As a designer, Titi Ogufere concedes that creativity may not necessarily be kindled in a formal classroom setting. Yet, she understands the importance of nurturing such basic talent to cutting edge level. That is what she seeks to do through the Interior Designers’ Association of Nigeria (IDAN) which she heads. In this encounter with ORUKPE NELSON, she outlined the association’s vision.

Could you tell us about IDAN?

We are the Interior Designers’ Association of Nigeria. Our association has interior designers, decorators, suppliers from ceilings to floors among others. We’ve been in existence for seven years and I am the president as well as the founder. We are also members of the International Federation of Interior Designers and Architects (IFI) based in New York.

That is the world’s body for the interior industry. IDAN’s aim is to be the voice of designs, promote interior designs and bring in education to the public. I don’t know if you are aware that in Nigeria; there is no school for interior designs. One of the things we are trying to do at IDAN is to let people know what the industry does.

We just had an exhibition dubbed GUIDE (Gida Uno Ile Exhibition) in May, which is like our industry event where suppliers and designers showcase their products.

Is the exhibition a yearly event?

Every last Saturday in May every year, we usually celebrate the World Interiors Day. The World Interiors Day is a celebration of the interior industry, but this year we celebrated it in our showrooms.

We’ve had two past editions before the recent one. It is a platform to showcase our talents, designs and arts. We had the first edition at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos while the second one was at the Eko Hotels & Suites. This year edition was different because of the theme, Design For All.

We decided to have exhibition in different locations around the country, especially in Lagos and Abuja. During this one week programme, we had exhibition in participating showrooms and studios and we gave various promotional prizes. On May 30, to celebrate the World Interiors Day, we held an event at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos which we called our industry night. We bring together all members, including contractors, architects, interior designers, builders and clients. It enabled us to showcase what we have and celebrate the industry.

How did you conceive the idea for IDAN?

While I was studying abroad, I was a student member of the British Institute of Interior Design. But before I left Nigeria; I was running my own company. Then, I felt the industry was not structured and I had a meeting with one of my professors who was also the Secretary-General of the IFI at that time.

I lamented to her, so she suggested I should start up an association in Nigeria. IFI gave us their full support and in 2007, we had the global president of IFI launching IDAN with us. I set it up when I came back to Nigeria, though I didn’t do it all alone.

I spoke to Muni Shonibare of IO Furniture, Anselm Tabansi of Svengali Designs, Muni Fagbemi of DO II. I spoke to about seven people and we all came together and made it work. These were people I already knew; so it was easy for me to approach them and at that point we needed it.

How does IDAN intend to impact the society?

Like I mentioned; there is no school for interior design in Nigeria. What we did was to go into partnership with the University of Lagos to introduce a course by September. We are starting with a certificate course. From there, we would move to a higher certificate and then later to a full-degree programme.

IDAN has also gone into arrangement with a United Kingdom-based school to set up a school of designs in Nigeria, though we are yet to finalise that. We are hoping that we would get it done next year, but the course in UNILAG starts by September. The school management is excited about it.

Every time, we meet people that say they want to do a course in interior design and wish to know where to start from. Some young people would tell you that they didn’t really want to study architecture, but they did because there was no school of interior design.

We have people who still wish to acquire knowledge in interior design even though they’ve done other courses. Within the industry we have lots of people that didn’t study interior designs, but you know we are go-getters in this country. Majority of our interior designers are not trained and we’ve been able to go this far.

I think we’ve done quite well. In countries like South Africa, they have a lot of courses for interior designers. We are discussing recently how everyone is coming to Nigeria because they see a nation that is growing rapidly and we don’t want to be left out. We don’t want people to come and displace us. So, we are bringing in education and pushing for professionalism. We want people to know that we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other interior designers anywhere in the world. With schools in place, we can actually empower the industry and create more professionalism.

What do you consider the success stories?

We had about 35 exhibitors at our first exhibition at the Federal Palace and it was quite successful. The one we had last year was double of the previous edition in size. I think the challenges we are facing have more to do with organisation because we see how things are done in other parts of the world. We are doing quite well, but I think we can do better.

