To Design or not to Design

Just to invoke more debate on the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom design industry I thought I would yet again add my two penneth worth.

I think there is probably four levels of kitchen designers three of which could step up down or mix into three of the levels and the fourth can only be loosely termed as a designer.

Level one, the very bespoke end of the market the £70k to £200k plus, these designers are creative in what is manufactured by the craftsman / woman, the Artisan of designers, were not only do they have a big input in where the products are sourced and what they are made of but also ergononics of the design, the decorative finishes and the on hand project managemnet catering for the every whim of their client, they will have complete autonomy and the overall  visual and practical creativity to truly design a room or rooms.

Level two, the mid to high end of the market from £30k up to and occasionally over the £70k areas. These designers are slightly more restricted in the "what can be created" in the design by the use of what their manufacturer constructs albeit they will have a masssive array of sized cabinets, panels and other materials to choose from. They would typically design kitchens for professional people.
You could say this designer could be a better designer than level one because he / she has to create something from what he/ she has got in their portfolio of products. These designers although can design traditional and or classic kitchens they tend to design the modern and sleek look with quirky boxed finishes and step ups, ins, outs and long islands.

Level three, is the independent company designer usually designing £15k to £30k projects sometimes slightly over and sometimes slightly under. This designer will have less sizes of cabinets to play with, again needs to be ultra creative in their approach to the finished look, but tends to concentrate more on just the kitchen aspect of the design with some flooring, lighting and colour tones experience. They will be designing kitchens for people with generally hard earned money to spend and have had an major building project so that they can create the kitchen of their dreams but will want practicality, flair added to their design, which this designer is very capable of but they will have in mind that this client will have done their homework and they will be dealing with people who have had quotes and designs from other local companies so they will have to combine their design skills with honed sales skills so they can convince their client that they should buy from them.

Level four, is the shed and multiple designer (loosely) although there are some very good people working for these companies but have not made the step up for one reason or other possibly they are in a comfort zone and are happy earning what they earn and like the environment they are in, some of these people are only really planners with no real kitchen experience and have been recruited from the double glazing company down the road. They will tend to deal with the up to £10k and sometimes slightly over this figure end of the market. They usually would have been sent on the obligitory sales design course offered by their company.
They will be focussed on getting the sale and once bagged don't give an after thought to their last customer, they will only have to deal with the planning and selling process and then pass off any customer concerns to their floor manager.

The last level four sounds like me being a snob, I am not because this is where I learnt my trade and will not forget my roots, some of the people I have worked with do really care about their clients, it is the companies that they are working for that don't care. They sometimes probably wish they can move on and up but are trepadacious in moving to the unknown.

The architect debate is a different one all together, it depends on the level of architect and the level of project
being created. Maybe architects should commission kitchen designers to assist in the design of the rooms for their clients before plans are okayed and submitted, this would be a fantastic selling tool for the architect to have on hand a designer to liaiase with between them and their clients, this of course works not only for kitchens but bathrooms and bedroom too.

Russell.