William House, Chair Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts

When Star Trek deemed space the final frontier, it could have easily been referring to the interior space that we inhabit in our personal and public lives. While defined by boundaries of some kind (but not necessarily walls), well-designed interior space has limitless potential to affect our productivity and ability to learn, and imbue us with a sense of comfort, excitement and security. At CCS you’ll become fluent in the potential and implementation of interior design’s four crucial elements: space, surface, color and texture. Your studies will encompass human behavior, materials selection, construction, acoustics, lighting and many other pertinent areas. You’ll learn how to go from ideation sketches to working drawings to maquettes (models built to scale). You’ll master computer-assisted design (CAD), creating detailed 3-D visualizations that will enable you to “walk” around an interior before it exists.

Because interior designers are often called upon to fabricate custom pieces and decorations (many CCS interior design students specialize in furniture design), you will be asked to choose elective studio classes in metalsmithing, woodworking, welding and ceramics. You may also take courses in exhibit and museum design, studying space planning, information theory, and exhibit design for cultural, artistic, product, craft, historic and anthropological institutions. Ultimately, you’ll become adept at expressing a particular client’s vision through your personal creativity, and gain the confidence needed to collaborate with and supervise architects, mechanical and structural engineers and other specialty consultants who may join you on projects.

CONTRACT DESIGN
You’ll learn to design interior spaces of institutions such as factories, offices, hospitals, retail stores and hotels.

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN
The focus of this field is the planning and design of pleasing interior spaces in homes and living areas.

EXHIBIT AND MUSEUM DESIGN
Your studies will include traffic patterns, lighting, interactivity and information design.

FURNITURE DESIGN
You’ll go through the entire process of designing a piece of furniture Ñ from the initial creative concept through constructing the finished piece. The program emphasizes the entire spectrum of possibility in furniture design, from unique specialty pieces to designs destined for mass production. Four CCS students who exhibited their furniture prototypes at an invitational trade expo now have an international representative and are actively marketing their designs in the United States and Europe.