Sri Lanka Design Festival 2010- The Assistants story

Last December i was fortunate enough to work under Joel. M. Rapp, a well seasoned designer from New York as his junior designer and coordinator. Rapp is the Head of interior design at my grad school, The Academy of Design and is without a doubt one of the most influential faces in developing my skill and career.  Event Design is all about pressure, time limits and quick solutions. Food, rest and socializing becomes an afforded luxury. Design week was brutal murder on my poor feet but i believe it contributed in teaching me to let insults go over my head, smile even when i wanted to freak out and going over the ordained boundaries to get things done. 

Lesson learned- Never get a man to do what you can do yourself….you will end up shifting 6’ hardboard blocks around a traffic packed driveway three times more than necessary. Also it helps to occasionally loose your mind and threaten all of them with the wrath of a white man (joel) who they are culturally bound to pay more attention to. *sigh*

Detail Drafting…check! Material allocation…check! Site supervision…..check! standing there for the last twenty seconds of installation….Oops!!!
Lesson Learned- you can give someone the perfect details and still things could go wrong. when there’s no going back, don’t freak, instead pretend like the mistake was intentional art, and that your design sense is way way WAY more authoritative than anyone that comes to see it. Also, this is a good time to get the contractor to make up for his mistake by doing you other small favors, things you might have overlooked in your rush to create perfection. …ahhh yes design week made a  villain out of me *winks*

“Being a designer isn’t just about the product or space, its about self branding.” why would someone hire you for creative input if they weren’t convinced you were much more cooler than themselves?…harsh but true man!!!!
Lesson Learned- If you live and breathe design, enjoy every minute of it, gets orgasmic over colors, heights and materials you will never have to actually work a single day in your life. look at joel….so fly even as he attempts to get the lighting perfect for the evening fashion show. if you haven’t met this man…you should.
On a concluding note, when oppertunity knocks on your door…jump on it, challenge it, screw with its friends and make mad passionate love to it. ;))