No. 06 - Design Direction with Carrie Kawamura
A path from graphic design to interior architecture
Design Direction is an interview series that highlights people in the interior design or design adjacent industry and showcases different paths that people can take with their design career!
I first met Carrie, in Los Angeles, when we were students in the UCLA Extension Interior Architecture program. She was one of those people whose work was always highly praised at every critique. I loved when she presented because she just had a natural eye for design; her fictitious projects all felt like they could be real hotel concepts or real homes for a family. It’s no surprise she and her partner designed their whole wedding suite: the invitations, the name cards, the venue maps, etc. Y’all it looks STUNNING!
Like me, Carrie is a career changer and, in this issue, you’ll see just how she did it. She’s had such a fun and interesting path that took her from being a graphic design student at Parsons School of Design to being the sole interior designer at an architecture firm in LA. Here, at SJD, we love to highlight folks who are brave enough to start anew and curious enough to continue learning. And I’m SO excited to share our conversation with you today!
Note 01: This interview was transcribed from a conversation I had with Carrie and has been condensed for clarity.
Note 02: This issue is a little long (lots of photos/graphics), so some of you may need to click “expand” at the end if you’re reading this on email.
I know you had a career before interior design, what were you doing and what made you decide to make the switch?
I did my undergrad (at Parsons in New York City) in graphic design. I guess I’d always been kind of spacial (design)-adjacent; most of my graphic work was for museums and galleries. So right out of college, I interned at this studio named Pentagram and I think, because I was the intern, I got all of the non-profit, non-expensive work to do, but it all ended up being for museums and I loved it. Like, I worked on the magazine that Studio Museum in Harlem does, like all of these fun projects.
After my internship ended there, I immediately got hired at a firm that only did exhibition design and book design, which is very niche (haha). But I loved doing book design because you got to work very closely with different curators and artists and learn all about different printing techniques. Going into graphic design was a little bit scary because I was never really interested in advertising or digital types of design. The really tactile, old-school books were things that were interesting to me. So I did that for a couple of years, and I moved out to LA!
With no plan?
No plan, just like, I’ll figure it out when I get there! So the first job I took was supposed to be temporary and it was weird. I was hired to be an all-around assistant/helper at this architecture firm; at the time, they were doing all these RFPs (Requests for Proposals) and they needed someone to help design beautiful presentations and things. But, the week before I started, the owner's executive assistant had to go on emergency maternity leave, so they called me and were like, do you want to be his EA for a little while? The pay is more! And I was like OK great! I’ll try it!
(That job) really opened my eyes to architecture because I had never worked that closely in that world before. Also, being his assistant, I was in every single meeting and, although I wasn’t doing architecture work, I was listening to all the conversations and watching all the interns build models and do all these things. It was really profound to me, in a way. I was only there for a couple of months and I (then) got a graphic design job at LACMA, going back to what I was doing before, exhibition design stuff.
So, like I said, everything I did in graphic design was very close to interiors, but not quite. And then randomly, I worked at this company called Ban.do, which is a lifestyle brand that makes cute accessories and it was a complete change from everything I’d done before. I worked a lot on their event graphics, like visual merchandise and trade show booths. There was this point where I was designing a trade show booth with these huge graphics in Illustrator because I didn't know how to use CAD or SketchUp. I think it was that point where I was like, OMG I need to learn how to do this. I have to go back to school. So I decided to do this certificate program, and TBH I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do traditional interior design. I was like, maybe I’ll go back into exhibition design, but at least I’ll know how to (do interiors). It was (only) from being in school that I realized, oh wow, this is actually something I want to do, and try and make work for me!
So that’s how you decided to go back to school! We met in that program and I’m curious, what was that experience like for you and, in hindsight, what do you think about that program (as a whole)?
It was funny because, since I did my undergrad in design, I got to skip through a lot of classes. I didn’t have to do color theory, I didn’t have to do any of the 2D classes, or the presentation classes, there’s a class that y’all had to make some sort of dome or something.
Design Communication?
Yea, I didn’t have to take that. So it was kinda nice, it felt like a more succinct version (of school). I took all the design histories, which I loved! And the studio classes. What’s weird about that program is that there’s such a range of people in it. Like, some people want it to be their career and they're very serious and very focused and then some people just didn’t have anything else to do, so they decided to do this. But I really liked it, and while I was in that program, I was working at Wall for Apricots, which is this really tiny studio. At the time, it was just the two founders, and it was so cool working with them because their backgrounds weren't typical interior design backgrounds. One of them came from the art history/public art world, and the other one owned a cool retail/design shop on Melrose. They are both so creative, and really approached design in a less formal and more organic way than I had seen before. It really taught me to think about design differently because so much of what I (knew was only) informed by being in school.
You’ve already done a little of this, but run me through your design resume and describe your experience in each, and why you moved on from them.
Well I had all the graphic design stuff, (and) when I did the certificate program I was at Wall for Apricots (I’ve actually been with them twice), and we were working on both residential and small commercial projects. It was cool because I got to work on a couple projects completely from start to finish, and I think because they were in the retail sector, we had really quick timelines. So it was like, what can we make in six months or nine months. When I finished the certificate, I left and went to Kelly Wearstler and it wasn’t really for any dislike on Wall for Apricots, it was just to try something new, and kind of something I thought would be more traditional. And I quickly learned that that, at the time, was not for me.
Why was that?
