Why are these 4 design phases the most important?

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There are four stages that designers must go through to be able to excel, to succeed and most importantly to understand what is the real purpose of interior design and architecture. In this post I will cover them in detail, so keep reading.

1. Explore first, design second.

How do you know what a sofa looks like? The reason you know is because you have seen hundreds of them. How to know when a sofa is comfortable or it isn't? Because you have sat on many sofas which has allowed you to distinguish between a good sofa and a bad one. Design is exactly the same concept. If your eyes do not see enough design, you will not be able to distinguish between good design and bad design. Exploration of your environment, and of other environments is the first step into a successful career in interior design and architecture. 

Exploration involves discovering new things, new places, new knowledge, new cultures, etc. Most of the times when we explore, we are going through an unfamiliar or unknown area in order to learn from it. To explore first-hand can be fascinating and has been done by hundreds of designers, architects, and artists for hundreds of years. The different way to experience exploration is through books, documentaries, museums, movies, travels, among others. 

2. Don't look, observe.

To observe is actually a hard thing to do. When you observe something, you go beyond looking. And it's such a hard thing to do, that only the best observers can become the best designers. Observation is different from exploration. Where exploration tries to find new knowledge using logic, observation involves using our senses to look at objects, buildings and environments. I like to describe observation as looking with your soul, very carefully, looking in detail, looking slowly. You will realize that whenever you observe, you will find answers. After observing beautiful spaces, you will begin to create your own theories of what a beautiful space should look like, all this because of the power of observation.

3. Analyze and act as a critic.

When in design we talk about analysis, we need to be a bit more critical in our process. And this is really the point where we can get to conclusions about the diversity of interior design around the world. If you analyze events happening in certain cities, societies, governments, all these events are pretty much reflected on the interior design and architecture of these places, and it's these places the only physical evidence that we have about the past, which is absolutely mind blowing. Analyzing different interiors can also help you determine if they are functional or not, believe it or not, many of the built projects that you see, have errors and imperfections. Being able to analyze will actually make you a better designer.

4. Don't fear experimentation

I like to call the phase of experimentation the phase of trial and error, the phase of mistakes. Design is not a linear process and understanding this early on, will take away a lot of stress off your shoulder. In fact, the more mistakes you make in the process of generating concepts, ideas, and options, the better your project will turn out at the end. Also, your brain works differently when you try to create something for the first time, and it doesn’t work because now your brain actually begins to think about solutions, and this is where designers become creative. In this stage is when you lose your fear of experimentation, and you find that the art of interior design and architecture is actually a beautiful process to be in.

These phases of design are the foundation for becoming an expert in this field, and for creating interior projects like those ones you see in magazines.