Designer gives mini-tour of Scotland to students
History never looked so good.
In the first of a series of interior design presentations made possible by a grant from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, Utah State University students were treated to a unique event Wednesday: A guest lecture by internationally acclaimed designer Malcolm Duffin.
Last summer an interior design student wanted to do an internship unlike any other and found a firm and designer in Edinburgh, said Tom Peterson, head of the interior design program at USU.
It was, in part, this internship that led Duffin to Utah.
“Because of Charlotte’s internship last year, we realized that we needed to find time to teach,” Duffin said. “A lot of these sort of design people live in an area where they forget to teach and hand something back, so it’s been really nice to be able to do that and it’s been a treat to come.”
Duffin’s attention to detail was an aspect greatly admired by interior design student Mia Israelson.
“He has a passion for details,” she said. “And the way everything culminated together to make such a cohesive design made it so awesome because of all the little details.”
Duffin said this is where a designer can have an effect on history.
“If you’re thinking about going into interior design, you have to understand that history forms the essence of the job we are currently working on,” he said. “It’s the old that encourages the new.”
In explaining his work, Duffin also talked about what he believed was one of the most important attributes of an aspiring designer.
“You must first have passion, as well as a flare for design,” he said. “You must want it in your heart. You must really want to do it for the rest of your life – to want to create and leave a lasting impression and make a mark.”
Though his presentation was filled with aspects particularly enticing to interior design students, Duffin was also able to bring others, such as family and human development major Amy Tenney, into the lecture.
“I think [Duffin] did a good job gearing it toward a general audience,” Tenney said. “It was kind of like taking a tour of Scotland without actually going there. I liked the scenery and even though I didn’t really know much about interior design I liked it more than I thought I would.”
Overturning one of the common misconceptions of design, Duffin spoke briefly about the role of money in design.
“The depth of design can sometimes be enhanced by money, but the fundamental points of design can’t change,” Duffin said. “A color whether seen in paint, fabric, or wall paper is a color. The concept of the design should remain the same no matter the cost. If you stick to the fundamental rules of design, the design should shine through.”
Duffin also had some advice for students who, constrained by a tight budget and apartment contracts, have difficulty making their apartments look nice.
“The most important thing is to think about keeping your apartments really tight, clean, and linear and not living in a mess,” he said. “Good collections of things you already have, such as baseball caps, can be arranged in quite a smart way. Simple ideas can work. You’re better with nothing in a room than lots of ugly things, so less is better than more.”
Duffin’s presentation was broken into three parts, the first of which dealt mainly with the history of Scotland. Duffin used many pictures of the countryside and great castles, such as Calgary and Edinburgh castle, to give the audience a mini-tour of Scotland.
During this section, Duffin gave great prominence to the nation’s capital, Edinburgh.
“Edinburgh is a city of culture with many festivals every year, and it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” Duffin said. “It is a vision of urban planning and is utterly unique. It is the Athens of the north, and I’m very proud of it.”
Following his historical overview, Duffin went into a short presentation which he titled “Great Houses of Scotland.” Armed with names and dates, he retraced the history of many of the great Scottish houses while using pictures to portray their importance to interior design.
Finally, Duffin went into an area of practical interior design by looking at his team’s current restoration of an old castle house.
For those who missed Duffin’s lecture, the next in this series of visiting interior designers is tentatively planned for mid-March.
“We’re planning to bring in Charlotte Moss, who is an interior designer out of New York,” Peterson said. “She is a real icon in interior design and has established a very copied style. Her designs are very accessible to people, especially if you like pink.”
-mattgo@cc.usu.edu