How Do Interior Designers Become National Brands?

09/23/20 • 42 min

How do certain designers make the transition to becoming viable brands? Who decides which designers get to put their stamp on everything from rugs to fabrics to apartment towers? Kate Verner, whose firm has been instrumental in the success of numerous designers and brands, and her client, acclaimed designer Alexandra Champalimaud, share their insights on how to expand a designer’s portfolio and visibility, strategize for success, and cope with the increased workflow. As the two make clear, the process is neither easy nor quick, but it can be creatively and financially rewarding.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Do You Really Need Design School?

Is attending design school still worth the time, effort, and money it takes? And are the schools teaching the right things? Should the focus be on principles or practicalities? In this episode, the president of the New York School of Interior Design, David Sprouls, is joined by two of the school’s distinguished alumni, Penny Drue Baird and Drew McGukin, to talk about whether techniques or technology should prevail, why they only hire design school graduates, how schools can help diversify and expand the student body, and why nobody seems to know design history these days.

In this episode, our guests discuss:

Why design schools are worth the time and money
Are students actually learning what they need to know for the real world?
How the curricula at NYSID has kept up with changing lifestyles and the increasing use of technology
How to keep up with new technology while balancing traditional design tactics like sketching and hand drawing
The most important skills Penny and Drew learned while at design school
Why firms prefer hiring people who went to design school
How the NYSID decides its curriculum and coursework

Additional resources:

10 Things You Should Know About Becoming an Interior Designer on MyMove
15 Interior Design Schools Worth Applying to on Architectural Digest
Become An Interior Designer on ASID
Meet Our New Scholarship Winner on Chairish
New York School of Interior Design
Dessins LLC.
Drew McGukin Interiors

Connect with Chairish and our guests on Instagram:

Chairish: @chairishco
Michael Boodro: @michaelboodro
NYSID: @nysid
Penny Drue Baird: @pennydessins
Drew McGukin: @drewmcgukin
David Sprouls: @david.sprouls

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

The Burgeoning Business of E-Design

Thanks to the pandemic, we have all become used to working, socializing, and learning at a distance. But can beautiful design be created remotely? In this episode, two guests with very different styles, Los Angeles designer Martha Mulholland and Palm Beach- based Danielle Rollins, tell how they got started with e-design, how their virtual business has grown, what they find rewarding—and frustrating—about this new approach to creating beautiful homes, and how they handle clients and spaces they have never seen in person.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.