Lisa Bakker developed her own signature during the AD Interior Designer
- Architecture and...
Saying goodbye to ArtEZ was not easy for her. “I’ve always enjoyed it here and I love learning new things,” says 24-year-old Lisa Bakker. At the same time, she’s also looking forward to putting her knowledge into practice. For two years she enjoyed following the Interior Designer AD course. “I used to find it difficult to throw away or tear up sketches.”
She is at the beginning of the rest of her life. With a move to Friesland and a new job at studio INAMATT, Lisa has officially said goodbye to her student days in Zwolle. “A nice detail,” she says, “is that my boyfriend and I designed and built the house in Friesland ourselves. That was quite a project. I am really looking forward to making a fresh start there together.”
Focus on atmosphere and experience
Having just finished her Interior Design course at senior secondary vocational level, Lisa was looking for more depth and especially wanted answers to the following questions: Who am I as a designer and what place do I see for myself in the professional field? “During my previous studies it was all about furniture, accessories and colours,” she reflects. “Or: the art of creating a nice image. I missed intensively researching a space and everything that goes with it, so the experience as a whole.” She found everything she was looking for in the Interior Architecture AD. “I have learned an awful lot here. Apart from discovering myself as a designer and developing my own signature, I am now also much more focused on the atmosphere and experience of a space. I hardly worked with any furniture during the course.”
Design in the broadest sense of the word
It already begins in the first year, Lisa says. “Typesetting, photography, drawing; You are given various workshops in presentation options that you can work with freely for the rest of your studies. You gradually see that each student develops an individual signature that becomes increasingly visible with each project.” You can now also pick out her own work more quickly, says Lisa. “I haven’t fully established my identity yet, but you do go through such a development during the course that your personal style becomes recognisable.” She will continue her search for her own stamp at studio Inamatt, where she also did her internship. Lisa: “The great thing about this design studio is the versatility of the projects they work on. They focus on design in the broadest sense of the word. I think that diversity is great.”
Embracing the research phase
Of course, she learned a lot about the atmosphere and experience of interior spaces over the past two years, but which development really stood out for her? Lisa: “Previously, I had a hard time accepting that something was not beautiful or finished in the design process. So I used to work very quickly towards the end result and actually skipped the entire sketching phase. Simply because I found it difficult to throw away or tear up things. I have improved a lot in that respect. “I can also think conceptually and work towards an end result much more easily now.” Because it’s mainly the process that counts, says Lisa. “I have learned to embrace the research phase and to better substantiate why I make certain choices.” Sometimes that was a bit tiring, she admits. “Do I have to explain again why I’m doing this? I would think. But it really helps you move forward, it is so educational.”
My attitude was mainly: I will spend two years on my education and work as hard as I can during that time.”
She deliberately opted for an AD, because she had already been studying for quite some time by then. The two-year Interior Designer course seemed like a good intermediate step to find out what really suits her. “I didn’t know yet whether I wanted to focus completely on interior, or wanted to do something with product design as well,” says Lisa. “But in the end I felt completely at home here. I can always make the choice to continue studying.”
Two years of hard graft
If you want to go into the subject in greater depth, Lisa highly recommends this AD. “You also go develop as a person, and at the end you know much better what type of designer you are. But remember: it is an accelerated course and you have to be ready for that.” Lisa is referring to the time students have to invest. “While everyone determines that for themselves,” she says, “my attitude was mainly: I will spend two years on my education and work as hard as I can during that time. As a result, I worked long days and spent a lot of time at school. Quite tough, but it’s only two years. Ultimately, everyone handles this in their own way: you name it, you can do it.”
Learn more about the Interior Designer Associate's Degree
