Style WARS - Episode 1: The Signature Style Menace

Within the ranks of today's interior design business, a designers "style" has become their calling card - their "signature" so to speak, but is this for the better? 

Some would argue that having a specific design style is how they attract business, being well known for that style, be it contemporary, minimalist, eclectic or even classical - lovers of those styles are actively seeking out their respective design guru's... 

Interior design companies are usually split into 3 categories:

1. The companies that have a "signature" style/look that they do extremely well and have become well known in the industry for "that" style...
2. You have the companies that are heavily influenced by the current design trends or fashions - often sitting on the fence-line of proclaiming to be "boutique" studios...
3. And finally you have the companies that have an even shakier foundation - claiming to have an "evolving" style that lends itself to being versatile...

Today we're going to talk a little bit about number 1 - the Signature Style Menace...

Let me begin by saying that having a "Signature Style" does have it's benefits:

• They have a simplified marketing requirement - their target market has already been defined... 
• Signature stylists can take advantage of relaxed product sourcing and design library population needs...
• Defined design brief parameters in terms of speedy design brief analysis...
• And most of all - a predetermined audience that's actively seeking that particular "style" of designer...

Sounds good doesn't it - well what about the flaws???

Now I know what you're thinking - HOW can there be flaws, it seems like such a simple yet rewarding set-up.. Okay yes, having these defined market boundaries is quite simple, but isn't "boundaries" the operative word here?? Why would you want to be bound in any way?? Isn't interior design a creative industry?? Sure, even if you are bound by your own style, there's still room for creativity in your work as each and every client - and indeed their space is quite unique, but there's still a limit to what you can achieve..

I personally think that industry training has some part to play in the signature style trend within design companies, and this is why.. When I did my training at the Regent Academy in London, we were taught about the history of interiors and heavily driven to apply this history to our work. It was these design style classics that shaped the interiors of today and even now (with the current retro/reclamation themed trends) these historical giants (such as shabby chic, rococo, baroque and many others) are reflected in our choices...

The design educators of today do "touch" on the subject of interior design history, but the content and degree of training in these areas is (in my opinion) far less detailed than the training I (and indeed some of my colleagues) undertook many years ago...

To sum up today's blog, I guess the question here is.... Should a Professional Interior Designer be defined (and indeed bound) by a "signature style", or should designers (and design educators) be open to the fact that diversity in what they do - is actually a GOOD thing???

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