Learning Lunch

As mentioned before, Bryan Graham is an incredible designer. I can’t think of a better speaker for the interior design students of Texas Tech University. Lucky for me, I was able to attend the Learning Lunch for Design Day 2011. This was my first time to attend the learning lunch and my first time to hear from such a well-established designer.

Bryan Graham has done work in many areas of interior design, but is currently a furniture designer for Knoll in San Francisco, California. His appearance caught me off guard, but I was especially pleased to meet the designer whose furniture I had been using so much of in my own projects. Dr. Collier’s class had previously been working on an office for a businessman in the oil industry. For this project I found that the Knoll furniture fit this man’s modern taste well, while providing great functionality.

            What I thought was most interesting about Graham’s speech was the power point slides that showed how the function of an office changes as time progresses during the work day. I had never given that any thought and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the first designer to think of these situations with such logic. Now when shopping through Knoll furniture for future projects I keep these ideas in mind. For example: There is a desk that he designed that is able to change from a personal private desk into a conference table for five people within a matter of seconds. I am beyond impressed and hope that I may one day be able to apply such logic to my designs.

The conversation towards the end of the learning lunch between Bryan Graham and the seniors of the interior design program made me anxious to get the years rolling and start my profession. It was especially good to hear that even in this economy, there are still very good interior design jobs out there. Not only that, but it also made me realize how many different fields of interior design jobs there are, and like Bryan Graham, I don’t have to pick just one to be successful.