Tri-C Design Student’s win a contest hosted by,
The International Interior Design Association and The Cleveland Indians
By, Dante Brye
In October, three Tri-C students in the International Design Association (INTDA) got an opportunity to participate in a design challenge along with students from Kent State University. The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the Cleveland Indians hosted the challenge; and Lewis Phipps, a freshman at Tri-C was a member of the winning group. Susan Hayes, INTDA President, and Yoshimi Umezu are the additional t students who participated.
INTDA is a student center for the IIDA, and is more of a professional organization than an academic program for students pursuing an interior design degree and career. “Working with IIDA has been invaluable, due to networking and being able to create a community of designers working with a common goal,” Hayes said. The venture was daunting, as the students had no idea of the nature of it. “It was more challenging than I expected because we only had six hours with no prep, however it taught us to think rapidly and efficiently while working with a team,” Hayes said. Phipps felt overwhelmed when he was placed in a group with three juniors from Kent State University.
“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, however, once I got there and got started with my team it seemed so surreal, like one of those design challenges you see on TV,” Phipps said. The team worked well together bouncing ideas off each other while coming up designs for the Kids Clubhouse at progressive field. The group had to come up with a playroom for kid’s ages two through five, a craft area for children six to nine, and an interactive gaming area for tweens. The group came up with the mantra “progressing with team while running the bases.” Lewis described himself as being nervous at first but then settling down, giving a lot of credit to the Kent students who helped him out.
“The Kent students helped guide me through the process since this is my first year” said Phipps. Phipps and Hayes both agreed that the experience enriched them personally as designers; showing them the many disciplines that come with interior design. “Interior design is quite fun, however it’s a tremendous challenge because it really is interior architecture,” Hayes said.
Bethany Diel, and coordinator from IIDA, was very pleased with the Tri-C students’ level of expertise. “I think the Tri-C Interior Design students did an excellent job! The students were creative, excited for the project, and were inspirational to the other students with the talents they possessed. The students came with varying experience through the design program, but all represented themselves and the Tri-C Interior Design Program with dignity and passion for interior design” Diel said.
Diel went on to praise the INTDA program, saying that it is very clear that Tri-C is setting their students up for success in interior design. Both students and Diel believe that this level of exposure with the Cleveland Indians and Progressive Field will help grow the interior design program and the INTDA at Tri-C.
