Career Links Vol 3 No 2 October 2003
Designing a New Career:
An Interview with Jan Cummings,
Professor and Career Program Facilitator,
Interior Design
Interviewed by Kit Gorrell Frankenfield,
Employment Systems
Technician
JCCC Career Services Center
Jan Cummings is a full-time professor in the Interior Design program at
JCCC. The Interior Design program prides itself in having faculty who
are active in the Kansas City design community. There are five Interior
Design programs, which include the Interior Design, the Interior
Merchandising, and the Interior Entrepreneurship Associate of Applied
Science degrees, along with the Interior Products Sales Representative
certificate and the Interior Design Retail Sales/Manufacturers
Representative certificate. For more information on this program, visit
the department website at http://www.jccc.net/home/depts/1223
or contact Jan by email at janc@jccc.edu or by telephone at (913) 469-8500
Ext. 3941.
Career Services Center: What do you do at JCCC?
Jan Cummings: I am a professor and the career program facilitator
for the Interior Design program, which is an umbrella for three different
associate’s degrees (design, merchandising and entrepreneurship) and two
certificates (a one-semester and two- semester certificate). I also teach
a variety of classes. I typically teach History of Furniture and
Ornamentation, but I also take on other courses as needed. I work with
the students doing their internships at various businesses around town. I
visit those locations and talk with employers and students, making sure
they are in successful work arrangements.
CSC: What year did you take over the program?
JC: In 1996, I had the wonderful opportunity to take over what Jack
Harris built and hopefully make it stronger. He and I developed the
courses together. When he retired, I was asked to take the facilitator
position. That was really nice, too, because Jack had done a lot of
really great things and developed the program, but I had some ideas that
were rolling around in the back of my head that I was able to take and
develop also.
I feel like we listen to our students and while we can’t always answer
every cry, we do listen to what they have to say. Because of this, the
program has improved. Seven years ago, we had two full-time professors and
one adjunct professor. Currently we have two full-time and nine adjunct
faculty. The program has grown, it’s strong, and it provides great
community opportunities. We are meeting the mission of the program and the
career needs of the students who come into our program.
CSC: How did you come to this point in your career path?
JC: By accident. Years ago, my husband and I moved to a town in
central Kansas. I had my own design business and was working. I met a
woman at a meeting, and she asked me if I’d be interested in teaching a
class at Barton Community College. I hadn’t really taught before, but in
college I had completed all the education requirements except student
teaching. By the time I finished the educational requirements, I had made
up my mind that I didn’t want to teach. But at that point in my life, I
decided to try it and I had a blast! I had all these students sitting in
front of me who wanted to know information, and I had information to
share. They were there because they wanted to be. It was a night class
and you’d get a really wonderful group of people at night. It was very
different if you were going to night school, especially 25 years ago.
That experience led me to get my Master’s degree in Education from Kansas
State University. I taught various interior design classes and developed
curriculum at Barton County Community College from 1977 to 1981.
CSC: Where did you get your bachelor’s degree?
JC: My bachelor’s degree is from William Woods College in Fulton,
Missouri, back in the days when it was a girls’ school, not a co-ed
university. When I started the program there, all of the Interior Design
classes were in the art department. However, the degree was in the home
economics department, so I really have a strong core of home economics and
fashion classes. Because my degree was from two different schools, I ended
up with a double major: home economics and art. In fact, I’ve taught
fashion classes for the Fashion Design and Merchandising program here at
JCCC. When I joined JCCC full-time, I was hired for half fashion and half
interior design.
CSC: While you were teaching at Barton Community College, did you
also work as an interior designer?
JC: Yes, I had a free-lance interior design business serving
residential customers.
CSC: Why did you choose this profession? Did you have an interest
in interior design as a child?
JC: Yes. My mother always yelled at me because I rearranged my
room when I was little. But I had more of an interest in fashion and the
fashion-side of the business until I got into college. When I was in high
school, my clothing and textiles teacher really spurred my interest in
sewing and fashion. Once I was in college, I really realized how much I
enjoyed the interior design segment. That’s when I got focused and knew
what I wanted to do.
CSC: Interior design is similar in some ways to fashion, wouldn’t
you say?
JC: Certainly when you talk about principles and elements of
design, both fashion and interiors utilize them.
CSC: How do you link the two, going from fashion to interior
design?
JC: In most colleges and universities, fashion, textiles, interior
design and dietetics degree come out of the same area: home economics.
Now you hear it as environmental science or human ecology, as it is at
K-State. So it really is the school that it’s in and how it’s linked
together [that determines the degree]. That’s how hospitality management,
fashion and interior design are linked together here at JCCC.
CSC: What made you decide to pursue the interior design field
rather than fashion?
JC: I was very interested in the drawing part of design, even
though I found it frustrating. I also enjoy the tactile aspects of
interior design--the fabrics and textiles. I got really involved in
teaching textiles and developed our interior textiles course we teach
here. I taught textiles in the fashion program as well.
CSC: How many people are enrolled in the Interior Design program?
JC: We have just over 200 students who are involved in the
program. Because of space constrictions and having only one other
full-time faculty member, it can be difficult finding either a faculty
member who can teach a daytime class or a classroom at night.
