design concepts // where to begin

Knowing where to start when it comes to a design project (or any artistic venture really) can be really intimidating and frustrating if you don't know what you want your design concept to be. Most people don't think about this decision as a necessary first step, but it's absolutely crucial to the unfolding and creative development of a project. It guides your every move when your unsure about something, and it becomes the backbone or point of reference for the entire project. It becomes the glue that holds the whole thing together, and makes the project make sense when examined later; it gives it purpose. 

So what is a design concept? A concept is "a general idea derived from specific instances", which is pretty vague, but in short, it's an idea. It's an overall idea, but with specific aspects. It seems pretty simple, but it can get very complex. Your concept has to influence every single choice you make for your project, and it can be hard taking an abstract idea and making into a tangible project with floor plans, furniture, and architectural drawings. For example, most people who were freshly enrolled in my school's design program chose a leaf or flower for their design concept. So many people so that the teacher's began telling student's that they saw it so much that it made them sick, and to come up with something better. It was easy because there are specific characteristics about a leaf or flower that are easy to emulate. Leaves are green, organic, have curvy lines, symmetrical, and so on. These elements can be very easily duplicated when designing a space. What the teachers wanted however, was to see concepts that were more in depth, had some meaning to them, more abstract. This made it very challenging to come up with an original idea and have it make sense. However, it began to make sense after semester after semester struggling with the idea of a design concept. It takes practice and it takes creativity and it takes thought.

All this to say, a concept needs to be what you base everything on, instead of trying to make everything form into some concept later on. It needs to have quite a bit of thought put into it from the beginning, and shouldn't be a decision that you cut short. Then every decision that you make from then on you will be simple because you can ask yourself, "does this item or technique fall in line with the concept I'm going for?"...and be specific!

So next time your thinking to yourself, "What am I going to do with this room (or piece of art)? I'm so confused on what goes together and what vibe I'm going for", try to sit down and think of a concept or general idea that you find beautiful or fascinating, look at it's specific characteristics and personality traits, and emulate it the best you can creatively.

Good luck!