An article with the International Council of Design

I was extremely happy to be invited by the International Council of Design to contribute to a much needed and well curated article highlighting the importance of understanding and recognising professional design.

With the ever increasing presence of persuasive online social “influence rs“ who have sharpened some swift click bait business marketing skills, to sell “design” services we are witnessing a time where the meaning of true professional qualifications to the level required for the task seem to no longer be recognised by the customer.

Jennifer Turner at the home office - Photo: Carla Atley

The design industry in all disciplines has been very much undermined due to the increasing online “quickie” courses framed as legitimate design training. In truth professional design requires many years of design study in accredited qualification followed by years in industry practice. The discipline of Interior design is often confused with the service of interior decorating due to this unfortunate online presence of misinformation gracing social media pages and reality television shows.

When beginning my design career more than 29 years ago my main objective was to begin a path in design education spending over 5 years learning and qualifying before starting my first job in London in 2000. It was then a tough journey working my way up as I gained more knowledge over the years accompanying my design colleagues and mentors. We still continue learning today and there is always something new in design!

To learn more you can read the full ICoD article on the below link.