Читать книгу Professional Practice for Interior Designers - Christine M. Piotrowski - Страница 79

An independent design firm may be a one‐person design studio or a large firm that has dozens of employees. It is very common for interior designers to start their businesses working alone with no full‐time employees; these would be considered independent interior design firms.

A key to the concept of defining the firm as “independent” is that typically it has no affiliation with a particular manufacturer's product. Some, however, have a limited amount of showroom space more for the purpose of display than direct sales off the floor.

In a small firm, the owner always takes the lead in developing relationships with clients and marketing in general. Yet, it is also common for designers in some small firms to be expected to obtain new clients, and manage projects with minimum assistance from the owner. The owner of the smaller firm also does a lot of project work in addition to managing the firm.

The larger firms will have various management and staff levels. Client contact is usually the responsibility of the owner, the senior designers, or possibly a marketing manager. Senior designers are primarily responsible for managing projects, and they often supervise a team of designers and support personnel during the course of the project. In some firms, there are also individuals who have many specialized job functions, such as specification writers and renderers, who can free the project designers from such activities.

The firm may specialize in some type of interior or design a combination of types of spaces. The projects obtained by independent design firms frequently require that the designer travel extensively, as the firm's work comes from all over the country, if not the world. This is especially true for the very specialized firm. Design employees are paid a salary and possibly a commission or bonus for product sales.