Summer of graduates

Summer is always an exciting time of year! So many newly qualified interior designers graduating, their portfolios brimming with creativity and fresh ideas and big smiles on their faces of what they have achieved.

We have to remember that these students are pretty special. The last few years they have had to study a degree during a global pandemic and multiple lockdowns which caused havoc at university campuses and accommodation facilities.

Many interior design students did not have the opportunity to gain work placements during their degree but this certainly does not seem to have affected the standard of work they have produced or the hunger they have to join the interior design industry as a professional.

I asked Mark Gower, Programme Director for Interior Architecture & Design at the University for Creative Arts, why he believes industry should open their doors to this years graduates:

“All of the students have had to face a very different university experience and education like no other. From being totally restricted, to working alone in their bedrooms, to facing the daunting experience of returning to campus and working in teams again – usually in bubbles. However, the type of students this weird period has produced are very exciting.

In interior education we have always discussed with students the importance of being able to adapt to the ever changing requirements of industry and now we have produced students that can do that better than before. The graduating students from the last two years are able to navigate change with ease and it doesn’t faze them one bit. They are able to work just as efficiently from home as they are in the studio. They can move from Zoom to Teams, from online to in person. They have had to think creatively about how they can make things at home and communicate these three-dimensional ideas via a two-dimensional screen. To these students, this is their university and interior education as they haven’t had another experience to compare it to. So much media attention has been on what students have lost out on in the last two years but I see more in what they have gained and I am sure the interior industry is already ahead of me on this one and will be opening their arms to a new, agile breed of designers.”

I love the point that Mark makes that these graduates are fully equipped to the hybrid nature of working that so many studio’s have now adopted. With added skills sets, ingenuity and enthusiasm, I’d highly recommend keeping a look out for graduates’ work on LinkedIn – accept their connection requests and be inspired by the talent that could be an excellent addition to your design studio.