INTERIOR

DESIGN
ACADEMY OF
IRELAND

Diploma Course in Interior Design

Unit 1: Presenting Interior Designs
Assignment 2

Assignment Brief

Assignment 2

Please ask a friend or family member to act as your client to complete this assignment. You are
going to create a new design for their living room, which should reflect a Contemporary design style.

Task 1

'Collecting Information'

In this task you will collect information for your living room design.

1. Start a new sketchbook, thinking carefully about how you will organise it.
2. Complete a site survey of your client's living room and put the results of your survey in your
sketchbook under the heading 'Site Survey'. This must include

A dimensional survey: Create one floor plan and 4 elevation drawings

A photographic survey: Take 3 photos of the exterior of the house/apartment, 2 photos of the interior
of the living room, 4 photos of the walls (1 of each wall), as well as 1-2 photos of the room details.
Written descriptions of the space: Descriptions should be 50-100 words each and relate details of the
exterior of the house/apartment, the overall characteristics of the room, and the condition of the
living room.

3. Meet your client and discuss their needs for the living room in detail. Take notes about your
client's needs, requirements, likes and dislikes, ideas for the new design and any other important
information (e.g. the client has young children). Add this information to your sketchbook under the
heading 'Client Brief'.

Tips

Everything you add to your sketchbook should be neat, easy to read and clearly labelled.
Include all important details from the site survey and client brief in your sketchbook.
Take scans or photographs of each page of your sketchbook and save them as a single PDF to
upload your work.

Deliverables

A PDF of your assignment 2 sketchbook including:

The site survey

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The client brief

Task 2

'Testing design ideas'

In this task you will use the information you collected in task 1 to develop design ideas for the living room.

1. Research the following:

Inspirational images
Colours
Textures
Floor coverings
Wall coverings
Fabric samples for furniture, furnishings and window treatments
2. Create a concept board to show your design idea in terms of the broad view of the
atmosphere, mood and ambience. Add the page to your sketchbook under the heading 'Concept
Board'
3. Show your concept board to your client and ask them for constructive feedback on your design.
4. Write a short report (200-300 words) to evaluate your work in response to the feedback you get.
Describe whether or not you need to make changes to your concept board based on the feedback.
5. Make changes to your concept board following your client's feedback. Add the changed page to
your sketchbook under the heading 'Updated concept board'. If you do not make a change make
sure you have explained clearly why this is the case in your short report.

Tips:

Use information from the site survey, the client brief and your research to make your concept board
as creative as possible

Deliverables:

A PDF of your assignment 2 sketchbook including:

Your concept board
Your updated concept board in response to client feedback (if changes are needed)
Your short report

Task 3

'Testing Presentation Methods'

In this task you will test a range of presentation methods to show your designs to a client.

1. Draw a floor plan to scale.

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2. Draw one elevation of the living room to scale.

Do not include furniture in these drawings.

Note: Structural changes should not be made to the floor plan since this is outside the scope of the
interior designer's role. Changing structural elements requires close collaborative work with an engineer
or architect.

3. Create a physical A4 materials sample board that shows materials for:

Flooring
Wallcoverings
Furniture and furnishings
Window treatments

Your finished board should look neat and professional.

4. Take scans or photographs of your floor plan, elevation and materials sample board ,
making sure that you can see all images and text clearly. Save your scans/photographs as a one PDF
document.

Tips:

Use the information from your site survey from task 1 to draw your floor plan and elevation
Use the scales 1:50 or 1:20 for your floor plan and elevation
Use real materials for your A4 materials sample board, where possible, and use good quality images
for materials you cannot find
Take a scan or photograph of your work and save it as a PDF
Make sure you can see all images and text clearly in your scan or photograph

Deliverables:

A single PDF file including:

Your floor plan
Your elevation
Your A4 materials sample board

Task 4

'Creating a Presentation Package'

A presentation package is a chance to show your professionalism and creativity to a client. It includes
technical drawings, sample boards and other images to display your designs. You will present this
package to your client in assignment 3.

1. Look at the quality of the work you produced in tasks 1 and 2. Consider which drawings you
want to present to your client and which ones need more work.

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2. Develop your drawings and sample board further, focusing on making your design message
clear for your client.
3. Add the following to your presentation package:
A floor plan
A sample board
4. Develop any other drawings that will improve your presentation package and add them to it.
Add any other images that will improve your presentation. This can include:
Extra drawings and sketches
Extra samples
A logo for your interior design practice
Any other images that will explain your designs to your client

Tips:

Add all the documents for your presentation package into one organised digital file using standard
presentation software (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.).

