My first ambition was to go to Art School. In the late sixties there were four schools in Scotland and the choice was based on location so I went to Dundee Art School. Each art school would have a foundation year where you studied all the subjects from art, sculpture, textiles, graphics etc and after the year you would specialise in your chosen direction.

 

At the entrance to the examination room there was a desk promoting a new course called Interior Design. The words that enticed me were SPACE, FORM, LIGHT, COLOUR. This course was to be run between the School of Architecture and the School of Design and you had to commit to four years of study. I was convinced that this was the course for me.

 

It was years later that I discovered that up until then Interior Design had been taught in the textile department of the design schools from the soft furnishings angle. This new course had been written by Val Morocco, an architect who was a lecturer in the School of Architecture. He believed that Interior Design is an integrated part of Architecture and that students should be taught to understand the building as well as the interior elements. The course covered all the architectural subjects up to degree level; art subjects such as life drawing, painting and sculpture; design subjects such as textiles, furniture, graphics and ceramics: as well as history of art, architecture and design.

 

Early on in my career I learnt that Interior Design encompasses a wealth of subjects and to be a successful Interior Designer you need to understand the psychology of the client, the history of the building, new technologies and the skills to interpret your ideas successfully to implement the design.

 

Following my studies in Scotland, I applied to several design companies in London and started work with Building Design Partnership in 1972. BDP is one of the largest multi disciplinary practices in the UK. At the time I joined there were 100 people in the London office and the  types of  employees ranged from architects, town planners, engineers, quantity surveyors, landscape architects, furniture designers and included a large administrative background. Initially there were two of us in the Interior Design Department (there are now 60).

 

Over four years at BDP I was involved with commercial projects ranging from offices for The English Tourist Board, Headquarter offices for Logica plc, specialists in  computer software,  Northern Bank of Ireland, Banco de Lisboa as well as BDP’s offices. As a first job my involvement on these projects ranged from design, sourcing and presentation work to working drawings and site supervision.

 

In the last year at BDP I spent one day a week teaching at Berkshire College of Art. I was a freelance lecturer with the final year students in the 3D BTEC course. In the next year I became a lecturer three days a week and started taking on freelance commissions.  

 

This led to forming a company specialising in two and three dimensional design.  I went into partnership with Andy Ewan, a graphic designer whom I met at Dundee Art School and my sister Jilli who had also graduated in graphics at Dundee. The Yellow Pencil Company Limited was formed in 1976 offering graphics, exhibitions, events and interiors. The combination of disciplines enabled us to work with a variety of clients from The London Fashion Exhibition, Scott Howard Furniture, Logica PLC, New York New York Restaurant, Prime Time Television, Fashion Fabrex.

 

In 1982 Jilli and I parted company with Andy and set up Design Angle working on corporate identities for companies as well as exhibition and promotional work and interiors. Projects included exhibition work for Logica in Paris and Olympia, promotional graphics and exhibitions for Cardkey International, offices for Westminster Chamber of Commerce, Retail units at Albert Dock in Liverpool, Pizza Plaza Restaurant  in Fitzrovia, London. The combination of graphics and interiors enabled an extensive variety of design work.

 

My next partnership was with Stephen Brown, one of my first students from Berkshire College of Art. In 1989  we started a new company specialising in creative events called The Very Interesting Company. There were plenty of companies offering services for events but not with the design input. We worked with companies such as Shearwater Properties, Holland and Barrett, Connell Wilson, Debenhams, British Airport Authorities. The aim of the company was to design events  to enable the companies to promote their products which ranged from million pound buildings to Health products. The type of events varied from one hour lunches to golf and tennis competitions and hot air balloon races. Whatever the scale and type of project it required the same creative design process.

 

Throughout my career I continued part-time teaching and in the late eighties I was asked to become Director of Studies with Palladio Interior Design Academy. This school was established by tutors who had been teaching at Inchbald School of Design and was a one year course specialising in mid career training. In 1991 I took over the management of the school  and changed the name to The Design School offering a comprehensive course that covered both residential and commercial interiors. Over the years we have built up a very strong teaching team and are continuously assessing the curriculum to keep up to date with the industry. We have students working worldwide in varied specialities ranging  from hotels, restaurants, offices, retail and residential interiors.  

 

I was elected on the Board of The British Interior Design Association in 2005 and then made Director of Education and Continuous Professional Development in 2006. As of November 2008 I was elected to become the President of BIDA. I am also a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers and The Royal Society of Arts.