Beware the Designer Value Added

Please – Beware the Designer Value Added

What are you talking about? I am talking about being blinded with a title of designer or architect. It is like any field there are good and bad designers and architects, so take each on their own merit, not just because they have a qualification.

I know I am here to teach you about how great it is to be a designer and help you with the skills you need, but I also must insist that you don’t overstate your qualifications and your skills.

I have just visited a home where the client had paid a very large sum of money to have a kitchen designed and renovated. In my view they paid twice as much as it was worth and the kitchen design could have been achieved by any new student designer. In fact, the student would probably have had more innovative ideas!

What I want to stress here in this blog are two things – one for the consumer or client. Don’t have your vision fogged by the fact that you are using a designer / architect. Make sure you see some examples of their work, talk to the people they have used and check that they were happy with the performance of the design and the costs.

Two – if you are the designer – don’t do a job unless you know you have the skills to achieve a positive outcome. I know you have to start somewhere but don’t do it at your client’s expense, or this could be your last client. There is always someone out there that can help you.

In the case of the kitchen I just viewed, this designer has been around for years doing bits and pieces and has got on by copying other designer’s ideas, they have no niche or expertise in a specific area of design, they  just claim to be able to tackle anything. That is the result you get – a half hearted design without the expertise you expect when you employ a professional. I didn’t have the heart to say anything to the home owner as they loved it, but from a value for money aspect, they didn’t get what they paid for and this I found very frustrating as a professional.

I am not saying we aren’t in the business to make money as a designer, of course we are, but we also need to be professional and ensure that we provide the service and value that a client should expect. If  you short cut your design and over charge your client, it will eventually come back to haunt you. Be up front and be realistic, your client will appreciate your honesty. If you don’t know something – then simply say, this isn’t my area of expertise but I can engage “Mr blah blah blah” who is experienced in his field to give us some parameters in which to work, or do a preliminary design for us to work from, or provide guidelines in which we can work with etc. Design is a huge field and you can’t be expected to know everything at the beginning, use your network to help you grow as a designer, keep learning, take advice from experts and remember  – put yourself in the shoes of the client – would you be happy employing yourself? Make sure that you can add value to a job as a designer. It isn’t all in the title!

A good designer is worth their weight in gold, but a bad designer can cause you headaches and cost you a fortune for little outcome. Do your homework.

If you want some information on being a professional interior designer then visit http://prointeriordesigner.com or if you want to learn interior decorating do an introductory course in interior decorating, just interested in color? – Get your free ecourse in color , or love fabrics, try our curtain design ecourse – keep upskilling, and remember a name is just a name, you need to add value and be remembered for the service you provide, not your qualifications.

Have fun. Lee