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Ageless Inspiration

With a mature career and years of experience, established designers find inspiration in the world around them.

By Kim Kaiser

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There are only so many times you can go back to the same well. Designers may draw their inspiration from a common source, but they must keep up with a culture that is free-flowing and continuously evolving. Perspective asked six established practitioners to discuss their inspiration and how they keep their interior design ideas fresh.

Janice Roberts Young, FIIDA, ASID
I am inspired by beautiful objects, such as a beautiful turtle shell or a turned piece of wood, by wonderful gardens, by color and by my clients. I have a number of clients with whom I have worked on various projects through the years, and I find I am inspired by their creativity, enthusiasm and interest in the projects and what the project outcome can mean to their businesses, environments and lives.

I think designers simply must keep learning, keep observing, travel, listen, be sensitive to culture and cultural changes. Designs that respond to today's project needs, incorporating current and perhaps new materials and philosophies and new information are by their nature "fresh" and new and specific.

I am a sponge. I read trade, travel and style magazines, and historical novels and biographies. I am influenced by what I see, how people live and react and respond, and by experiencing a space or form, whether it is an architectural relic or a magnificent garden.

Eva L. Maddox, FIIDA
My inspiration is derived from the line where divergent ideas meet, and content and context merge.

We are challenged to educate our clients to receive new ideas, and we often forget the importance and joy of bringing our clients along together on the design process. Design has great value to society, and it should assist in exploring solutions to societal needs. To this end, I believe we must have a good understanding of social issues, and I am particularly interested in applying design and design principles in urban settings.

My passion is really good design. I am happy to let the chips fall where they may and let others judge the "good" of good design.

Jason Hall
I draw my inspiration from weird, contradictory combinations of things that in their opposition give each other meaning. I look to interesting materials that might at first be overlooked as a source of inspiration, finding motivation in everything that surrounds me, from work to play to naps to funk music.

Keeping design ideas fresh is not always simple. Closed-mindedness and preconceptions have often been a challenge for me.

I've developed interests outside of work, which give me the opportunity to interact with different people, which in turn has helped my design. The best thing you can do to design for people is to interact with people.
I don't try to stand out from other designers. I try to do good work — sometimes I'm successful, sometimes I'm not.

Eric Engstrom, IIDA
I look to the nature and the history of the area we are working in for inspiration. If we're working in Seattle, for example, we find inspiration in nature from the coniferous trees and the blue of the water.

I view design as an editing process that requires that ability to find a balance between the creative and the practical. There's a constant battle between something that is complete creativity and something that is complete practicality.

Creating a balance between a functional restaurant and an enjoyable dining experience for customers can be a challenge. We want to transport the customer into another world. But we also want it to work as a restaurant.

You need to know who your client is and what your client wants to do. In restaurants, you need to have passageways clear so they function, but you also need to design them so the customer is comfortable.

To avoid getting trapped by repetition, we try to stay in tune to what is new. We read a lot of magazines and go to a lot of Web sites, so we are always keeping up with the trends. Designs don't occur in a vacuum. It's really an editing process of what you see and making it work.

Deborah Lloyd Forrest, FASID
A lot of my inspiration comes from travel and visiting different places — well designed retail places, fashion, stores and the products shown in stores — all of those things.

I certainly think it is easy to fall into a rut. One thing we stress at our company is not to repeat ourselves. We challenge ourselves to constantly find new ideas.

To help keep designs up to date, I continuously head back into the research and inspiration loops. I also always look at things around me for what is new and different and read everything I can. I learn things from people in the firm. We have young people coming in who just finished college, and they have new ideas and techniques.

ForrestPerkins is equally divided between designers and architects, which I think helps distinguish us from other firms. We don't take a segregated approach. Architects and designers work on projects together, and the project leaders are not decided based on their field.

I think it helps us take a fresh approach and helps our projects technically by bringing both approaches together. We thoroughly enjoy the process.

Sean C. Kendig, IIDA
I draw my inspiration from the world around me. People also have a profound influence on how I create.

It's hard not to keep repeating a tried and true solution, instead of searching for the new approach. I read voraciously in all genres and treat every experience as an opportunity to learn and inform my future work.

I love what I do, and it shows in my attitude toward my work and my clients. My passion and enthusiasm for my work get my clients and my project teams excited.

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