Promising Outlook for the Design Profession/2021 ASID Outlook and State of Interior Design

What role can interior designers have in leading the industry? What leadership quality helps most in that role? In what state do interior designers currently earn the highest hourly rate? Even after hints and guesses, some surprises await most readers. These nuggets and more pack the 2021 American Society of Interior Designers Outlook and State of Interior Design Report, issued on March 1.

“Industry practitioners have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in health and safety as we move forward,” said ASID CEO Gary Wheeler, FASID. The report’s value to ASID members and non-members alike is to “elevate their practice and improve the lives of others and the world around them.”

Brian Libby, one of the report’s four contributing authors, offers this view: “We seek advisors and guides who can provide reliable truths and help us navigate complex choices.” Mr. Libby is a noted writer on design and the arts. He adds, “Luckily, this is what designers were made for.”

That starts with trust, a leadership quality required in relationships between interior designers and their clients, and a word the report’s authors use 65 times.

The report cites the multidisciplinary nature of design, positioning design professionals as chief interpreters of the rapid changes in the built environment.

Barbara Marini, Ph.D, FASID, IDEC, explains why in the report. “We’re the ones who understand the changes and what they mean.” Dr. Marini is the Director of Interior Design at the University of Texas at Arlington. She suggests that helping people navigate the changes will require good leadership, with trust as the foundation of that process.

Trust has rarely existed in a more fragile condition than it does now. The report illustrates three realms of trust with significance to the design profession through interviews, examples and findings.

First, it explores resistance to data within the design and building community. “People don’t necessarily trust the research outcomes,” said Mara Baum, FAIA, LEED Fellow, EDAC, WELL AP. Reasons why could include gaps in understanding the outcomes and how they apply to projects. These reasons can lead design teams to set aside research findings.

That may change as a result of the pandemic. It has “pushed research front and center,” according to Ms. Baum. With no experience relevant to the post-pandemic world, her view is that the profession must turn to research. That pivot involves understanding the details of the findings and evaluating the expense of solutions differently. “If there is a significant health benefit to occupants, then that changes the conversation completely,” she said.

Creating trust for safely occupying indoor spaces is another realm calling for solutions from interior designers. Author Brian Libby wrote, “Designers are being called upon to help clients assure physical spaces are safe.”

A step toward confidence is listening to occupants, especially when they are employees. Cerise Marcela, Senior Vice President, CBRE Boston Consulting and the Life Science Consulting Group, contends that employers are asking workers more questions. She said, “Employers need their employees more than ever to define the future.”

The report outlines some of the tactics this future might include.

The Health Safety Rating released by the International WELL Building Institute intends to help organizations establish trust in spaces. This rating relies mainly on policies and plans and less on capital expenditures.

Among those plans could be a virus testing system for buildings.

An innovation from the University of Oregon cited in the report tests the building’s air-handling system for relic-RNA, a signal of the virus’s presence. The test results would help determine courses of action such as quarantines, testing occupants, or deep cleaning. “The point is that you’d know what you were walking into,” said Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, Ph.D. He directs the Institute for Health in the Built Environment at the university.

Knowing is a precursor to trust, and the process of gaining trust starts with being a good listener. When an occupant’s trust in a solution is often the most straightforward gauge of its effectiveness, this is especially true.

“We’re the only profession that advocates for the human being in the built environment,” said Jennifer Kolstad, ASID and an Associate AIA member. She’s the Global Design Director for Ford Motor Company. “We see the interior designer repositioned as the facilitator of this conversation.”

It’s a conversation where designers connect a range of expertise with their clients’ projects. The report cites Gensler’s 10×10 Strategy as an example of designers as facilitators. How does the designer find the expertise for resolving the issues that emerge?

Interior designers at multi-disciplinary firms with large staffs may find the needed expertise in-house. While designers in small firms could find expertise through partners or in alliances.

