A New Mindset for all Designers

A new way of thinking has been positioned to sweep the air, the landscape and every inch of space available for the Singapore designer (which includes the interior designer) and all other professionals, persons or entities involved in the process of design. The new mental frame, aptly identified as Design Thinking, is a pet idea of a highly visionary group, the Design Singapore Council (DSC), whose members have been charged with the vision “to make Singapore the global city for design creativity in Asia by 2020.” Pursuant to this vision, the DSC has adopted the promotion of “the use of design for innovation, economic growth and for making life better.” as its mission.

Getting the Interior Designer Involved

While the leading proponents of this revolutionary movement are architects and architect-designers, much is to be expected of the interior designer in the end-goal of making Singapore the global centre for design. The work being performed by an interior designer fits this goal perfectly, for the true experience of good design happens at the interior of the house where people converge and stay.

Design at the Sensory Level

The Design Singapore Council envisions this design thinking paradigm to be sinking to the level where the user feels and experiences the impact of design by putting it forward. In a sense, this may no longer be news to the interior designer, for that is the way a good interior designer  has been educated and trained: to bring his design to the sensory level of his clients right at the planning stage. This is the reason the interior designer spends a whole lot of time exploring what it is the client wants, their preferences and inclinations for color, shape, space, texture, make, style or arrangement.

The Interior Designer in a Client-Centered Engagement

There are a number of ways the interior designer can substantially contribute and at the same time benefit from this new design paradigm. One of the ways is to continue his client-centered design planning to achieve a user-friendly finished interior work. If the interior designer is not into this empathy mode, he can begin looking at how he can improve his client engagements so that the wants and preferences of his clients are flushed out and become the focus of design. By doing this, he is able to expand his professional clout and be known for being client-friendly or client-centered, an image many clients would be looking for in their interior designer.

The Road to the Council

The interior designer can expand his knowledge of design thinking by researching about the concept thereby raising his professional competence to the next level. He can also make time to visit the office of the Design Singapore Council at the National Design Centre and register his participation in this great national undertaking.

After all, if this is the way the interior designer is already doing his work and the design thinking achieves its end, it is almost a forward celebration of his role of making life better for other people. Would the road to the Council lead to the next level?