Unleashing my Inner Interior Designer

Men’s Salon Interior Design Project by Ismail El zahed

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Table of Contents

• What is Interior Design?
• Interior Design as a Practice: 
• How to maintain a successful Interior Design practice?
• Starting my Interior design Journey as a freelancer
• What was the outcome of what I’ve experienced?
• Inspired by Jimmy Martin
• References

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What is Interior Design?

My perception of interior design is a personal expression of creativity and functionality. It is the soul of a building that can be felt from the outside and seen from the inside ,opposite of the human soul. Also, It can be felt and can attach a visitor by interacting with it.

Interior Design is used to define a space and characterize its use and function. In my point of view, just like us humans our personality and characteristics define us the most. We can be good or bad, even interiors can be good , evil, safe ,helpful, sociable or introverted depending on the function and sense of space. 

Interior Design as a Practice: 

Interior design is an important field to study and interesting to be involved in. We designers are able and responsible to shape the future of spaces, by creating functional environment, better solutions with the best design that express a place. for example, you cannot wear a tracksuit going to a wedding right?

Interior design combines art, science, and business to create functional, stylish, and safe interiors that work with a building’s design and focus on well-being and health._^(IIDA,n.d). Interior Design is considered a new profession and emerged in the early 20’s_{^{(Brooker & Stone, 2010)}} .Traditionally furniture makes offers advice to decorate and arrange a house and architects used to design the building inside out_{^{(Brooker & Stone, 2010)}}.

How to maintain a successful Interior Design practice?

I’ve been digging deep in designing sustainable spaces and in studying material use to create a functional spaces and healthy environments. 

I always dreamt about opening my interior design practice to get involved in the industry with my passion to design, renovate and treat each design as masterpiece that will designed only to fit a specific space and solve or its requirements.

Starting my Interior design Journey as a freelancer

Since my final year in University of Portsmouth during my BA Architecture in 2020, I’ve had Internships that made me gain a reasonable amount of experience in interior and architecture design . At this point, I’ve been thinking in starting to freelance, until it became my only option as I had begun my Army Duty in Egypt, so firms kept me short listed.

“God is in the details”

Mies van der Rohe

I followed my passion blindly and started planning my meeting with my first client. I had my first Interior Design project, it was a Men’s salon .I started collecting data and information about the space and its surroundings, by sketching, taking dimensions, photos and taking notes of what my client objective was. Then developed conceptual drawings and mood boards to share with my client, once approved I started to move on to the 3d visualisation part of the project.

It was an opportunity to unleash my Inner Interior Designer, experience a new step in my career, and explore my passion for Interior Designing.

I had a mix of emotions between scared of failure and filled with passion towards success. Lastly, I felt responsibility and confidence that made me focus on details and led me to execute the proposed design and show it to reality.

What was the outcome of what I’ve experienced?

• Became more confident 
• Having more knowledge about my self and my career
• Gained new skills and experience

I believe that the first step to success is to take actions toward your goal. The last step to ‘Unleash my Inner Interior Designer’ is to master Interior Architecture and design.

Inspired by Jimmy Martin

My client received the Apollo Greek Bust as a gift, and it now rests on a display wooden box crafted from the remaining wood found on-site. The design was inspired by Jimmy Martin’s Naughty Angels Collection.

The concept aimed to modernize historical figures using artistic typography, resulting in a handmade artifact that fits modern interiors.

This concept inspired me to experiment with my craft, identifying an opportunity to spotlight on Egyptian Art. By applying this approach to Ancient Egyptian figures. In celebrating art and history, I started crafting artifacts that blend with modern homes and honor our heritage.

In Jan 2023, I started my first application on a Queen Nefertiti Bust that was created by Egyptian craftsmen. Inspired by Jimmy Martin’s work, I proceed into hand-painting busts with colors that embody both Ancient Egyptian culture and the modern world.

References

_{International Interior Design Association. (n.d.). What is interior design?. IIDA. https://iida.org/about/what-is-interior-design}

^{Brooker, G., & Stone, S. (2010). What is Interior Design? Rockport Publishers.}

^{Dragon Leg. Jimmie Martin. (2023, April 26). https://jimmiemartin.com/product/dragon-leg/}