(Above image: DYW Chicago students crafted mind maps, mood boards, and sketches as part of the immersive two-week design program. Photo by Columbia College Chicago)

Chicagoans famously adore summer—when you have winters like ours, it’s no wonder. At IIDA HQ, our favorite part of the warmer months isn’t street festivals or alfresco dining (although we do love dinner on a patio), it’s the fact that summer is the season of Design Your World (DYW), a pathway program IIDA created in 2021 to foster equity and diversity in the design industry by exposing high school students to the possibilities of a career in design.

This year marked another strong DYW summer, with immersive, two-week summer programs held in Chicago, Miami, and St. Louis, thanks to support from our presenting sponsor OFS, and participating sponsors 3form, Perkins&Will, Gensler, Mannington Commercial, Material Bank, and Sherwin-Williams.

Dive into this year’s DYW highlights, from fascinating field trips to students’ final presentations, and hear from students and DYW instructors about the power of this program.

DYW Chicago

Four years in, the Chicago DYW program continues to be compelling and dynamic—in fact, a few former DYW Chicago students returned for a second round of design education this summer. Classes were held at Chicago’s Columbia College, led by instructors Davey Friday, an urban designer at Perkins&Will, and Chelsea Jackson-Greene, an interior designer at Perkins&Will, both of whom brought an abundance of warmth and design wisdom. Friday and Jackson-Greene worked in concert with teaching assistants Isabel Campbell and Naomi Mekonnen.

Speaking of return DYWers, Mekonnen has come full circle, starting as a DYW student in 2021, the program’s inaugural year, and then going on to study interior design in college and returning to DYW as a teaching assistant.

“Having programs like Design Your World is so necessary. Students don’t really know what design is until they get into the field, so to be able to dip their toes into something like this is so eye-opening,” Mekonnen said.

This year, DYW Chicago students dipped their metaphorical toes into the definition, history, and key principles of interior design; crafted mind maps, mood boards, and sketches; explored color theory and ways to apply different textures in designed spaces; and enjoyed insights from a variety of industry experts, including designers and manufacturers.

Guest speakers included Scott Hurst, a design director at Gensler, and Kimberly Zeiser, a project manager at the same firm, who gave students an in-depth tour of Columbia College student center, which Gensler designed; later students had a chance to visit Gensler’s downtown Chicago office and hear from interior architectural designer Hao Phung on the firm’s history. Jason Pugh, Gensler’s global director of diversity, equity, and inclusion and a principal, and Erica Fuentes, global DEI studio coordinator, painted an enlightening picture about equity and diversity, and why both are so significant in the field of design.

Other field trips included visits to the Perkins&Will, where instructor Jackson-Greene gave students a glimpse into Perkins’ history, and Mannington Commercial, where district manager Arielle Heneghan provided a mini master class on flooring—and all the endless possibilities of a career in design.

Students concluded DYW with a final presentation. Their project? Redesign segments of Columbia’s student center. Some students focused on the study zone, while others channeled their design energy into refashioning relaxation and recreation areas. Their final projects were bursting with color, brimming with biophilia, and full of savvy design thinking. A trio of design experts served as jurors, providing feedback on each student’s work.

“It’s such a great program,” said Bessie Karaca, a second-time DYW student. “It shows you what you really can be doing in the future as a career.”

Her favorite moments? “When we were designing literally anything, and my table was just talking—we didn’t even have to be talking about designing. We were just connecting,” she said. “It’s the connections that you make here that make it so special.

DYW St. Louis

Back for a second year, Design Your World St. Louis was held at Washington University in St. Louis’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Lindsey Buening, IIDA, instructor of interior design at Maryville University, taught classes with help from teaching assistants Relanda Young and Miranda Lopez (a DYW alum and college student now studying design at Maryville University). On Day One, Buening gave students a breakdown of design thinking and walked them through the design process. Then, put design problem-solving into practice by breaking into pairs, interviewing one another about problems with their lunch experiences at school, then sketching solutions to those problems—and translating sketches into 3D models.

Guest speakers included Hank Meinking and Stephanie Haley from Sherwin-Williams, who provided a presentation on color symbolism, pigment, and paint performance, touching on everything from hue and saturations to how colors make us feel. Caitlin Schauster from 3form got into the nitty-gritty of materials—how they’re crafted and rigorously tested—and explained why specific materials suit different contexts and client needs.

For their final project, St. Louis students were tasked with transforming an old school building into a community center. They were prompted to ask themselves questions like, what should this community center look like? What should it feel like? How could it support people? What would make them stay? Local designer Mackenzie McCulloch volunteered time to help students identify the end users of the community center, prompting them to practice empathy and think through how to design spaces that are widely accessible and welcoming to all. Whitney Luerding, IIDA, from the IIDA Gateway Chapter also leant her time and expertise to help students refine their design concepts and finalize materials.

From inventive design concepts to carefully considered floor plans, students’ final projects impressed the trio of jurors. Presentations were beautifully executed and enthusiastically showcased, and students’ passion for design was on full display.

“I was thinking of going into architecture, but being in Design Your World really changed that,” said student Anneliz Tavarez. “It made me realize that I really like interior design. I love the thinking process behind it, I love working in groups with others and being able to communicate with the other people here—the people are amazing.”

DYW Miami

Returning for a third year, DYW Miami was held at Florida International University’s School of Architecture. Classes were led by designer and educator Kenzie Leon Perry and teaching assistants Alanis Barreiro and Faila Pierre-Louis. Early on, Perry introduced students to core elements of design and various styles, and students flexed their creative muscles with a pattern design exercise and floor planning crash course.

Field trips ranged from a visit to Gensler’s Miami office to a tour of the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a historic Miami landmark and the focus of the student’s final design project—they were tasked with transforming the superintendent’s house into a community center. After exploring the museum and learning about the site’s cultural and architectural significance, students sketched the building—and a few even peeped the property’s resident peacocks and iguanas. Students were ultimately divided into groups, each dedicated to a room inside the house-turned-community center: a lounge, café, and souvenir shop.

Guest speakers included Maria VanDeman, a designer and workplace advisor with OFS, captivated students with her presentation on the power of furniture when it comes to shaping spaces, and the power of forming strong networks early in one’s career. Michelle Setty, director of brand engagement at Material Bank, talked students through the ins and outs of the platform and sparked their thinking about ideal material choices to suit their design projects. Jaclyn Morrison, a designer with Jewel Toned Interiors, and Katie Ciani, a sales manager at Autex Acoustics, offered students unique perspectives on the design profession, and provided food for thought as they refined their final concepts.

Students concluded DYW with eye-catching final presentations that thoughtfully incorporated color, patterns, calming elements, universal design principles, and no shortage of creativity. Jurors and instructors admired their inventiveness, empathy, and commitment.

Sheena Lewis, DYW program coordinator, had this to say about the entire 2024 class of Design Your World students: “You are all so talented and your achievements this year have been outstanding. We look forward to seeing the bright futures you’ll shape. The skills and knowledge you’ve gained will serve as a strong foundation for your future endeavors, whatever they may be. Continue to dream big, work hard, and never stop believing in yourselves.”

Special thanks to the many individuals and organizations that supported DYW this year, including Jay Meyers and Lucy Trimarco from Columbia College; Alison Kulisek and Lara Leskaj from Perkins&Will; Matt Bernstine from Washington University in St. Louis; Newton D'Souza from Florida International University; Radharani Larios, Assoc. IIDA; educational partner Fresh Artists; the IIDA Illinois Chapter; the IIDA South Florida Chapter; the IIDA Gateway Chapter; and DYW’s media partner, interiors+sources.