As retailing and service industries have expanded, so has the interior design industry. However, popular house makeover programs on television have presented the public with a false conception of what the study of interior design is really all about. Interior design can focus on areas such as space-planning or large-scale refurbishment; in which case, it may be more appropriate to think of designers as interior architects. Interior design encompasses a number of skills and disciplines that can be honed and understood to a greater degree if you study a graduate interior design course.

The study and practice of interior design attempts to collectively draw together common approaches to the design and occupation of space within an existing architectural context. It is possible that these approaches can be developed from notions of Interior, Exhibition, Product and Portable Environments Design, Architecture, Furniture, and Installation Art. Each design approach has the potential to contribute to the design process and critically reflect upon issues such as aesthetics, function, use and spatial syntax.

The study of interior design can be defined as the link between architecture and the users of space. Interior design deals with the relationship of people to spaces through volume, planning activities, atmosphere, scale, colour, light, texture, acoustics and construction materials. Studying a graduate interior design course will give you greater understanding of the application of theoretical tools with practical design techniques enhancing your ability to critically reflect on design practice.

The study of interior design at graduate level is more than simply enhancing the skills acquired during an undergraduate degree. Rather, a graduate course in interior design offers the opportunity to reflect and analyse theories of design process, providing a means to adopt an approach to design that complements what is learned in undergraduate experience and the role of commercial design practice. A graduate interior design program aims to set high academic standards in a manner which produces graduates whom employers are keen to take on. Those who study interior design at graduate level are creative thinkers who have the ability to complement their enhanced design skills with rationalised and well-supported research arguments within design practice.

A good graduate interior design course should be based on three main points:

1. Teaching elements rarely touched upon at undergraduate level

2. Returning to some elements taught at undergraduate level and critically reviewing the underlying theories and models of design process aiming to work beyond rational problem solving

3. Applying new ways of working and learning

In addition to gaining vocational and transferable skills, students studying graduate interior design courses are introduced to a wide range of subjects that extend the traditional boundaries of interior design and in doing so, help define the scope and potential of the discipline and your own personal perspective. Graduate programs in interior design go examine further the extent to which current subject knowledge and practices have been influenced by a variety of historical and cultural factors. By learning this, one can speculate future developments in interior design. Graduates from interior design at this level obtain the necessary aptitudes that are becoming increasingly more important for individuals to obtain rapid progression to senior designer posts in practice.

To gain admission to a graduate course in interior design, you need not necessarily have a first degree in interior design or architecture disciplines. Although design skills and knowledge of internal space is a prerequisite, the inclusion of individuals from a great number of applied areas is encouraged to aid with the questioning and expansion of interior design as a subject. Students from a wide-range of subject areas are often part of an interior design group such as product design, scenography, philosophy, furniture design, fine art and landscape design. Students form these disciplines are welcome as this enhances the future of this design profession as a whole.

With thanks to:
Dr. Paul Bailey