The report zeroes in on one area of specialized expertise: the transition from working remotely to working on-site. Here again, research and findings stand-in for experience and benchmarks. Phasing how and when employees return to workplaces is no different.

The report concluded that most people don’t want to work exclusively remote or on-site so much as both. This finding appeared in a Global Workplace Analytics study during 2020.

However just 37 percent of employees believe working remotely will positively affect recognition or growth in their careers. Still, 64 percent of employees believe they have high-quality collaboration with their colleagues, and 56 percent feel closely connected to their teammates while working remotely.

The outlook for construction spending is mixed. In 2020, spending in the residential segment increased by 11.8 percent, while the commercial segment dipped by 0.4 percent. For 2021 and 2022, the report forecasts the residential segment outperforming the commercial segment. The report’s only growth predictions in the commercial segment lay in the Education and Healthcare categories during 2021 and 2022.

A hopeful signal in the report’s economic section was the news that interior designers’ total employment ended in 2020 with 45,000 jobs. That figure represents an increase of 9,900 jobs from a low in May 2020. The report stated, “Employment for interior design services was not as seriously affected as other industries by pandemic fallout.”

In addition to interior designers’ employment increasing in December 2020, that month’s average hourly earnings set a record high of $36.33 per hour. That’s an increase of $3.78 per hour from May 2020, which posted a low of $32.55. So, where have designers been earning the highest hourly rates?

That’s Arkansas, where the annual mean salary for interior designers was $70,020. The nation’s highest-paying metropolitan area is Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, which crosses state lines into Missouri, with a mean hourly wage of $40.75.

Annual income for interior designers in 2019 ranged from approximately $32,000 to $96,500, with a mean salary of $60,990 and a mean wage of $29.32.

The profession is experiencing issues apart from employment and wages. The report makes a striking comment on graduate rates. “The number of interior design and interior architecture graduates with degrees for bachelor’s and master’s combined has decreased by 15 percent over the last eight years.”

The report concludes that the industry and the profession are falling short as the nation’s demographics shift and as baby boomers retire. Citing diversity as an “urgent matter,” the report adds “the power of diverse thought, background and experience” within the profession can “only increase the positive impact” interior designers can deliver.

Aided by technology, some firms embraced the offering of design services over the internet. Not just the marketing of services, but the delivery of services through working online with clients near or far. The report cited a Business of Home article that told of designers who gave online consulting a go. Six of seven designers who consulted with clients exclusively online said they would continue offering e-design services.

Connecting with new lines of business, or extending those already existing, led firms having portfolios biased to commercial projects to pursue residential commissions. This movement wasn’t limited to design firms. Suppliers also eyed the residential segment’s activity with emboldened intentions.

Firms and suppliers with commercial experience were well-positioned to make improvements for homeowners adapting to life in a pandemic. Among these home improvements were accommodations for professional long-term care, workout rooms and spa bathrooms.

There’s a divided opinion among these firms and suppliers about maintaining a residential presence or staying long enough for the commercial segment to recover. Either way, the report suggests that “residential designers will face more competition for projects.”

Speaking to the future, Susan Chung, Ph.D, ASID Vice President, Research and Knowledge, said, “As we move forward, we challenge ourselves to embody the role of trusted advocates for people in the built environment, and inspire others to participate in the movement.”

The 2021 ASID Outlook Report is a must read for the design industry. Cultural, social, economic, and professional content provides a comprehensive snapshot of the present and near-future. The report’s abundance of visuals breakdown the metrics into digestible inputs, while its clear organization guides readers to their topics of greatest interest. Students and design educators will get a view of where the profession stands and where it’s heading. The same is true for industry suppliers and partners whose products and services speak to current priorities within the built environment. The report is free to ASID members and available to non-members for $249.95.

Stephen Witte specializes in the design industry. He leads a creative group that serves designers, makers and cultural institutions. His work includes partnering with museums and universities in exhibits and public programs. Contact him at stephenmwitte@gmail.com.