Did some time @ one in '99. Great pay. lousy management, every project was a god-send for millwork contractors. Would probably do it again, but not that style of ID.

almost... i decided it wasn't for me, although the pay would have been great.

anybody see that show material world about the interior decorators to the stars? if you plan on watching get out your gucci barf bags.

Worked in one for a year. It was actually amazing. Pay was great, lots of fringe benefits, posh lifestyle (everyone looked like a model) and was treated like a god because of technical skills. Spent most of my time detailing millwork, but it was a very worthwhile experience. IDs can be emotionally maladjusted, though. The material/sample library was almost worth it alone.

I think we're finding where the money is. BZKR, I also found that competence & command of tech skills + excellent design sense does get you well rewarded in this area of design. The problem is that IDs can get so focused on those who can sell themselves as 'technically competent' that they may let bad technicians have too much power.

The firm I was with fell victim to this in the form of an architect that sold them a bill-of-goods. He had the principal, a talented, yet techno-challenged lady convinced that he could set up a work process & CAD system. No matter that this person would disapear for a month, or more at a time (let's refer to him as 'Alcoholic Architect' initials, 'AA') , only to re-emerge periodically & seriously disrupt all projects.

To make a long story short, I couldn't continue to work under those conditions & left. When I left, this firm had 19 people. 1 year later, Alcoholic Architect got in a fight with a draftsman. At an ID firm!!!! 2 years later, this 'bill-of-goods' salesman was still there, but 14 others had been 'let go'. To compound the mis-management & ill-placed confidence, a power failure resulted in this firm's loss of most of it's CAD data. It seemed that AA had not bothered to set up a simple backup system.

Today, 6 years later, this firm is down to 2 people, plus 'AA' as a 'consultant'. They have had to sell off their assets & move into the principal's home. It seems that talent doesn't protect a firm from placing its confidence in the wrong spot.

You've got a good point, Mystery. But, I think there is less of a danger of this happening to int. designers in the future because of the educational system. The curriculum now includes CAD and stuctures courses, making us a bit less dazzled by technical prowess. However, I have noticed how easily impressed current designers are currently with student portfolios that include cad work or construction docs.

Mystery,

It sounds like the techno-challenged principal was sleeping with "AA". That's just some of the good dirt you get in ID firms that aren't as common in arch firms.

Your experience is rather unfortunate though. Sorry to hear it.

geesh BZKR, I never really thought about that. AA was butt-ugly as hell & the principal was getting up in her years. But you know, it might make sense. This is one of those times where I pop myself in the head & say 'Duhhh!'

There was so much daily dirt of the same every day in this firm that it got old. But, the big broadcasting corp. I worked for had the best dirt of all, It was friggin' hard to stay focused because it wa always so interesting.

ID is pretty much all I did after school, except for a few short contract stints, even went on to pass NCIDQ and got registered (I know I know...it's not considered a "real" title by many here). I started off in the corporate offices, then moved on to retail and hospitality, now all I do is high-end international hospitality projects, specifically, hotels.

I like the scale of ID, and I find it has closer relationship to fashion and other design disciplines...maybe this explains why designers like Starck, Rashid, Jonathan Adler, Todd Oldham are all doing interiors now.