presevation for many years therefore my internship will allow me to explore this branch of design.

Knox Heritage aims to "preserve structures and places with historic or cultural significance". Knox Heritage began in 1974 when a group of citizens wanted to protect the Bijou Theatre from demolition. Knox Heritage wants "to educate everyone about the benefits of historic preservation". 

Alexander InnThe main focus of my internship this past week was The Alexander Inn estate sale. The Alexander Inn is a historic building built in 1943 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.The reason all of the interior items are being salvaged is because Family Pride Corporation is restoring the Alexander Inn. My supervisor Beth was in charge of an estate sale at the Inn. The first sale was was on Saturday May 25. On the previous Friday we prepared for the sale. We organized and cleaned items and moved them to the front lobby. We had to wear masks when we were in the back of the Inn due to a risk of asbestos and mold exposure. The money raised from the sale is for the East Tennessee Preservation alliance. 

The sale went so well that we hosted another one the next weekend. The estate sale has many volunteers that I had the opportunity to meet. Some were from the Oak Ridge Preservation Alliance and others were passionate citizens interested in the Inn.

Sara Hill (Alexander Inn Volunteer)

The most enthusiastic volunteer came on the first Saturday just as a customer. Her name is Sara Hill. She arrived at the sale two hours before the sale started because she was so excited! She adopted the role of crowd control since many people arrived before the sale began. Sara was at the Inn throughout the entire sale on the first Saturday. She enjoyed the sale so much that she decided to become a volunteer for the second sale. Sara had learned about the Alexander Inn estate sale from the newspaper. Her husband is an Oak Ridge native and she has lived there for eleven years. Sara has a passion for anything historic, especially the Alexander Inn. Sara works in Knoxville at the Trust Company.

Other than the Alexander Inn, I learned how to work in the Knox Heritage Salvage Room. The goal of the Salvage Room is to provide the community with historic architectural items. Beth also showed me the Knox Heritage room in the Nostalgia store. I met with Jeff from Nostalgia to discuss a wall removal relating to the Knox Heritage room. This information is important for me because I am redesigning the Knox Heritage Nostalgia room this upcoming week.

(Knox Heritage history and quotes from www.knoxheritage.org)

Week 1: The Journey Begins

Week 1

(My first week was one week ago.)

My first week at Earl Swensson Associates was really exciting for me. I was just excited to see how a commercial interior design firm  functions behind the scenes and what goes into the design process. I was welcomed in with open arms and immediately given tasks to handle, which was encouraging to see our role as interns to put to good use and to feel like part of the team. I’m interning beside two other girls from Auburn and Cincinnati, together the three of us make up the interiors intern department and run things as smoothly and quickly as possible.

The first week we spent on ordering fabrics, making finish boards, creating contract boards and editing floor plans in Photoshop. For a lot of these different projects we spent this week learning the 'how to's' of putting it all together and what the proper way it should be visualized. We also have got to meet countless reps who have been showing off their carpet, wall covering, fabrics, ceiling tiles, and other materials. I’ve really loved getting to be involved in so many numerous projects already and just seeing the different designers around us and the way they work. Not to mention the work environment here is very inviting, everyone is so kind and willing to listen to you and talk to you about your questions. I feel like it’s a very close-knit group of people working beside each other, which has been a treat.

I talk with Leslie about the organizational structure of the company as well. We had to ask Janet (a designer who has been around longer than Leslie) about what kind of company Earl Swensson Associates is. She said we are  in fact a corporation, from there Leslie went on to explain how the structure of the company looks. (Below there is a graph to explain what I am writing) Basically, it starts with David (who is now in charge of the company) then the principals then the architects and the interior designers. For the interior designers we have horizontal structure and are more concerned with people collaborating together instead of having a senior designer, designer, and junior designer. It is a very family focused environment to encourage team work and that we are all working towards the same goal. With the architects it is a little more vertical structure but they still believe in the working as teams, I guess the only difference is when you are an architect starting out at the company they call you an EP which is referring to them as "intern architects" but really they have graduated and working full-time with the company. Some peoples titles change but some architects that have been around for years are still considered an EP. So there structural system is very different. I love that the interiors department is a horizontal structure and is more concerned with getting the projects accomplished and what the end result is and not where it's going to move them on the vertical scale.

I figured I’d start off by introducing you two the people I spend most of my time with and then we’ll go from there. So from the first week I’ll introduce to my friend and fellow intern, Lauren.

Lauren and I arrived on the same day to start work together and found out we had a mutual friend. Lauren is a soon-to-be graduate from Auburn (this internship is her last part and she graduates in August.) It’s been really fun getting to talk to the other interns about what their programs at school is like and what their favorite part of the design process is like. Lauren enjoys the construction document phase and getting to do the research, as do I. Lauren also interned with a residential firm last semester so we get to compare notes. I’m really thankful for the girls I work with they are both wonderful, very talented, and willing to work together to get the job done. (Not to mention they have impeccable style.)

Welcome Students to the IDS 420 Journal Page for Summer 2013!

For the next nine weeks of your summer internship position, this is the page where you will post your weekly activity summary, the weekly topic, and introducing a person you've met during the week that you would like to introduce. Please read over carefully the journal assignment that has been given.

orange azaleaA couple of pointers about formatting and adding images:

When formating select "categories" at the bottom of the the post editing window. You will select the appropriate week for which you are entering: weeks 1 - 9. This will allow me to pull up one week at a time and see each post.

Before completing each post, read over carefully for grammar, spelling/typos, and sentence structure. Do your best to write clearly and succinctly. Others will have access to the posts, and writing professionally is part of the assignment. Avoid using slang. There is a spell checker located in top menu of editing mode.

Before posting your entry, format each entry by going to "text alignment" and clicking on the last selection, which is full justify. Let me know if you have questions about this.

When adding images, make sure you size each image as a thumbnail first. Check the box that creates the thumbnail without changing the original image size! Select "inline" either left, or right to incorporate the image within the text. Do not make images too large, and add captions to each image for clarity. Images need to be about 400 px as a thumbnail.

Before publishing, you will need to make sure the box "published" is checked, and "enable comments" is checked. As you view your post and check for anything that needs to be edited, make a note of excessive spaces in between each paragraph. Go back to "modify" post and take out as many of the extra lines as possible.

You can add links, slide shows  and videos as well as images. Refer to the icons at the top left of edit mode for what you can "add" to your post.

Again, welcome and please let me know if you have questions regarding posting your weekly journal assignment entries -- they are always due by the end of the day Sunday. I will spend Mondays reading your posts.

Best,

Mary Beth