I am IIDA

Jan is the Vice President for Design and Workplace Resources at Allsteel. 

What is your favorite example of great design?

There are too many to mention, but one example of practical, functional and beautiful is the Bodum Travel Press.

If you weren't a designer, what would you be?

A psychologist – which is what I think I’ve ended up doing anyway, because I help organizations know themselves, their goals, their work practices and their values well enough to inform the design of their workplace. That alignment is what makes places conducive to effective work.

List 5 words that describe design.

Transformative, engaging, inspiring, alchemy, vital

List 3 things you can't live without.

Chocolate, my BFF, and the ability to travel – I love visiting favorite places and experiencing places I haven’t been before.

What is your favorite quote or motto?

Information is not the same as wisdom.

This may sound like sour grapes, but because the Internet is changing our lives and our brains in fundamental ways, this has become my new mantra.

What was your first job?

Frying donuts in a grocery store bakery. I had to wear a smock and when I’d come home from work the family dog would lick all the glaze off of it.

What advice do you wish someone would have shared with you before you started your Interior Design career?  

Design is a way of “thinking” or reasoning; it goes way past the creation of physical things. Learn whatever you can about related topics to add to your understanding of people and organizations – that’s where design thinking gets applied.