Design Your World

IIDA is proud to announce the return of Design Your World to Chicago and Miami in Summer 2023, and we are excited to expand again this year...to St. Louis, MO!

“St. Louis embodies the power of future thinking in education and how the design community supports new minds in design, making it an excellent city to host and continue Design Your World’s mission.”
- Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA

Design Your World St. Louis will be a two-week immersive program in collaboration with the IIDA Gateway Chapter and educational partner, Fresh Artists, a non-profit providing arts funding in public schools as well as unique opportunities for emerging artists and creatives. The program will provide students the opportunity to explore commercial interior design and design adjacent career paths. Applications for interested students in the St. Louis program will begin being accepted in March!

If you are interested in supporting Design Your World St. Louis, please contact Program Manager Phyllis Jones at pjones@iida.org.

“Design is such a powerful catalyst for change and for demonstrating human potential. Through DYW, a diverse group of students will be empowered to fully realize that careers in design and the creative arts offer unlimited potential. Perhaps most importantly, they will realize—through a curriculum and instructors that represent them—that design is truly ‘accessible’, meaningful and relevant in their lives.” - IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO, Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA

IIDA’s Design Your World is an education pipeline program driven by the mission to build equity and diversity in the design industry, by providing high school students with exposure to the possibilities of a career in design. The inaugural program was launched in 2021 in Chicago in partnership with education organization After School Matters (link), presenting sponsor OFS, and participating sponsors 3form, Mannington Commercial, and Configura.

It is our mission to advocate for the value of design, and that includes giving agency and access to underrepresented people through the built environment and power of place, and by sharing what careers are available and possible in the industry.

St. Louis

Design Your World St. Louis will be a two-week immersive program in collaboration with the IIDA Gateway Chapter and educational partner, Fresh Artists, a non-profit providing arts funding in public schools as well as unique opportunities for emerging artists and creatives. The program will provide students the opportunity to explore commercial interior design and design adjacent career paths. Applications for interested students in the St. Louis program will begin being accepted in March!

If you are interested in supporting Design Your World St. Louis, please contact Program Manager Phyllis Jones at pjones@iida.org.

Chicago

Partnering for a second year with Chicago-based non-profit Afterschool Matters and led by educator Jati Zunaibi and co-instructor Joclyn Coates, the 4-week "advanced apprenticeship" course for high school students will delve into the basics of interior design, architecture, and design theory, taking a deeper dive into the material than last year's program. Students will leave the program with the beginnings of a portfolio demonstrating their development and interest as a practitioner of commercial interior design.

Jati Zunaibi, Assoc. IIDA, is Ph.D. Researcher, College of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology as well as a Design as Protest (DAP), Core Organizer and Dark Matter University (DMU), Instructor

Co-Instructor, Joclyn Oats, is an Assoc. Professor and tenured member of the Columbia College (Chicago, IL) Art & Design Department faculty.

Chicago program supporters include presenting sponsor OFS as well as additional sponsors 3form, DIRTT, Mannington Commercial, Material Bank, Sherwin-Williams, Configura, and Dick Blick with interiors+sources serving as the media partner.

Miami

With support from Black Architects in the Making (BAM) and the IIDA South Florida chapter (IIDA SFC), the program will debut in Miami on June 14 and run through July 8. Under the instruction of Ze Haus Interior Design Studio Creative Director, Kenzie Leon Perry, high school students based in South Florida will participate in the four-week Design Your World Miami program, where they will gain insight into design and architecture as a profession through initiatives such as material selection, color theory, and space plan creation, while also working with various types of design firms and industry sectors. Learn more about Kenzie Leon Perry here.

Miami program supporters include presenting sponsor OFS as well as additional sponsors 3form, DIRTT, Mannington Commercial, Material Bank, Sherwin-Williams, Configura, and Dick Blick with interiors+sources serving as the media partner.

To learn more, contact Design Your World and Talent Collective Program Manager Phyllis Jones at pjones@iida.org

PRESS

Imagine a Place podcast | "We Wrote a Children's Book"
Doug Shapiro of Design Your World (DYW) presenting sponsor OFS discusses the DYW program, and the children's book that the program inspired, Design Your World. A portion of the proceeds from each book directly supports IIDA's DYW program. Listen here

Inspicio Arts | Sept. 2022
Interview with Design Your World Miami instructor Kenzie Leon Perry: Artist + Interior Architect. Watch here

IIDA.org | Aug. 2022
Design Your World returns for its second year in Chicago, and expands to a second city in Miami. Read more

i+s | July 2022
Miami Students Kick Off Design Your World Classes This Summer. Read more

Chicago Magazine | July 2022
Design for Everyone: Cheryl Durst is creating a pipeline for people of color to reimagine the built world. Read more

Great Lakes By Design | June 2022
Design Your World returns to Chicago for a second session in July 2022 in continued partnership with After School Matters. Read more

Floor Covering News | May 2022
Mannington Commercial supports Design Your World Miami. Read more

Office Insight | May 2022
IIDA Expands Design Your World Program Nationally with Miami Launch and Return of Chicago Session Read more

Floor Trends | April 2022
IIDA Expands Design Your World Program Nationally Read more

i+s | Oct. 2021
i+s sat down with industry leaders at NeoCon to explore how education can transform the profession of design. Read more

IIDA.org | June 2021
"Design Your World: A Pathway to Design" produced in partnership with OFS's Imagine a Place premiers at NeoCon 2021. Watch here

IIDA.org | June 2021
IIDA is proud to announce the launch of Design Your World. Read more

Interior Design | June 2021
IIDA Launches Design Your World Pilot Program Read more

Design Your World

Talent Collective Consulting

"Design Your World is an opportunity to help young teens discover a path in the industry, but on a larger scale, connect a diverse population of designers that can truly represent this nation's people—it's critical for the health of the industry and for all the people of this country that are experiencing design outcomes every day.” – Ryan Menke, senior vice president, sales and marketing at OFS