CSC: What tips do you have for students entering this field?
JC: It’s not about pretty things. Too many students come in and
say, “I love Trading Spaces,” (the television show on cable) or “My
friends say that I do color really well.” It’s not about decorating.
Anybody can decorate. Interior design is about design and planning.
Decorating is all about making it pretty so that it fits fashion criteria.
Planning and designing are important so that the designs not only have the
fashion side to them, but a staying power as well--functionality as well as
beauty.
CSC: What characteristics help make a person successful as an
interior designer?
JC: The main characteristic that a designer must have is to be
self-motivated. A boss in a design firm that has furniture and
accessories in the store isn’t going to follow you around and tell you
what you need to be doing, but they may set a sales quota for you. A
company may have a strict sales quota, and if it’s not met, you are
dismissed. You might also work strictly on commission, or on commission
with a draw. That can cause people to be uncomfortable because they don’t
necessarily draw the same salary each month. Because of that, you need to
budget your money so if you have a month that isn’t financially what you
hoped for, you can still pay your bills. If a student comes out of JCCC’s
Interior Design program and doesn’t succeed, it’s not because they don’t
have the design skills to do it. It’s because they haven’t had the
business sense to make it work. In most places, that’s where students
come up short—they just don’t have the business knowledge they need. I
think that’s the one thing our program offers that other programs don’t.
If they want to be an entrepreneur, we provide the classes they need to do
that.
In addition, being able to sell is also probably at the top of the list
for being successful in interior design. If you can’t sell yourself to
your client, they won’t listen to what you can do for them. Relating to
people and having people skills is very important. Interior design is an
area where first impression is extremely important. If a client doesn’t
like the way you look, he or she may not trust you with a $500,000 house.
Interior design is a very subjective field. If people are uncomfortable
being evaluated, then this is not the field for them. You are evaluated
constantly, but you have to learn to not take it personally. The one
thing that designers need to remember is that it’s based on principles and
elements. It’s not based on what people ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. It’s based
on the principles and elements of design and how you apply that.
Students also don’t realize how much math is involved in interior design.
When you are figuring out how much carpet goes into a room, or how many
widths of fabric you need to make a drapery panel, you are doing algebra.
It’s not just simple addition. Unfortunately, students sometimes come into
the program and struggle with the math, budgeting and estimating aspects.
It’s really hard to cover the expenses of a bolt of carpet that doesn’t fit
into the area that you’ve measured it for.
Overall, people skills and communication skills are essential. You have
to be aware of what your client’s needs are. To do that, you have to be
an excellent listener.
CSC: What about sewing? Do interior design students need have
this skill?
JC: No, they really don’t. It’s a benefit. It’s an added bonus.
Last year for the Designer’s Showhouse we made a lot of pillows. Our
students got together and sewed the pillows and window treatments. Some
of them had never sat in front of a sewing machine before, but it was a
way for us to save money and interact as a group. Sewing principles helps
interior designers figure out some of the mathematical equations just
simply because they get used to dealing with things like fabric width and
length. Pattern repeat is another area in which math skills are applied.
For example, a pattern may repeat horizontally a few inches and vertically
27 inches. So, when you’re measuring for wallpaper, or trying to upholster
a sofa, where does the pattern fit on the sofa and how much allowance for
fabric do you have to have? Those are the “seamy” sides of the pretty
things.
CSC: Do students learn how to wallpaper?
JC: They don’t physically learn how to wallpaper, but we teach
them how to order wallpaper for a client, how much paper is needed for a
room, or how many gallons it will take to paint the surface of the walls.
CSC: They also learn AutoCAD, don’t they?
JC: Definitely. Manual drafting skills and AutoCAD are a very
important part of what we do along with space planning. If you are
working on a living room and you incorrectly measure a sofa by two or
three inches on a piece of paper, chances are that it’s still going to fit
in the room. If you incorrectly measure a kitchen cabinet by two or three
inches, that’s hard to “eat” the cost. In some cases you can’t
mis-measure a kitchen cabinet by an eighth of an inch, and make sure
everything fits. The math skills are extremely important.
CSC: Do you have to visualize a room or a project beforehand?
JC: It certainly helps. Most interior designers are very visual
people. If you give me a piece of fabric, I know almost immediately what
it will look like on a sofa, chair or a window treatment. I know there
are people out there that don’t necessarily do that. You don’t have to
have the skill of visualization to start with, but you have to have a feel
for what you’re doing.
CSC: What might a typical shift or day be like for someone working
in the interior design field?
JC: That’s a difficult question to answer. It depends on what
area of interior design they are involved in. If you are working in a
design studio where there are designers on staff, chances are they’ll be
selling things also. Most design studios have a rotation where you are
selling on the floor a day or two per week and designing the rest of the
week. You need to take your turn “meeting and greeting” clients. Other
days they might go to clients’ houses and schedule appointments with
clients all day, or they might be meeting a client in the design studio
and working with them there. If they are working in a trade showroom,
they will be helping designers find items they need to make their designs
work for their clients. We may be taking clients into the showrooms.
