Student Spotlight: Annette Bryan

The National Design Academy is always proud to hear what our students go on to do once they’ve graduated. We are lucky enough to have such talented students, who have gone on to achieve a range of diverse roles both in the UK and Internationally.

This month we hear from Professional Interior Design Diploma student, Annette Bryan.

Annette enrolled onto the course in September and is now working on her final unit: ‘Professional Practice for Interior Design’, but has already begun a new career in interior design.

About Annette

Annette had very little interior design experience before starting the course, but did work as a decorative advisor within a retail store when she left school.

This gave her the opportunity to work closely alongside customers to understand their needs and desires. She was advising on interior décor schemes, focusing predominantly on wall and floor treatments.

Annette then went onto to develop a career working in project management within the social care and housing/homelessness sector.

Since starting the course at NDA, Annette has had a complete career change and found a new role as an interior design consultant at Hopewell’s in Nottingham.

We caught up with Annette to learn more about her experience studying with the National Design Academy.

Why did you choose to study Interior Design?

The creative industries, art and design are disciplines that have always been of interest to me.

I already have a Foundation Degree and a BA Hons in Fine Art. Over the years, my interests and passion for interior design have grown.

I am very much inspired and stimulated by interior design, architecture, furniture design, fashion and textiles.

This is why I decided to study interior design. I wanted to gain a greater understanding of the industry, develop my knowledge and expertise of interior design principles and to exercise my drawing and technical skills ability. Ultimately, this will help me become a professional in the industry.

Why did you choose to attend the studio course rather than complete the course as a home student?

Mostly because I’m a people person. I felt that the studio course gave me an opportunity to meet my fellow peers, the course tutors and to also see and feel a part of the design school I was studying at.

Working as a home student would have suited my work commitments, but attending the studio helped me feel more connected to the school and the other students.

What did you find most beneficial when attending the studio and what part of the course did you enjoy doing the most?

I found going through the assignments and projects in-house very helpful for me to gain a better understanding of the course content.

Meeting my personal tutor face to face helped to build a rapport with her and I got a greater sense of the course I was studying on. I really enjoyed the drawing aspects, rendering, and surprisingly learning and developing my technical drawing skills.

Now I feel I have a good grasp of hand drawing techniques and I’m looking forward to developing my skills in computer aided design and the tools used, to demonstrate this in more of my design work.

What skills have you developed whilst studying with NDA?

The list is extensive, for example:

• Technical drawing
• Presentation skills and rendering
• Residential space planning
• The historical content of interior design
• Furniture, wall, floor and window treatments selection

How do you think completing the course has helped you gain your current interior design role in Hopewell’s?

Since the start of the course, I’ve had a complete career change from working in the social care and housing sector.

Firstly by studying on some NDA workshops helped me to apply for the role as Interior Design Consultant at Hopewell’s in Nottingham. The workshops I studied covered AutoCAD1, SketchUp, Photoshop, and Rendering. I was able to state these on my application and talk about them at interview, which I believe helped me gain my new role.

I find on a daily basis I am applying my interior design knowledge and skills taught on the course and this is giving me invaluable work experience.

Working face to face with clients on projects is not only helping me to grow in confidence but developing my expertise. This is helping me attain my personal goals, achievements and professional career development as an Interior Designer.

If you are interested in studying the Diploma in Interior Design or any of our other courses then please visit our website. Alternatively, you can email us, or call us on +44(0) 1159 123 412.