Education/training | Making Connections | Personal Advancement | Self-employment | Career Options

Education/training

Students flock to a variety of interior design programs

An eye for design

Call it the HGTV factor. The broadcaster's exceptionally successful home makeover shows have made what a particular space looks like an interesting subject for thousands of students.

DAVID CHILTON -- Special to the Toronto Sun

[ 2007-11-14 ]

Send to a friend

From a thesis project by Victoria McGlade, a graduate from Environmental Design at OCAD. (Photo by OCAD)

Call it the HGTV factor. The broadcaster's exceptionally successful home makeover shows have made what a particular space looks like an interesting subject for thousands of students.

On the other hand, as universities and colleges are quick to point out, those same programs have muddied the waters to the point where interior design and interior decoration are perceived as one and the same stream -- they're not.

Miranda McVeigh, Interior Design program co-ordinator at Oakville's Sheridan College, says the distinction between interior design and interior decoration has become a major issue. And although she and others, such as Jeremy Bowes, chair of Environmental Design at Ontario College of Art & Design, appreciate the public profile home makeover shows bring to design generally, it's obvious that they're uneasy with so much crossover between two distinct disciplines.

"INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE"

So just what is interior design? It's essentially a technical profession that encompasses esthetic considerations. Joyce O'Keefe, director of the School of Interior Design at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto, says in Europe interior design is widely known as "interior architecture." That means students must learn about form, space, building codes, where to place fire exits, drafting and how to use AutoCAD equipment, for example, in addition to learning about colour and texture. The oldest interior design degree program in Ontario is at Ryerson University. Annick Mitchell, chair of its School of Interior Design, says the program began in 1971 and accepts about 96 students each year into the four-year course -- a good many of them are female.

That's generally the same at other schools, where the women in some industrial design programs outnumber the men four to one. The age range of students isn't that much different either. About one third to more than one half of all students enter the various programs straight from high school, with the rest being transfer students, international students, university graduates and career changers.

Every school with an industrial design program -- and they can be found across the GTA and elsewhere including Georgian College in Barrie and Fanshawe College in London -- wants a creative portfolio from its applicants. Bowes says essentially anything will do: paintings, drawings, clay models, sculptures or even hand-knitted items. Some schools also require an interview and an English test.

LOOKING FOR PASSION

Mitchell says she's also looking for passion about the profession: "I'd also say at the end of the day it's about the light behind the eyes. It's about the match (of student to program)."

Ryerson and the Ontario College of Art and Design have one intake a year, in September. Sheridan College has two intakes: September and January. The International Academy accepts students four times a year.

Tuition fees vary from school to school. The universities charge about $5,000 a year and public colleges charge about half that. The industrial design program at the private International Academy costs $14,000 a year.

Come 2010, all schools in the province that offer industrial design will have to make them degree programs if they aren't already. McVeigh says Sheridan College is readying its Bachelor of Applied Arts in Industrial Design course, with its probable introduction next year.

As with many other professions, there are rules about the steps necessary to register with the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario. Already the province has a "title act," which determines who can and cannot call themselves an interior designer, and the profession is pushing for a "practice act" to regulate practitioners.