One of the problems we have in Nigeria is that if you give people guidelines they do not follow them. Sometimes, people don’t need that. We had little bit of challenges in finance too. In this first year, people were skeptical about sponsorship because it was new and they were not quite sure how it would benefit them. The idea really is to make the industry stand and say this is another profession. We want a situation where our children will proudly say they want to become interior designers or study interior design.

What are the criteria to join the association?

We have different categories. We have the interior designers, which means such person must be a qualified interior designer. We have the industry partners, people that supply or manufacture materials for flooring, lightening, painting and other components. We have decorators and gardening designers.

We have student members as well, people who are studying interior design and friends who are just interested in knowing us. Gradually, we are becoming much more professionals and putting in standards. We also encourage people to take courses to improve themselves.

Are there plans in future to take this to other parts of Nigeria?

We have members in all states of the federation, though we don’t have proper structures everywhere. We have just individual members with companies in some states, but we have an office in Abuja and Lagos.

How do you curtail quacks in the profession?

Taking out quacks even in the UK is very hard. I am on the board of the IFI and there are some schools we do not recognise. It was deliberated upon that they should not give people certificates; I don’t want to mention names. If you go to do a two-day course it doesn’t mean you are an interior designer; you could be a decorator.

The minimum standard is two years for one to say he or she is a qualified interior designer. Though I studied interior designs, we have people who didn’t study interior designs and they are very good at it too. So, you can actually get a skill through experience which is visible in your works.

I know people who didn’t go to school to study arts and they are better artists. So, creativity can come from within or you can acquire it through learning. Like I said; it is almost impossible to take out quacks from the profession. We have steps; we are trying to work with the Corporate Affairs Commission to make sure that you cannot just use the word interior design but they would come up with another means. Probably, after we’ve successfully put schools in place, more people will seek to get the proper skills. Since we have no schools for interior design, we cannot be as strict as in the UK. So, we are taking things a step at a time.

What kind of support are you getting from the government?

We are looking towards that. There is none yet, but usually for you to get to the point where government hears you, there has to be some advocacy. We may not have the government support yet, but we have a lot of people in our industry who do things for the government. Our priority now is developing the industry.

How would you rate the interior design here in Nigeria?

In the near future, the industry will be the way people see agriculture now. The industry is huge and we are actually trying to work with people to say this is the exact worth of the industry. Nigerians don’t know the worth. I went to Italy recently and the Italians said we were their biggest market.

For every building, there is furniture or an interior design aspect to it because you can’t put up a bank or an office without a space planning.

Any serious organisation won’t just get furniture and drop it inside the office; you have to plan the space. You have to make sure that the ecstasy, functionality and the flow are in place. Everywhere you would see our touch; it is just that people don’t appreciate the fact that this is what they are looking at. That is why we are standing up to say this is who we are and what we are.

How is an interior designer’s job distinct from an architect’s job?

The way architecture was borne out of art is the same with interior design too. For us, interior could even date back to the ancient days, which means it started before architecture. We offer people the optimal use of their interior spaces; we don’t design buildings. We don’t even pretend to design buildings.

When you give us a space we would be able to decide how best to lay it out. An architect can actually work on that space too, but I strongly feel that the interior designer would give you the best use of that space. We would also guide you on the best things to use.

For the commercials, they have an image or brand they want to portray such that when you get there you will know that this is them. This is where we come into play too. We complement the work of the architects; they cannot work without us, just like we cannot without them too. We need the building to be able to come up with the concept. We work very closely together; it is almost impossible to have a complete building without the architect and interior design components coming together.

Was interior design your first degree?

I studied mathematics and library science. I worked for a while too before I went back to school to study interior design, events management and public relations at Dublin Business School. I also proceeded to the College of Arts and did a course in editorial design. I did Maths because it was the subject I got admitted for; I’ve always had a flair for interiors.

How would you describe your style?

I like contemporary design; that’s my personal style. In my home, everything is simple and the same applies to my fashion style too. It has to be comfortable, no fuss at all. But when I’m working on projects; I try to satisfy the client.