Week 3: Gaining Responsibility

This Week’s Activities: 

Packages I received Thursday with Residence Hall samples. This week was jam packed for Lauderdale Design Group. Now that my company email address is up and running and all the product samples have been ordered for the Residence Hall material boards, I have a lot of emails to read and respond to in the mornings when I come into the office. This has become a daily task for me. I also receive up to 15 packages a day with those materials. When they come in I try to un-package and store them quickly so the office is not cluttered. I keep a running list of what I have ordered, what reps have sent the items, and what has arrived. I also sometimes have messages that I need to return via phone. Cathy, our office manager, and I have started to share the task of answering the phones. 

Advertisement I designed for UT 2013-2014 PlannerAlong with handling all the materials for the Residence Hall, I also have the running task of downloading furniture symbol libraries for easy access during design phases involving autocad. So far, I have downloaded the FSL for Knoll, Steelcase, Coalesse, and Herman Miller. One of my favorite tasks I got to do this week involved designing a LDG advertisement to go into the 2013-2014 UT Academic Planner in Indesign. We have a 1/16 page ad that with be in the planner and will hopefully bring Lauderdale Design Group more business. We were honored to be given the opportunity to be in the planner and love that our company has a made an impact on the UT campus. The ad I designed features one of our new photographs shot of our office. 

This week we met with many different product reps. We met with Jill Hafeli of the Klem group. She sells a multitude of different hospitality brands. I love viewing her products and Dani was excited to get some hospitality resources because LDG is leaning toward a lot more of that business. We also met with Mary Holt, a fabric rep, as well as Mitzi Rouse, a carpet rep. These meetings are always informative for me to attend. I learn about new products daily. 

Draft of potential finish schedule for Salon project.Dani and Deborah decided that it was time for me to start working on the Salon project. Dani briefed me on the space, the different materials they had thought about using, and what their concept was. Then she let me do a draft using a blank floor plan and prisma color pencils to show where the different materials should go. I came up with several different schemes before presenting them to Deborah and Dani. From there I made the changes they gave me and came up with a final finish schedule draft. Next week I will enter everything into autocad and create the final finish schedule and key. I also did some other things for the Salon project like ordering samples, color matching wall covering, and finding different floor options. 

On site photo shoot at Synergy.Deborah and I were on site at Synergy, one of LDG’s most recent projects, all day Thursday. We had a shoot with the lovely photographer, Denise Retallack, who also shot our office. Deborah and I spent a lot of the day staging different areas of Synergy and directing Denise. I also ran errands to get lunch as well as some items to stage the kitchen with. Overall, I think we had a really successful shoot and look forward to seeing the photos next week. 

This Week’s Focus:

This week the focus is on legal recognition for the profession; professional design organizations, licensing, registration, continuing education, community service, and professional ethics. Dani was nice enough to go over these things with me.

Downloading Steelcase furniture symbol library. Lauderdale Design group values many professional organizations in town. LDG’s most valued are AIA (American Institute of Architects) and USGBC (United States Green Building Council) because they meet and connect with designers through these organizations the most and are actively involved with both. Lauderdale Design Group’s business model is through the acquisition of work from architects. AIA is the best source for LDG to do this. Lauderdale coordinates with many allied professions such as architecture, engineering, furniture dealerships, and the construction industry. As registered Interior Designers, the staff of LDG must actively pursue knowledge and advancement in the industry. To do that, the designers attend CEU (Continuing Education Unit) courses and green building courses to keep their licenses as NCIDQ and LEED certified professionals. And the designers are NCIDQ and LEED AP ID+C certified. 

Lauderdale Design Group loves being involved in community service. Their biggest endeavor is to support Knoxville’s design and art scene. LDG hosts First Fridays at their office and is involved with Knoxville’s Pechakucha. They also planned 2012’s USGBC Green Light Awards Banquet which recognized sustainable work and practitioners in Knoxville.  

An example of conflicts that occur during a project is scope! Lauderdale Design Group often gets asked to perform work that is not in their scope (their original contract agreement). They are willing to do the work, but only if the client agrees to this as an additional service. For LDG, professional ethics ensures that the environment created for a client is one that is made through honest endeavor and intent from the designer. For instance, LDG does not sell furniture because they want their client to know they have an unbiased approach to what they specify. 

This Week’s Introduction:

Deborah Presson, Design DirectorThis week I am introducing the Lauderdale Design Group Design Director and my supervisor, Deborah Presson. Deborah graduated from UT in 2001. She had done her school internship with Gresham Smith and Partners and secured a permanent job working for their Nashville office after graduation. She worked there for 3 years before moving to their Charlotte office and continuing working with them for 2 years before being recruited by Gensler. She took their offer and went on to work for Gensler for the next 6.5 years. Her husband decided to take his dream job here in Knoxville so she started her job search. She met Joy at Neocon and was offered a job when she made the move to Knoxville. Deb has been working for Lauderdale for 2 years. She has a 4 year old son named Bryson. Luckily she has family in town who helps take care of him when he is not in daycare 2 days a week, or she is not at home. Deborah works Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday so she loves to spend her free time painting, boating, playing with Bryson, swimming, hanging out with friends, jogging, and biking.  just built a house featured in creative homes, biking. Deb and her husband just completed building their home in October and have been featured in Creative Homes. Deborah is such an inspiration to work with and I look forward to continuing to gain knowledge through her. 

