According to my trusty Cambridge International Dictionary of English, to be a designer is to be a person who imagines how something can be made and draws plans for it. Going by this definition alone, nearly anyone with a semblance of creativity can be a designer. So why the need for design courses and design schools? The obvious answer would be to hone the skills of these budding designers, and to help instill in them the basics of whatever it is their studying and to help them become better designers. Reality calls the very definition into question.
If I were in a position to question the system of Lasalle's Interior Design course, rest assured that I would have done so when (at this point I shall refrain from mentioning names) we had a change of lecturers at the start of Level 2. I wouldn't say they are unqualified. In fact, they are most qualified to be in that position, and that's where the problem lies. Or maybe it's just me, but I've felt that they have done nothing but try to dictate our designs. True, they take our initial concepts and work with us to improve them, but along the way (usually by Jury 2), they tend to develop their own ideas of how things can be done, and then try to enforce it, thus disregarding the designs that we come up with on our own. Often we try to defend our ideas only to get dissed during presentations, or worse, get our words twisted and we end up getting persecuted for crimes we did not commit. Just to supplement this point with a case study:
For this semester's project, I've taken on the task of designing a music school. What I did was to read up on really dry materials based on acoustic treatments and the like, in order to incorporate these factors into the design. One main point that stood out was that studio designers tend to angle the walls so as to diffuse and refract sound waves, thus cutting down on repeated echoes as opposed to when a studio has parallel walls. Everything I did was based solely upon the foundations of acoustic treatments, but what I got during Jury was - "Admit it, you angled the walls because it looks prettier, and then you try to justify your actions using acoustic treatment."
Some may ask why I didn't defend my stand, but I really didn't see the point in my doing so. They were already prejudiced against my work due to the fact that they had some pre-conceived notion about how my design should look like and thus put down everything else that does not pertain to that notion. If I did not care about my grades, I probably would have adamantly argued my point even though it probably would not help anyway.
Design courses are basically very finicky. There is a fine line between what is your own design, and what is forced down your throat by the lecturers. In Semester 1, I remember very clearly what one of our lecturers told us - "It's not that we don't let you do whatever you want, but often we see a much better solution to your design, so we want you to do that". So basically when we graduate, we won't be Interior Designers, but rather, Interior Facilitators. We take whatever is ordered to us and then help facilitate its process.
Aesthetics is a very subjective thing. In our business, people have differing views of what is nice and what isn't. Take Frank Gehry's works for instance. How often we have been reminded to steer clear of iconic architecture, and not even counting the numerous times we have been forced to swallow and comply with our lecturers' views that Frank Gehry's work is crap (yes, they have referred to them explicitly). Woe be to the student who even tries to reference his works (and I should know because I have tried). For a man who has plenty of his works based in so many parts of the world, he obviously has to be doing something right. For beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder don't give a rat's behind what his detractors think.
Perhaps I shouldn't expect too much of my lecturers. They are not infallible. If I were the least bit interested in my course of study, I wouldn't harbor so many grievances. Perhaps it's partly my fault for choosing something which I thought I might like. Or maybe the problem lies in me not being able to decide what I want for myself, and thus being lured by the future prospects of a good, well-paying career.
Mom was talking to me recently and she said this - "If you're not interested, then quit school. School fees are not cheap. Go and find a job". I usually do not hold such exchanges with my mom, much less show her the sadder and more vulnerable side of myself, of which I usually reserve for when I'm not under the world's scrutiny. That night itself, I realised that the problem lies with how competitive and cut-throat this society is. It does not allow much room for failure, and it does not wait for you to catch up with it. Like it or not, Singapore is too many people cramped into too small a space. To be able to survive, one has to have the essential weapons to fight on par with the majority of the population. In this case, proper qualifications. I couldn't just graduate with a Diploma at the end of May even if I wanted to. First of all, I didn't go to Junior College for 3 years just to end up with a Diploma. Secondly, there is no easy way for anyone with merely a Diploma to survive in the working world. Degrees, once held in high regard, have become the norm of today's society, and the man who decides too late that he wants a switch in his course of study or career, find that it is detrimental to him because society is not flexible enough to accommodate people who want to perform U-turns in their careers. Of course this does not pertain to every single person. There have been success stories, and blessed be the man who is able to pursue his passion, and as a bonus, get paid for it.
People asked why I chose the path of an Interior Designer if I knew I had no interest in it. The simple answer was that I wanted to experiment and I thought I could like it, but after being exposed to it for a year, it was too late to change my course of study, unless I had money to splurge, which I don't. If I could be free to pursue my passion without a care in the world, I wouldn't be studying. I've never pegged myself as a designer. In the process of designing my music school, I can honestly say that I derived the most fun while lying on my bed and reading through that stack of acoustic treatment notes. I guess I'm more a book person, and not too hot with the creative thinking out-of-the-box stuff. I'd rather be curled up with a textbook and highlighting copious amounts of text than trying to come up with designs for a space. I would love to be a writer or a poet, but I have no way of judging myself according to the standards of this world. I love to write, but people may not think the same towards my writings. Society can be a very unforgiving place. If I took this risk and walked the path of a writer, will I be able to carve a niche for myself in this world? Or will I just be another writer struggling to survive? If my first book bombs, will people still want to read what I write? How is a fledgling writer going to make a mark in this world? One may refute that in whatever career, these uncertainties still hold true due to competition from all sides. That is the reason why failing in a field you love will only motivate you to press on harder (because you love whatever you're doing and you won't mind spending more time on it) whereas failing in a field you hate, it's just going to be a downward spiral all the way. One reason why I decided to tough it out in ID was because I could at least work under someone when I graduate, and that would at least bring in a constant flow of income, and I wouldn't have to take as much risks as I would if I ventured out as a writer. This entry has been long enough, and I'm not seeking to write a novel as yet. There are just too many aspects to it that it would take forever to properly delve into each different part. The bottom line is - I wish I were living in the prehistoric ages. The only competition I would have to worry about is over which eligible male I'm going to club over the head and thereafter drag back into my cave.