They have to do pricing and budgeting, and if you are ordering carpet,
they have to go out on the job with a tape measure, estimate and order the
correct amount. There are a variety of ways to spend your time.
CSC: Are internships required in the program?
JC: We have two required internships. We ask our students to do
240 hours of an internship and over a semester, this works out to 15 hours
per week. If they choose to do it in the summer time, then that’s about 30
hours per week. It’s a fairly large commitment. Most of our students are
using employment opportunities as internships, because most of them are
non-traditional and need to be employed.
CSC: Do students find internships on their own, or do you offer
them help?
JC: I have postings outside my office for internships. Various
employers contact me when they have jobs available. I encourage students
to find jobs on their own. Occasionally I get out and make contacts,
letting employers know I have students that I need to place.
CSC: What types of jobs can Interior Design graduates from JCCC
acquire?
JC: They can become designers, sales people, entrepreneurs,
free-lance consultants, retail merchandisers and display creators. In the
interior design field, most people work in small arenas, not in corporate
situations. Most of them operate in small businesses where only a few
people work together. In a small environment, personalities become very
important and meshing with the people you are working with is essential.
Sometimes that’s hard to find. You may like the job but not the people,
or vice versa. That can become a little awkward.
CSC: What are some of the companies who might employ JCCC Interior
Design students when they have finished the program?
JC: I have former students and graduates of our program, and
students who are in our program at this time at Madden McFarland
Interiors, Delaware Interiors, Sprint Facilities Planning, John A.
Marshall Company, and Color Art. I have students who are working at
various furniture stores or wallpaper centers. I have students working at
Home Depot doing kitchen design. I have two students who have started
their own kitchen design businesses. Canac Kitchens, owned by Sharon Hilt,
a JCCC graduate herself, employs four graduates as designers in her
company. Marjorie Josslet, a JCCC graduate, owns the Market House Kitchen
and Bath Firm in Lee’s Summit. She was just featured in a current issue of
Kansas City Home Design magazine. Canac Kitchens created by Sharon Hilt
and her staff have been featured regularly in The Kansas City Star. I
have other students who have gone into business for themselves and are
freelancing as interior designers. I am really proud of our graduates.
We have lots of people who have started businesses for themselves and are
employing our students as interns or as employees when they graduate.
CSC: What opportunities do you have for students to network with
the professional community?
JC: We have a pre-professional chapter on campus, which is the
student chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). We
have had a club since 1985. It has grown from a handful of people to over
one hundred members, just at this college. ASID membership is important in
interior design because it separates you from the “decorettes”, the person
who “does so well with color and matches fabrics…” It’s a step-up, and
provides awesome networking opportunities for our students. We have a
meeting every month. For example, in September, the Bailey & Griffin and
B. Berger representatives (fabric manufacturers) came to campus with their
fall line and presented it to the members. These students have an
opportunity every month to go to a showroom or have a speaker come in to
talk about different design techniques, what’s new in the wallpaper arena,
contract design, etc. After they have become a member, they have the
opportunity to attend professional meetings, which means they are
networking with the interior design professionals in the community.
CSC: Tell us about the Symphony Showhouse and the opportunity it
provides for students.
JC: Our biggest event every year is the ASID commitment to the
Junior Women’s Symphony Alliance Symphony Showhouse, which is just one of
many public events. It is a by-bid invitation. This involves doing an
entire design storyboard, together selecting all the fabrics and color
schemes. Once you put a floor plan together, you design the entire room
and present it. If your bid is accepted, you are invited to decorate the
room. Over the years we have been fortunate to get many of the rooms
we’ve bid on.
In addition, this fall we are working with the Marillac Center on their
Enchanted Forest at Union Station. We design and decorate Christmas trees
individuals and organizations donate. That’s been great fun. It’s no
expense to the college or students, and the Marillac Center gains a great
deal. We’ve been involved with Habitat for Humanity, and are doing the
vignette for the Antique and Garden Show at the Overland Park Trade
Center. Also we’ve been asked to help with the Hidden Glen’s Art Festival
in October to help set up a merchandise display for them.
CSC: Do the principles of design change with time?
JC: Design principles and elements, such as scale, proportion,
balance, etc., were established by the Greeks back in Antiquity. You just
can’t go wrong with those, and it doesn’t make any difference if it’s a
wonderful Chippendale cabinet that’s 300 years old or a Greek table. The
design, proportion, balance, and the line—the important parts of it, are
all the same. The principle is 2000 years old and is still carrying its
own weight.
CSC: What are you most excited or passionate about in your work?
JC: Interrelationships. We don’t teach enough about how students
relate to other things, the application of what you’re teaching. When I
studied history, there was no interrelationship. Now when I teach the
History of Furniture class, I tell them why there are sustaining couches
at the tops and bottoms of the stairs [in homes]. It’s because the ladies
had corsets that were so tight that once they walked up or down the stairs,
they were out of breath and couldn’t go any farther. The principles of
elements and design relate to every part of our lives, and students have
to learn to enjoy it for themselves. There’s a sign in our classroom
that says, “I teach what I value. I hope you value what I teach.”
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