I think that, I mean I was a little bit… (big sigh) I think I was really eager to be creative and make things and do things and see things happen. (But) their scope of work is so big and I was on such small little parts, I mean I was there for about 6 months and pretty much all I worked on was purchasing for a hotel. Which, when I look back, I’m like wow I actually learned a lot at that job, but at the time I was like, OMG if I have to make another purchase order, I’m gonna… (haha) I think in retrospect, you’re grateful for those experiences, but at the time it was like OMG. I have so much I want to make and I’m at this desk all day on Studio Designer and I’m not making anything. But it’s funny because some of the skills I’ve learned there are probably some of the ones I’ve used the most now.
Isn’t it funny how that works? In hindsight, would you have stayed longer at Kelly Wearstler’s or was moving on what you needed?
I wasn’t planning on necessarily leaving, but I stayed in touch with the team at Wall for Apricots and they were like, you know we have more projects coming on and we can offer you a little bit more money, would you want to come back? And you can design stuff again, and I was like, YES! That’s what I want! Because the team is so small, I did everything, and at the time, I was the only person who did any sort of technical or computer drawing at all. I got to work with so many different fabricators and contractors and the scale is much smaller so I got to see the nitty gritty of a lot more, which was interesting to me. So I stayed there for another year, and then, it was during the pandemic so things were a little bit funky.
We were working on this residential project with an architect, who’s amazing, and I was so much more interested in what he was doing than what we were doing. He'd send us his drawing set and I’d ask ten thousand questions about why he did things a certain way and why it was like this, and that kind of influenced me to finish out the UCLA program and get my Master’s. So when I applied to the Master's program, I stopped working at Wall for Apricots; at the time, my idea was that I’d just be a full time student and finish really quickly and not drag it out. But that quickly halted, because a few months later I got approached to do interiors for an architecture firm, and it was actually an architect that I’d met at that very first job I had in LA. I stayed in touch with people that I knew there.
The Executive Assistant job?
Yeah, one of the senior architects there had left and worked at a bunch of other places and eventually started her own firm. She reached out to me and said, I’m working on a project and need someone to do interiors for a residential project and a commercial office space. Would you be interested in working on it? And it just seemed like too good of an opportunity, so I took a few less classes, and I’ve just been doing that since! So I’ve been working with her for a little over a year.
What does your day-to-day look like at this architecture firm?
It really depends, but the residential project we’re working on is very hands-on. It’s in the (Pacific) Palisades, so I’m there all the time checking it out because we are in construction now. I have been responsible for working on all of the finishes, sourcing all the furniture, all the fabrics, lighting, and any decorative element. Our clients have a very particular taste and it’s been a really interesting challenge matching that with a 1920’s craftsman because some things really work and some things don’t, but it's been a really collaborative process between them, the architect, and me. We work really closely and I’m not sure I’ve worked on a project this closely with clients before, which has been really interesting and fun. We’ve gone on field trips; one day we looked at 25 couches, I think, just going to different showrooms and I’ve learned so much because our clients have had many homes and they have a really specific idea of what they like and what they don’t, so I’ve learned a lot. But also I’ve learned (about) the process of restoring old buildings, which takes a long time!
Have you decided on whether or not you’re going to finish that Master’s Program?
I’m slowly plugging along on it. I'm actually in my last quarter now, which is exciting! So that’ll be done (soon), but it’s been cool to do that program in tandem with working at an architecture firm. For example, my last class is creating a construction set and it’s funny because it’s basically all I look at at work and I feel so much more confident at seeing certain things than I did previously.
If you could do anything with your design career, what would you do? No restrictions.
This sounds cheesy, I would love to just buy a house and restore it, not a craftsman, that’s not really my style, but I’d love to work on a project for me. Something I’ve been sort of struggling with in the residential realm is, how much of a project do you put yourself in vs your client. I love the projects we’re working on, but if someone went in there, they’d have no idea that I worked on that. But it's as it should be, I don’t live there.
You are distilling what your client wants into a physical form, right?
I always thought that was an odd thing at Kelly (Wearstler)’s because people don’t care if it’s like them at all. They just want it to look like Kelly did it, you know? I think you see it at a lot of firms. There’s a specific style that they’re known for and that’s why they’re hired and successful, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it. We’re still a design service. How much of it can be personal and how much should be personal?
What do you think is your current style?
I like things extremely pared down, the most simple, neutral colors, not a lot of pattern, everything is the most simple it could be. I think that’s why I liked working with art, because you could let that be the highlight and your design just kind of helps it. And I think I’ve kept that style and aesthetic in the rest of my work too, maybe for better or worse.
Last question, what advice would you give someone who’s looking to make a career switch into interior design?
Be patient. I felt like maybe I haven’t been the most patient. We see so much on social media and it seems like, you actually don’t know what everyone is up to, but it seems like people are all of a sudden pros at what they’re doing and you’re like why am I not a pro at this yet, and you have to remind yourself to be patient because it takes time.
Carrie is quite possibly one of the most talented and creative people I’ve ever met. I’m so lucky to know her and it’s been fun watching her career develop over the years since our days in design school. One thing I learned from our conversation is that it’s so important to keep in touch with people after you’ve moved on from a job. You never know when they will tap you again with something bigger and better. Carrie’s path reminds me of my all-time favorite saying from my good friend’s dad, ride your horse, until you find a better horse. Essentially, keep moving forward, even if your current situation is not ideal, but keep going until something better comes along! - JOLYN
PS. Carrie is also a fellow subscriber to this newsletter, so if you have any career questions, feel free to leave a comment below!
