Aga Artka Interior Design, LLC

Design Star – why should you NOT care?

August 9th, 2009 9:44 am

Reality shows have taken over the TV programming. Nearly every channel, cable or local, has its most viewed and crazy popular reality show. I remember watching the very first season of HGTV’s Design Star, which drew me in for the obvious reasons. I am an interior designer myself and wanted to see how these want-to-be TV stars reflect the industry I am building my life and career around. Is this show helping to promote the profession or to the contrary, is it suggesting a non-authentic view of who we, designers, are and what we do for a living?

A few weeks ago, I happened to catch the 4th season opening episode of Design Star and I must say, nothing on this show has changed. Despite different faces, the producers selected the same characters to participate in the show, same (for the most part) hobbyists, enthusiasts, color fans and no actual educated, experienced and self-confident design professionals. Which brings me to this question – is the public aware that this show is much more about the “star” and much less about “design”?

The contestants of this show are more interested in fame and high ratings than they are in quality interior design; when I turn it on, all I see is people who are convinced by media that the only way to the top is through popularity and reality TV. And it doesn’t matter what you are good at or what your passion is (or if you are good at anything for that matter), because if you bring enough drama to keep the producers and the viewers interested, you are the winner.

What’s at steak here? The winner’s own show on HGTV, where he/she gets to manage people, be on camera, be part of the showbiz world….and oh by the way, be a designer as well. It amazes me how easy, smooth and timeless the projects on TV look. Unfortunately, this show creates an illusion of what renovation work really entails from a design, time, management and cost standpoint. However, as we all know, it is not about the creativity, but the show itself. And once the ratings go down, ooops – sorry, the show gets canceled and the winner returns to his/her normal life, which apparently wasn’t good enough to begin with…otherwise, why the need to be famous.

We all have different dreams and goals. In my professional life, my goal is to produce good designs and provide the best customer service to my clients. Obviously, the Design Star contestants have something totally different in mind. My priorities are pretty clear. I’d like to know what their priorities are. Wouldn’t you?