dialogues sur la conception: timothy corrigan

 

I find myself once again at the New York School of Interior Design. After a riveting conversation with David Rockwell monitored by podcast host Dennis Sculley of the Business of Home podcast, I find myself scurrying through the subways in New York city to get to the upper east side on time to attend another one of these events. I am quite fond of these events hosted by NYSID. I find them to be enlightening, insightful and just quite fun, this is such a good resource for students. This time world renowned designer Timothy Corrigan, who is known for his French country style designs was at the panel today. What was immediately noticeable was his infectious personality and his outgoing charisma. He was personable and engaging, making eye contact with the students throughout the night, and standing by the door at the beginning to shake everybody's hand. He was very down to earth and I found him to be quite charming. Like David Rockwell he was very well versed in his field and brought a different perspective to the conversation. There were many key take aways and he had more of a focus on the networking aspect of the profession. I liked that both David Rockwell and Timothy Corrigan brought different things to the table, while both of their panels were equally well done and insightful, there was a clear distinction between their presentations and while both had universal advice, they also did good on bringing their own unique perspective to light and to share with the students. I was particularly interested in seeing Timothy Corrigan because a lot of his design career has been in France, and this is something I envision myself doing as well later down the line. Throughout the presentation, Timothy clicked through beautiful slideshows of class and timeless French-inspired interiors he has worked on. The work he has done was absolutely stunning.

Timothy Corrigan explained something he is well known for: designing spaces centered around comfort. He talked about how it is important to find a niche, something that sets you apart from other designers, something you can be known for. Some key takeaways from this dialogue were Timothy's emphasis on creating and building trusting relationships with the clients. He told us to listen to the consumer and don’t just try to sell them a product because you like it. It is important to give the client what is the best thing they want, get them involved in the process, and make them feel that they have the ownership. It is important not to impose your own vision but to help them create theirs. He highlighted the importance of being mindful that you do not want it to feel like you are shoving a look down a customer's throat.

Timothy is not just a designer, he is also a businessman. He focuses on how to make people’s lives better. The creative process only represents 30% of the job; you need to be able to do business as well. Transparency and trust are important. He advised us that repeat business is good business. The end product and the experience you create as a designer are important, and positioning yourself as a designer is key. It poses the question, why you? Ask yourself, what am I known for? What makes me different from the guy down the street?

When asked about the hiring process, he makes a point to hire people from different backgrounds. People who come from another field bring so much to the business because they find things from their previous career that are applicable. When starting off, Corrigan advised everybody in the room to start working under somebody at a firm—make the mistakes on someone else’s dollar.

Something that Timothy is well known for, his niche, is comfort. Throughout the presentation, he showed us all the rooms he's done that mix comfort with aesthetics. Corrigan stated that there is no trade-off between how something looks and how it feels. There are three types of comfort he taught us: the physical aspect of comfort, the psychological aspect of comfort, and the practical aspect of comfort. This was very insightful because it is not something I had known.

Finally, towards the end, he had people ask questions. I had mustered up enough courage to raise my hand warily as the aide handed me the mic. I asked him about his experience in France, which he went over in detail, describing the splendor of Paris. Then, I asked him the difference between working with French vs. American designers and how one would go about getting a job in France, something I aspire to do down the line. He told me the difference is that French designers are more rigid, they are less likely to work outside the box and play with ideas but are significantly better with technical work. The Americans are not as technical and are more likely to bend the rules and push the envelope. He advised anyone looking for a job in France must speak fluent French.

Overall, it was a great experience, and I found him quite delightful.