Week 3: History and the Future

Contributions of interior design to contemporary society in relation to historic preservation

Throughout history Interior Design has influenced society in many ways. As design has advanced quality of life has improved. During my Internship, I have had opportunity to study historical examples of what was at one time considered to be “modern” tools for daily living. For example, windows used to use ropes and weights to raise and lower. Modern window systems allow for improved functionality and better energy efficiency. Another example was lead paint, which was used to improve the life of objects, but was later found to be dangerous to one’s health. Today’s paint is safer and still offers superior longevity compared to lead paint. During my Internship I have to be careful cleaning items that may contain lead paint. These two examples of Interior Design Advancements are items that we continue to use today, however in their more advanced forms. 

Opportunities for Lifelong Learning in this area

Learning from historical interiors guides us in improving our future designs. The past offers Interior Designers the opportunity to continuously learn and improve technology, design, and function for the future. 

Historic Pedestal Sink Interior Design in Historic Preservation contribute to public and community service

Historic preservation is an important part of our society’s future. Through education and public events that bring focus to historical design, we generate interest to preserve the past and also improve future designs. 

This week I researched historic fireplace tiles and pedestal sinks. Prior to this experience I did not realize that specific brands of fireplace tiles were so important and valuable. I was surprised to learn that so many brands from the 1800’s were still manufacturing fixtures today. For example, one sink I researched was made by the Crane brand. This brand is still in business today. 

Beth MeadowsIntroduction

Beth Meadows is the Salvage Coordinator for The Knox Heritage Salvage Room. She is my Intern Supervisor. Beth graduated from the University of Tennessee and is originally from Memphis. She began working for Knox Heritage as an Intern while she was still in college. Her interest in Historic Preservation led her to continue her career with Knox Heritage. Beth is also an artist and many of her paintings are inspired by her interest in historic architecture and design. She was really excited to be a part of the Estate Sale at the Alexander Inn because she enjoyed the history of the old inn. 

Week 3: Into the Swing of Things

This was a short week because of Memorial Day and boy did it fly by.

This week I worked on contract boards, finish boards, furniture specs, and a million other tiny things in between. I think one of my favorite things is when the different reps come in and teach us about their product and what the behind the scenes of making it looks like. A designer also came in and talked about her art and the many different ways you can use art in a healthcare setting. That presentation was so interesting because the designers ask tons of different questions about what is up to code and meets fire code, they are so detailed its so crazy, I love it. I love watching their knack for finding a product that can keep a patient as safe as possible. I also love presentation because sometimes the rep will say this can outlast tears and scratches. And as soon as they it and someone gets the sample in their hand they will try to destroy that sample to make sure it is up to par with what they are representing.

And sometimes people send you really long samples of rubber base and you have to model it. (Lauren our comedic relief!)

 This week I talked to Leslie about legal recognition, professional interaction and professional design. First we talked about the legal aspects of design. At ESa you must have a license and be registered in the state of TN. Values of the company are very important to this company. You also must take the NCIDQ when the time comes. Most everyone is involved with IIDA, many are LEED accredited and others are working closely with EDAC. They are also apart of life long learning and promote that with the CEUs that they attend. Not only does ESa have high values for their designers but is incredibly involved within their community. They do pro-bono work frequently with surrounding companies, they have a $5 Friday wear jeans and contribute to a local charity, work closely with the American Heart Association (David Miller is on the board) and during Christmas work with Ginger town to raise support (last year they raised over $2,000 this money went to children’s hospital, senior living facility, etc.) They also have a mentoring program called ACE that helps unprivileged students in schools be mentored by designers/architects to learn the basics of engineering, construction and make them aware of good design. We also talked about conflict within the job and what that looks like. Leslie said she has found most of her conflict to be with the clients and them wanting products to be a certain thing and meet their needs. Sometimes Leslie has to stand her ground and show them that it needs to meet code more than wanting their way or showing them new products that do the same thing as the old ones they are attached too. The only other conflict has been like a scheduling conflict when the client thought they were having a phone interview and going over the final review and the designers were unaware it was suppose to be their final presentation. 

This week I want to introduce you to my supervisor, Leslie. Leslie is from Auburn University and has been working with ESa for a number of years. Like I’ve said before Leslie is very involved with the pro-bono projects, which she enjoys the most by receiving the affirmation from her clients when the design is finished. Leslie is also very involved in the many different programs of ESa and is the coordinator of many as well (ginger town). I’m very grateful Leslie has taken on the job of supervisor and takes the time to answer so many of my small questions, she has a lot of knowledge of this firm and is always willing to help us out.