Learning Commercial Interior Design
Most people are capable enough to add a coat of paint to their home or fix a fallen gutter but if you want someone to design the interior of an office building then that takes a little bit of schooling.
Anyone that is involved in commercial interior design has had years of schooling and probably grew up with commercial interior design ideas that they never even realized they had until they got to school. But there are so many different sides to commercial interior design that it can be difficult to choose which direction to go in when you do decide that commercial interior design is for you. Remember that there are some basics that every commercial interior design professional has to know and no matter what you do you will be faced with some of the same challenges in every project.
One of the most crucial tools in commercial interior design is computer software. It is commonly referred to as Computer Aided Design, or CAD, and it is the tool that all commercial interior design people use to create their ideas and put them into a format that eventually gets into the general contractor's hands. The CAD program can create all manner of blueprints and design drawings that help get a project off the ground and without an expert working knowledge of CAD you are simply not going to be able to be effective in the commercial interior design field.
So much has changed in architecture and design in the last 50 years and now computers have taken away the need to be able to even draw to get your point across. If you learn how to manipulate the CAD software then you will be able to get your design ideas across.
Engineering
A career in design is a career in engineering too and your engineering skills may be put to different tests on every project. You need to be able to work out the relationship between the space available on an office floor and the need for cubicles along with how to add more space to a building that doesn't have it. So much of commercial interior design is about moving and economizing space and that does not always mean working with existing space. There will be times when you are called on to create space and that can require skills in engineering.
The field of commercial interior design can be a challenging one as it requires knowledge from a variety of disciplines in order to be successful. Be prepared for a lot of studying - but once you are done you can look forward to a rewarding career.
