Vicki Mullins started her career as a graphic designer in the magazine publishing industry and worked as a freelance artist, painting commission artwork for interior designers and private clients. During this time, she developed a passion for interior design whilst renovating her house as a hobby. After completing six large-scale renovation projects, she decided to study interior design formally and turn her passion into a career.
She has worked as an architectural lighting designer and interior designer on residential, commercial, retail and hospitality projects, allowing her to combine her love of colour and design fundamentals with the more technical requirements of lighting design.
During her time in the training and assessment sector, Vicki has passionately worked with Melbourne Polytechnic, NSW TAFE and now with our team at IDI. She is also a member of the DIA.
As our head tutor, Vicki has a wealth of knowledge and now leads our education team, in addition to hosting various online workshops for our students and curriculum development.
She is a people-orientated leader and mentor with a keen interest in empowering students to reach their full potential and become future designers.
Originally I studied as a graphic designer and worked in this field for over 10 years. I always had a passion for building design and interiors, I used this interest to work on renovation projects during my spare time. After completing some large projects I wanted to take it further and started studying architecture, but found the course to be a little dry and was concerned that the time it takes to see your design come to life will be too long.
I had a re-think and looked for a course that allowed me to combine creativity and technical skills and switched the course to interior design (and have not looked back since).
I enjoy teaching and helping people and found myself in mentoring and teaching roles throughout my career as a graphic designer. This continued once I had finished my interior design studies and was working in Industry, by taking on work experience students from the Institute I studied with. After working in the Industry for a number of years I decided to formalise my desire and obtained my teaching qualification.
Now I am lucky enough to do the job I love! and help students to achieve their own goals.
1) Active listening and learning to ask the right questions. I tell people that you have to learn how to "speak client". To do this you will need to have good listening skills and learn to process the information and use this to base your questions on.
2) Organisation. Much of the role involves obtaining goods, or delivery services within a deadline driven environment and good organisation skills is the key to getting this done.
3) Design empathy. Understanding the clients own tastes and implementing this into the design. This ties in with point one, listening to your client (really listening) and working with them to come up with a design they love. Working on residential projects is particularly important, this is their home and it is important for them to see themselves in the design.
My favourite projects were commercial interiors and in particular cafes, restaurants and retail shops as these allow you to be more creative than in a residential setting.
Some residential projects stand out for me and these were in homes that were architecturally diverse, like converted churches, warehouses and architect designed buildings.
1) Learn to understand your strengths, and understand you will have to work harder on the other parts.
2) Be open to feedback from your tutors and peers, and look to amend your own process to grow your knowledge and skills.
3) Know that the industry is so diverse and there is a place for everyone. The key is to find the subjects that you feel passionate about and come naturally to you, and use these to narrow down the part of the industry you want to work in.
1) Take time to learn the fundamentals of design and practice using this to process information. This may be as simple as looking at a room and understanding why it does, or doesn't work, or {rationalising|rationalizing} your design decisions with a client.
2) Respect the technical aspects of the course (and industry) and the ability to build and implement your designs. Know when to consult the trade and service professionals and ask the question, can it be done? How would you do it?
3) Visual communication. Like any form of communication, make sure the information is clear and easily understood. This may in the form of technical drawings, a specification schedule or client presentation boards, each of these have a purpose.
If working with a client I try to understand their own taste and look to provide them with the best version of this, whilst pushing them out of their comfort zone. As part of the process I look to increase contrast and add interest with any of these - colour , pattern, texture or by increasing the scale.
My own personal design style is based in art, and I am always looking for ways to inject more creativity into the space. My approach is more eclectic and I enjoy using hand crafted or one off pieces and finding ways to bring these together with art, into the design. I love colour and pattern, and find every surface is a canvas on which you can add some personality!
There are so many to choose from! I have many favourites and for different reasons.
Some international influencers that come to mind are:
Local design companies (and stores):
There are lots of reasons, the main one is helping people to achieve their goals, this is why we are here! I enjoy breaking down the concepts to help the students understand them and modifying my approach to fit the different students' learning styles.
Engage with your tutor. Remote learning can feel isolating but it is important to remember that you have a team of people on hand to help.
Engage with your peers. They are on the same journey and may have some study tips to help.
Keep motivated. If you feel yourself flagging remember why you are here and what goals you hope to achieve.
I want you to succeed, don't be afraid to ask questions or for help!
Image source: Vicki Mullins, Wendi Snyder and Linda Bistricic with Graduated #IDIstudent Elizabeth Kuehne at the GOTYA Awards Event
My tutor made me feel like she was my best friend, and always gave the most valuable feedback. I really enjoyed every comment from my tutor, her feedback was invaluable, the marking was always prompt, and the return of assignments was excellent.
Cape Town
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