Deliverables:

A PDF of your presentation package

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Assignment Grading Criteria

The following is for your reference. Your tutor will be using this scheme when reviewing your assignment.

The following Pass criteria must be met in order to pass the assignment.
Once you have achieved all Pass criteria in all assignments within the unit, you will then be able to
progress to the next unit of your course.

Pass criteria

Criteria LO 2.1:
Find out what a client needs and collect information to develop
a presentation package for presenting designs. Review
information from a client to find out what is needed to create a
design and presentation package:

Student conducted a site survey and a client brief to identify what was
needed to create a design and presentation package. Student
documented their work in a sketchbook. (Assignment 2, task 1).

Criteria LO 2.2:
Find out what a client needs and collect information to develop
a presentation package for presenting designs. Research and
test design ideas to understand a client's needs for a
presentation package:

In a site survey and client brief, student researched their client's

needs in order to prepare a presentation package for their design
ideas. Student produced a concept board based on their research. The
concept board showed colours, textures, inspirational images
reflecting mood and/or ambience , They presented the concept board
to their client to test how their design ideas meet the client brief. They
produced an updated concept board if required by the client feedback.
They also wrote a short report in response to client feedback and (if
needed) described why no changes to the concept board were
necessary. The site survey, client brief and concept board were
documented in a sketchbook. (Assignment 2, tasks 1 and 2).

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Pass criteria

Criteria LO 3.1:
Use different presentation methods and choose which ones to
add to a presentation package. Test different presentation
methods to find appropriate methods for presenting designs
to a client:

Student tested presentation methods by drawing a scale floor plan,

one elevation, and producing a physical A4 materials sample board.
included reference list for sample board (Assignment 2 task 3).

Criteria LO 3.2:
Use different presentation methods and choose which ones to
add to a presentation package. Develop a presentation
package for presentation to a client:

Student produced a presentation package that included at least one

floor plan, one sample board and a reference list for the sample board
(Assignment 2, task 4).

To achieve higher than a Pass:

It is possible, if your assignment goes above the standard expected for a Pass, to achieve Merit or
Distinction criteria.

To achieve a Merit grade for the unit: you must achieve all the Pass criteria and Merit criteria in all
assignments for that unit.
To achieve a Distinction grade for the unit: you must achieve all the Pass, Merit and Distinction
criteria in all assignments for that unit.

Merit criteria

Criteria MO 2:
Find out what a client needs and collect information to develop
a presentation package for presenting designs. Do extensive
research on a client brief, documenting all important details:

Student showed evidence of extensive research in the site survey and

the client brief. They recorded all important details about the living
room and the client's wishes for the design in a sketchbook. Student
also showed evidence of extensive research in a concept board.
(Assignment 2, tasks 1 and 2).

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Merit criteria

Criteria MO 3:
Use different presentation methods and choose which ones to
add to a presentation package. Create designs using a range
of presentation methods that shows strong technical abilities:

Student produced a floor plan, one elevation and a materials sample

board. The floor plan and elevation were drawn neatly and accurately
to a high standard. The materials sample board was neat, easy to
understand and evidenced detailed research into sourcing appropriate
materials (Assignment 2, task 3).

Distinction criteria

Criteria DO 1:
Produce a neat and tidy sketchbook that shows a detailed
understanding of the client brief, presents research findings
clearly and offers imaginative and creative design solutions:

In their sketchbook, student produced an excellent site survey noting

all details. They evidenced extensive research in response to the client
brief and showed imaginative and creative solutions to the brief in
their concept board and updated concept board. (Assignment 2, tasks
1 and 2).

Criteria DO 2:
Produce a presentation package to a high standard, showing
creative design solutions and an in-depth response to a client
brief:

Student produced a presentation package to a high standard. The

presentation package included at least a floor plan, a sample board
and a reference list for the sample board and evidenced further
development of their design in response to a consideration of their
work. Student may have included extra sketches, drawings, samples
and a logo but crucially produced a presentation package that showed
creative design solutions and strong technical ability in response to the
client brief (Assignment 2, task 4).

Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. All sources used in assignments must be cited and referenced appropriately using
the Harvard Referencing and Citation System. Please refer to the Student Handbook for more information.

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