In the fall semester at Texas Tech University, the two Interior Design committees, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), set up a design expo at the Merket Alumni Center. Every year there is a guest speaker who comes and gives a presentation while the center provides lunch. In the afternoon, many venders set up booths around a room so students, faculty and others can come and learn about new products begin released in the design world.
When you walk into the center, there was a table with both of the organizations selling raffle tickets for door prizes. Although I did not bring any money with me to win something, I still enjoyed the expo. As I walked around the room I saw many different showcases, such as, Daltile, wall coverings, paint samples and new products that I had never seen before. I talk with at least one person at each booth so they could explain to me what their company does and how they affect the design world. Each booth had something interesting to explain and a free gift to give to each person that visited to help boost their PR and get their name to possible future employees.
I received many free samples of paint colors and fabric samples from many of the booths which I appreciated. I tried to also ask as many questions as I could to help understand some of the real world situations. Many booths explained to me what types of projects they had worked on and some even shared their difficulties. A woman told me about the time one of her dogs had destroyed a very expensive fabric then how she had to call the client and persuade her to change her mind on what fabric to use on the project! It was interesting to hear the different types of events that could possibly happen to me in the future.
There was one booth that caught my interest right away. It was a brightly colored table with different animals and shapes cut from different pieces of wood, laminate and other flooring and wall materials. The woman running the booth explained to me that each creation she had on the table was cut by pressurized water. I am amazed! Everything was cut so precisely and there were many jagged edges that would seem impossible to have done. I flipped through a book she had on her table that had many of the buildings and smaller rooms that she had decorated using this type of technique. I saw a children’s hospital decorated with ocean animals made from different materials cut from water that looked adorable. There were several things in the book that I did not think would be possible to create with water.
As I was walking past other booths, I passed by two women discussing two chairs that they had brought to the expo. They were explaining how the chairs had ergonomic functions and how the design came up with the design. He had passed by the Brooklyn Bridge and fell in love with simplicity of the design and used it to create one of the chairs. Other students that were further in the program were also talking to these women and told them who they should talk to so the students could use these chairs in the studio! The women also explained how Texas A&M University wanted to use these chairs for one of their classrooms or for a conference room. I believe it would be better use of the chairs to place them in one of the Interior Design studios in a bright red to represent Texas Tech!
While I was walking by the last few booths, every other booth has begun to clean up. The last booth that I had stopped at a woman told me about her table and explained what she did. She told me that she worked with hospitals in creating more aesthetically pleasing fire-safe curtains. She also showed me two books that she had on her table that showed different types of custom lamps and furniture pieces. I talked with her for a while about different things in the design world. We talked about what to expect, what kind of an impact she has, different projects that she has done, different types of custom made pieces from the magazines, her friend’s design business and much more. She gave me a card of several websites that she thought I would be interested in seeing. I was very excited to get home and learn more about what she had explained to me!
Every year I always get excited to go to the Design Expo. I get to meet new people and learn about how they feel about their passion and what they do to create a better looking world. Hearing stories and finding out about new products makes me nervous but joyous at the same time.
