Josh Rider, Sarah Poist and Sarah Levine of Studios Architecture interview Pratt Institute students at the 2016 Pratt Career Night in the Haworth showroom in New York. Photo by Doug Gorenstein
Historically, the New York design community is very interested in monitoring and mentoring the next generation’s progress, both creatively and socially. Part of that reciprocal relationship may be because we know we can learn from one another. But more practically, especially in today’s bustling economy, it is that design firms need creative young design professionals to meet deadlines and generate income.
We all got our first break because someone took a chance on us during our early days. As I was heading to the 2016 Pratt Career Night at the New York Haworth showroom, it occurred to me that for the graduating class at Pratt, this night has the potential to change a young designer’s life.
“Back in 2004,” said Jon Otis, professor at Pratt Institute and owner of Object Agency, “Two of my EDI (Exhibition Design Intensive) students were frustrated with the other Pratt career night and proposed that we do something special for interior design students. Many of the design firm principals and designers started with us 13 years ago and continue to participate each year.”
Making my way through the always elegant Haworth space, with views on to Park Avenue and Grand Central Terminal, our host Diane Barnes with the Haworth Collection carefully carved out 12 discrete meeting areas in which principals at firms such as Gensler, Studios, Rockwell Group, HOK, Mancini Duffy, Perkins Eastman and many more could meet and interact with some of the brightest new design talent to hit the market. Ms. Barnes may call it “professional speed dating,” but in talking with the students at the event, it felt like more of a real-time, in-person social network. Many of the students were soaking up the entire experience and not necessarily looking for the match of a lifetime.
“At this point in my career, I know very well that interior design is what I want to do, but I also know that things are not going to be as imaginary as they were in school,” said Margarita Boumi, class of 2016 at Pratt. “Factors like collaboration, working with people that you may not like but must deal with and constraining project budgets are an inevitable reality. A lot of the things we create at school are imaginary, and the teachers are pushing us to think out of the box. A lot of those things are harder to realize in real life.”
Some professionals on the design firm side conducting the student interviews were Pratt alumni. Matthew Goodrich, chief creative officer at multidisciplinary firm AvroKO made some remarks to students before the event began in earnest.
“All of you are at a moment right now that I remember as being terrifying,” said Mr. Goodrich. “I started as a qualifier and slept in the studio for three years. After graduation, I had no idea what was going to come next.”
Mr. Goodrich’s words reminded me that when I was going to school, the emphasis was more on the individual than on group collaboration. Pratt has very clearly emphasized collaboration in its curriculum.
“My path has been very circuitous along the way, but when I look back, what I have seen is that every time I felt like I wasn’t learning or that I needed to grow, I paid attention to that feeling and looked for a new opportunity,” continued Mr. Goodrich. “Try to be as much of yourself as possible. There are a lot of talented students and great portfolios, but when I am meeting people and trying to decide if a person wants to work and collaborate with me, I want to know who they are as people. I want to know what motivates people and gives them passion for design.”
Indeed, this generation of designers has a different set of priorities for both life and career.
“One of my big fears is being stuck behind a computer all day,” said Vicky Mo, Pratt Class of 2016. “Sometimes when we are working on our projects now, we will be working anywhere from 12 to 24 hours at a time. I enjoy jumping from model making to working on the computer and then prototyping; there needs to be a balance between all of that stuff.”
Ms. Mo is already acutely aware that for any project she would be working on in the real world, she will probably be delegated only a small part of the design duties.
“When it comes to finding the right job, I know that each job I get shapes my future.”
“I would rather hold out for something perfect than start a job right after graduation,” said Ms. Covatta. “I don’t think I will know that perfect job when I see it. At first, I didn’t like my first job out of college, but then I grew to love it; my perception of the job changed a lot over my time there.”
Ms. Covatta’s experience at Pratt has been a memorable one.
“Aside from the technical skills, I feel I’ve learned a lot about how to think about design and take in the assignment in order do it my own way. Graduate school teaches you how to think and is not heavy on facts and figures. In terms of how that translates into a job, I am hoping it will make any kind of job more interesting; we will be able to put our own spin on an assignment that may not have seemed so interesting at first, and that could make all the difference.”
Each year is great, but this year’s Pratt Career Night was especially uplifting. Design firms are hungry for new talent, and watching the young creative individuals interact with senior designers and principals had me thinking a new generation gap is coming, and it may be bigger than the one in the 60s and 70s. Enjoy the ride; this is an interesting time to be in design.