First Impressions:
Graphic Design for Interior Designers

by LuAnne Zilka, IIDA Student Affairs Chair

You've got to look great to get in the door. Don't let a prospective employer forget you because your resume was boring. Show them you care about all aspects of design with a cover letter, resume, sample portfolio, and thank-you card. Getting the first interview is the hardest part so make sure your presence on paper doesn't get filed in the trash.

Interior design students from the Twin Cities, Wisconsin and Alexandria came together on Tuesday, February 19th at McNeal Hall on the U of M, St. Paul campus for the third in a series of four "Student Only" IIDA programs.

Creative graphic designer Tony Buckland from Minneapolis based Little & Company was the key note speaker. Tony gave a first-rate presentation on:

• resume and cover letter design
• photographing your work
• designing and sending a PDF of your work
• common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Key note presenter, graphic designer Tony Buckland (R) and interior designer Megan Gorden (L) with students at the McNeal hall program.

We are a visual group of people and you must keep that in mind when designing your resume. Be sure to remember and apply the principles of design to your resume, cover letter, and reference sheet. Keep all of the fonts consistent and have this carry over to the footer on all of your work samples.

Fonts: There are happy and negative fonts. There are also fonts that convey strength and those that you never want to use because you can hardly read them. You can mix fonts, but be careful and don’t mix more than 2 at a time.

Margins: Don’t use the common default margins. Mix it up a bit. Use custom spacing such at 1.25 and try different settings. When you have printed your resume, be sure to test fold it into thirds to make sure that the fold lines so not go through type.

Punctuation: Be sure to be consistent with this throughout all of your text. Set the fonts for your resume between size 7 and ll. Use bold and/or italicized when you want to emphasize a word or idea.

Paper: Buy high quality paper with a water mark and envelopes to match. The paper will hold the ink much better and make the text “pop”. Print out your resume as a test and then photo copy it. You will then know what your resume will look like when a perspective employer photo copies it. Sometimes your resume prints just fine from your printer but isn’t legible after photocopying.

White Space: White space (negative space) is good on a resume. This keeps your eye moving around so that it doesn’t get tired. The reader is more interested in what they are reading.

Sending resumes and samples: It is best to physically mail your resume. But, if the perspective employer would prefer you to email it, be sure to stitch your cover letter, resume and work samples together in one PDF. This will make it quicker and easier for the recipient to view them.

Photos: When saving photos of design, use the save for web feature and make sure that they are 72-150 dpi. These will be easier for the recipient to open up. Try cropping your work to focus on one part. This will change the emphasis on the piece. When you shoot your work, try to shoot outside or close to a window for a crisp look using natural light.

Thank You: Mail a thank you note immediately after the interview thanking the perspective employer for their time and consideration. Do this even if the interview did not go as well as you thought. These are just a few of the many important points that Tony focused on with the students.

On hand also fielding questions from the students was Megan Gorden, interior designer at Studio Hive located in Minneapolis.

Students from the Twin Cities, Wisconsin, and Alexandria at the graphics program.