joinjax's Profile

Just because AT does not include the South as a design source, except for mention of Savannah, the best schools for design have historically been the University of Florida and Auburn University. I attended The University of Florida light years ago, when their interior design program was within their College of Architecture. It was the premiere program at the time, as was the program at Auburn, primarily because both were based in the best university architectural programs in the South. There is something to be said about having your basic training in structure and architectural history. What I'm seeing in today's "design" blogs resembles what passed for "craft" in my formative design years. There are terrific designers out there with no formal education, but the best new design I see is based on the best historical form, reinterrperted for today's lifestyles.
Wall decals and "felted" pillows are not good design, regardless of the epoch. I can appreciate the love for "mid-century", but many of the "designs" I see posted currently remind me of the bad motel courts we stopped at on US 301 on the the way to the North Carolina mountains to escape the Florida heat.
Having a knowledge of art history and great design of the past can only make one a good designer of the present.