What does it take to be classified as a designer?  Surely you have to be passionate, artistic, fashion conscious and well informed?  You must have empathy, an ability to read people, understand their lives and be able to translate this invisible information into a physical manifestation of personal taste.  Designers have a great responsibility to produce products and spaces that work well and reflect the personal aspirations of the client.



However, if you decide to become a kitchen designer you may find that these basic attributes become overlooked, taken for granted and lost in a grey mist of industry infighting and miss-classification.  Your childhood dream of creating beautiful things and spaces may become over shadowed by an industry trying to put a price on your skills while ultimately the price you are paid will be determined by your customers own judgement on your worth. Worst still you may be asked to define yourself, choose a side, display an affiliation and in doing so you become indoctrinated into a way of thinking that may not always be right.

Human nature dictates that we all think about things differently, some individuals have developed their business model around a showroom which offers free design, others will focus solely on manufacturing, choosing not to engage with the public and a small number of designers decide to be independent.  So who holds to moral high ground?The showroom retailers offering free design take the "Englishman's showroom is his castle" approach, believing that their display choices and their high level of investment show a commitment and dedication to their craft!  The specialist manufacturer who constantly pursues efficiency and perfection feels vindicated in knowing that time and money has been invested in developing their skills and their business. 



And then we have the independent designers, who must have years of experience, an abundance of skill and lots of industry connections to make their chosen path professionally viable. By looking at this situation objectively you will begin to understand that there is no right and wrong here as some clients will want to go to a high street showroom, some will want to visit a local bespoke manufacturer and others will want to use an experienced independent designer.  However to question the usefulness of independent design is to believe that retailers, manufacturers and independent designers don't talk.  Let's face it; it is very unusual for an independent designer to experience any difficulty when trying to match their pre-designed, kitchen ready, client to a manufacturer or retailer! By engaging directly with private clients and undertaking the costly design process independent kitchen designers can provide manufacturers and retailers with a steady flow of pre-designed projects allowing them to tender for work more quickly and efficiently.  

Equally if a private client has asked for something very specific any good independent designer will begin communicating with the local supplier making sure that the design provided is specified correctly. Independent designers also provide the industry with a flexible range of services:  Smaller manufacturers can use independent designers to showcase their ideas without the need to invest in additional staff or expensive software.  Larger and more established businesses can also use independent designers to cover sick or maternity leave and assist with expansion and growth.  By appreciating that opinions can be different and communicating with each other we may find that our industry becomes more dynamic and flexible and that new ideas and approaches are embraced as being useful instead of being feared for being new!

Darren Morgan 
www.designer-kitchen.com