Welcome to Future Talks by RTF, where we engage in enlightening conversations with design pioneers who bring captivating design stories to life. In today’s episode, we are thrilled to have Joanne, the founder of Swisterski Design Inc., as our esteemed guest. With over a decade of experience in Toronto’s top design studios, Joanne ventured into entrepreneurship to embrace the freedom of decision-making and the potential for greater financial growth.
In this insightful discussion, Joanne shares her perspective on the dynamic relationship between designers and design trends, the rewarding experiences of her projects, and the challenge of finding one’s design voice in a world brimming with ideas. As Joanne reflects on her creative journey, she emphasizes the importance of travel in fostering creativity and explores the changing perceptions of urban populations towards interior spaces.
Join us in this captivating conversation with Joanne, where she shares her passion for design, her creative inspirations, and her vision for shaping meaningful and sustainable living spaces.
RTF: Hi Joanne, We are glad to have you as a guest on Future Talks by RTF. Thanks for joining us. After working for some of Toronto’s top design studios for over a decade, what prompted you to come up with Swisterski Design inc.?
Joanne: I always wanted to have my own business for the freedom of decision making, as well as the potential for greater financial growth. I also enjoy all aspects of the business, and when you’re the business owner, you get to see from many perspectives. At some point the timing felt right, as a few things were aligning in my life. It’s hard to make the leap, but timing is crucial.
RTF: What is your opinion on trends in design? Do designers shape trends or do the trends shape the approach of designers?
Joanne: It’s probably both. It happens organically, unpredictably and sometimes accidentally. However there are design pioneers that will test wild ideas that are not ‘safe.’ They don’t always work out, and that’s the gamble, but every now and then, one of them is fabulous and everyone latches onto it, recreates and reinterprets it. That then becomes the trend. Once you start seeing it at Ikea, the trend is at its last resting stop.
RTF: What has been the most rewarding project? What made it so?
Joanne: I had a client who wanted art deco, and more specifically, he wanted his condo to look like it was from the set of a specific movie that was predominantly decorated in the art deco style. I chose furniture pieces, fabrics, color palettes and millwork designs that were out of the ordinary for me. This client was a bachelor, so the overall mood was deep and rich, and it all came together very nicely.
RTF: What is your idea of finding one’s design voice in a world full of ideas?
Joanne: That’s a good question, because we can’t help but be influenced by what we see on a day to day basis. How do we know it’s our own voice, or just a reinterpretation of someone else’s? I don’t know if we can know for sure. What I would say instead is that it’s the quality and care that you put into your work that is the most important thing. Aside from a few very lucky designers in the world, clients are often driving the design, and you are the conduit for their vision coming to life. You may love clean and contemporary, but if your client wants French industrial, then it’s not your job to change their minds, but to make sure that the design is the best quality of French industrial that you can make it. Every style, whether it’s modern, transitional, traditional, art deco, etc, can either be done poorly, or done well. As they say, a job worth doing is a job worth doing well. So if you’re a designer, make sure you’re doing it well!
RTF: How do you look at the work beyond designing for young architects and designers, such as the likes of involvement in publishing, handling media and building an online presence?
Joanne: Honestly I’m still figuring it out myself. For young designers that are thinking they would like to own their own practice someday, they should remember that their online presence is often a confirmation and part of a vetting process that potential clients undertake. Usually jobs come from relationships that have been built over a long period of time. And more importantly, over genuine relationships, for example with builders, clients, developers, fellow designers. A job will usually start with someone recommending you to a client, and then your online presence will be used to set you apart from other recommendations they’ve received. If you have a nice looking website, a thriving design social media presence and some awards, that will make a great impression, and your chances of getting the job will greatly increase. If the same client searches your company name, or personal name and instead finds nothing but old Facebook photos, it doesn’t leave them with confidence. You have to think of your online presence almost as a ‘background check’ to validate your design credentials.
RTF: How has Artificial Intelligence influenced design?
Joanne: The biggest influence that I’m seeing is with softwares like midjourney or diffusion, since they make it hard to differentiate between real photos and renderings. To a lot of designers, they feel threatened because the interiors they spent years designing and then having photographed are now being outshined by photos that are created in seconds. Personally, I find them to be an excellent tool, as you can convey a concept to a client very quickly with a few prompts, and instead of spending hours rendering your models perfectly, you can run them through something like diffusion.
I also find them to be fascinating, since our source of inspiration has multiplied by thousands. Midjourney, for example, creates images that have never been built, but would be very interesting to build. It takes imagination and makes it look like reality, which helps us expand our own design horizons.
In terms of social media, I predict that designers will have to differentiate their work from AI generated images with video walk-throughs, showing the construction process, etc.
RTF: How do you keep yourself creatively bolstered to be progressive and true to your approach towards designs?
Joanne: For me the best way is through travel. The more interiors and architecture that you see, the more your mind opens up. Every city is adapting and responding to their landscape, environment, culture, language, etc. The amount of variations that can be produced is infinite, and you really feel it when you’re out there in the world. You often find yourself thinking ‘wow, I never thought of doing it that way, I’m so glad I came here.’
RTF: How do you gauge a new landscape in design? How is the urban population’s perception changing towards the interiors?
Joanne: People, at least in North America, are getting used to and accepting the life of minimal living and figuring out how to take up as little space as possible. Personally, I think this is great, not only from an environmental perspective, but from a psychological one as well. I don’t necessarily believe that very densely populated cities are a good thing, but that smaller living spaces are healthier.
Over the years, I’ve observed that people have more meaningful interactions when they are physically closer together, like a family, couple or friends at a party. However, this is often seen as the result of lower class living. What I hope to achieve in my career is to show people that more space does not equate to more luxury. In fact, you are paying more money to decrease the quality of your relationships with people. Given all the money in the world, I would still choose a small space, but design with high-end material, furniture pieces, millwork and artwork.
RTF: Where does one find you when you’re not working?
Joanne: I have a huge diversity of interests, however most of the time when I’m not working I am painting (I’m also an independent artist), spending time with my partner, rock climbing, traveling, reading, attempting to play the piano or watching great movies.
RTF: What approach would you advise young design professionals to have to excel in the field? And what are some things to be wary of?
Joanne: For me, some experience in construction or at least in the observation of construction is a must. One of the biggest clashes you’ll face in your design career is with a builder that claims your designs are not buildable. If you don’t equip yourself properly, you will not have the experience or knowledge to have these conversations and ensure your designs are followed. Or worst of all, you design something that really isn’t buildable! I personally love to make things and build (I also took a sustainability and construction course), so I often find myself able to overturn opinions and convince builders of doing things they’ve never done before, and get them out of their comfort zone for the betterment of the design.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. It has been a pleasure getting to know about you and your work. We’re sure that your insights will be highly valuable to our audience which includes architects and design students.
