It was in grade 11 when I finally chose the career path that I wanted to pursue. That in itself was a challenge; at that time, I had many dreams in mind and to choose just one was a daunting task. Before choosing my grade 12 courses, I did some research on the program requirements for a couple of majors. I had always been fascinated with architecture (I was influenced by my dad who was an architect back in the day) but I wanted to focus more on the experience inside the buildings. This is where Interior Design comes in.
Some of the schools I looked up had Physics as a requirement; while courses like math, art and English were required for most of them. In my research, I found that there weren’t too many universities that offered bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. While Ryerson had it, most Interior Design programs were offered in colleges. So before paying that extra $100 to apply to universities, I first applied to colleges with Interior Design programs including Georgian, Fanshawe, St.Clair, Humber and OCAD (which only offers Environmental Design; a similar program, but not quite the same).
From these schools Humber was the one that stood out for me, not only because they offer Bachelor’s of Applied Arts degree in Interior Design, but they also grant a healthy amount of scholarships to students with 85% and above average marks.
“What is the most influential piece of architecture or design you’ve ever seen.”
What Is Interior Design…Really…?
Most, if not all of the schools I applied to have a portfolio review meeting prior to acceptance into the program. This is where you have to pull together your arts projects from high school and also produce some drawings as per required in the interview call letter. If my memory serves me right you have to have at least 10 pieces in the portfolio including a perspective drawing of a chair, and an interior space. The interview itself is about 20 minutes long, done by instructors from the program asking us about things like “the reasons why you chose this program”, “what is the most influential piece of architecture or design you’ve ever seen”, and one that caught me off guard was “what is the difference between interior design and interior decorating”. After the interview we headed to another room to continue the process, and there they handed out questionnaire sheets and a sketch paper, on which you have to draw a still life picture of stationary objects (a chicken statue and a vase on a wood box in my case).
Getting Into the Design Grind
I would say that my first and second years in college was the most sleep deprived I’ve ever been. It gets better as you move up the ladder, sort of. The first year at Humber we started out with very basic design exercises; from designing a bird house inspired by a chosen architect style to residential loft design. The first two semesters were about giving us a taste of the design process, introducing us to drawing techniques and really getting our work ethics adjusted from high school to college mode. Most of us at this point had never heard of AutoCAD or Google SketchUp or any kind of computer aided rendering programs. All drawings (floor plans, elevations, etc.) were done by hand, so tracing paper was my best friend. And just a note, if you’ve never worked in a group before, you better get used to it; because more than half of the projects we do in this program are done in groups.
Markers, Scale Rulers and Rubber Cement
In the second year they introduced us to commercial design, where we designed bigger scale projects like a corporate office space, a retail store, and a mobile clinic unit. Each semester is made up of two projects and we were introduced to AutoCAD (O, AutoCAD how did I ever live without thee?) in our second semester. The last week before project hand-in was usually spent with our handy dandy set of rendering markers (that can cost up to $3 per marker, sometimes more), rubber cement, and foam core scattered all over the floor making our rooms smell wonderfully like a chemical factory.
We had to come up with a design concept for a series of storage boxes and literally BUILD them
Real life Working Experience
In the third year, a part of our curriculum was to enter an IDEC (Interior Design Educators Council) student design competition in which we had one week to come up with a design solution for a specified project. Another project we undertook in the third year was a design build project where we had to come up with a design concept for a series of storage boxes and literally BUILD them (yes, that means jigsaws, wood files and drill presses). Being a hands-on person, I always looked forward to shop time each week. It gave me a behind-the-scenes look into the kind of work that actually goes into building design components.
Oh, another curriculum requirement of Humber’s Interior Design program is 400 hours of real-life co-op experience ideally completed in the summer of the third year. Humber does provide you with assistance in finding a co-op placement, but you really should be active in the search as well. Depending on where you complete your co-op placement, this experience can really open your eyes to the ups and downs of being an interior designer.
The BEST part of the program, though, is the interior design student international trip. In our first semester of the third year, we spent 3-4 weeks planning our observational field trip to visit the architecture we’d been learning for the past two years. As a class we decided on Italy as our destination country and so we spent our reading week that year enjoying the Italian lifestyle while also learning about its built environment.
This design challenge was nothing short of an eye opener if not life changing altogether.
Just Graduate Already!
The fourth and last year is the thesis year. In the first semester while working on the research part of our thesis project, we also worked on a school and eco-resort project in Uganda. In this project we worked with Salama Shield Foundation to design their next project in Lyantonde, Uganda to revitalize the AIDS-stricken community by providing facilities such as a school and an eco-tourism resort. This design challenge was nothing short of an eye opener if not life changing altogether. We simplified all the building methods that we had learned in the past 3 years and stripped it down to bare minimum. The second semester is where we kicked it into high gear. This is when you have to look at your thesis, scrutinize it in every which way, while keeping up with 3 other courses. Time management is the deal breaker here.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The BAA Interior Design is a fairly new program at Humber, just last year (2009) we had the first graduating class from the program, and our class of 2010 is going to be the second to follow. With that said; the program and the school as a whole has grown substantially during the 4 years I’ve been here. Humber has tons of computer labs equipped with CAD programs, and other graphics software, a dedicated Interior design/decorating lounge complete with a library of samples and literature available to all Interior design students, and a plotting centre on campus that can print oversized (black and white only though) drawings, just to name a few. There is a broad range of instructors who specialize in different design disciplinary (there are the architects, the designers, lighting, business, and mechanical/plumbing specialist, the list goes on); most of whom also have their own design/architectural practice.
In my first year we had approximately 36 students in the cohort, but by this last semester of fourth year there were only 20 students left. Before coming into the program I heard that many students don’t finish Interior Design programs in general because it isn’t what they expected to be. This is a very intense program, but if you love it, it’s a very rewarding one. I can honestly say that I am glad I chose Humber’s Interior Design program, because the program gives students a careful balance between theory and practical knowledge. University programs often focus on theory learning, but this school also teaches you to apply these theories to real life cases. At the end of the day, I don’t know if I’m ready to leave school and go out to the real world, but I’m surely equipped with the knowledge.
Overall I would definitely recommend the program to aspiring interior designers, because of the variety and depth of learning experience Humber has to offer.
The Verdict
Overall I would definitely recommend the program to aspiring interior designers, because of the variety and depth of learning experience Humber has to offer. The courses range from creative studio classes to professional business practice class. Many of the school facilities have been newly renovated (new student centre, sports centre, campus pub, etc.) and they’re still working on renovating more. The North campus has a huge arboretum in their backyard with a LEED Gold certified Ecology Centre. The teachers are industry professionals who bring practical as well as theoretical knowledge to the table. Humber is also CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation) accredited so you can be sure that the quality of learning you get will be relevant and encompass most aspects of the interior design career.
As for me, I’m finishing off the last few weeks of my time at Humber. Even with all the stress, I can’t stop thinking about how fast these past four years have gone by. It seems like just last week that I first moved into residence and attended my first college class. I guess you only notice “time” when it’s already passed. Currently, I am working at a kitchen and bath design company, and hopefully this summer I can get a full-time position at one of the many interior design firms in Toronto.
You can view a video portfolio of some of my work here.
(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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This is such an inspiring review on Humber college Thank you for writing it :) ive wanted to go their since gr 11 but ended up were i am now at U.F.T but i am now applying to Humber since i am very passionate about interior design I do have a question though Did Humber college offer a discounted rate when you went to Italy and Uganda?