Story: Lisa Solly | Photo: Cody Ingram
Jillian Lewis, a Meridian native, enjoys part-time work at Emily G. & Company, a small business in Livingston, Alabama that specializes in home decor and interior design. For Lewis, who is majoring in integrated marketing communications (IMC) at the University of West Alabama, the store will bring together the skills she has developed through her IMC and the new multi-dimensional skills she will introduce at UWA in the fall of 2023. Interior design provides the perfect creative outlet for incorporating her truck. IMC majors can also choose her three other courses: Traditional, Graphic Design, and Sports Communication.
According to IMC instructor Audrey Poole, the Multidimensional Interior Design course covers general knowledge of interior design, history, eras and time periods, spatial planning, ADA accessibility, principles and design elements, textures and lighting, and 2D and 3D computer modeling. provide students with knowledge. In the final course of this track, Interior Design Agency, students hone their design and presentation skills while working with real residential and commercial clients.
“Design Studio I and II provide an in-depth look at 2D modeling using AutoCAD software, learning how to create computer drawings including floor plans, internal elevations, lighting and electrical plans, and then using other software. and move on to 3D modeling. A software called Sketchup allows students to design 3D models to guide clients through the different spaces they are designing. Although it is not a complete interior design program, , students will be fully equipped with the ideas, principles and software knowledge they will need in the field,” Poole added.
Regardless of which courses an IMC major chooses, IMC Program Chair Greg Jones is confident that each course's hands-on, hands-on approach will dramatically expand students' career options. “Everything we do at IMC is part of our ‘Look at it! It revolves around a ‘do it, teach it’ philosophy,” Jones noted. “Students can see and do it, and when they can demonstrate or teach that skill or technique to others, they know they've mastered it.”
IMC's philosophy and hands-on practices attracted Lewis and Tuscaloosa native Kaimaya Walker to the program.
Walker, a transfer student from Wallace State Community College, majored in elementary education at UWA before learning about the IMC program from a friend.
“I've always been interested in photography and taking pictures was a fun side hustle. I couldn't believe I could do something like this as a job,” she said.
Walker, who started the IMC program in the sports communications department, changed her mind when Poole approached her. “I was the kind of kid who would rearrange his room at 3 a.m., so I thought this might be a good fit,” she recalled with a laugh.
Lewis likes that the IMC program allows her to “try a little bit of everything.” As she grew up, she did a lot of work, including decorating Christmas trees with her mother for a clinic in Meridian and redecorating her own home and the homes of friends of her family. I’ve always had a creative outlet. However, when Lewis enrolled in college, she sought to obtain her elementary education degree. And while she didn't hate the field, she “felt it wasn't what God wanted for my life.”
Instead, online research led her into the communications field and ultimately into UWA's IMC program.
“When most people think of interior design, they think of decorators.'' “That's what I thought, too,'' Lewis said. “When I started taking design classes, I realized that there were many elements that I didn't know about.”
Poole is pleased with how the IMC course offerings and the Multidimensional Interior Design class complement each other.
“At IMC, students learn how to market themselves and their businesses and, through design courses, how to create schematic presentations using the software they have been trained in. Last semester, I taught my students how to market their final We used both skills in one of our projects, where we had to choose and redesign a location on UWA's campus or in the city that we felt was more functional. These projects were for everyone. It was a win-win: community members got free feedback and suggestions, and my students got hands-on experience working with clients.”
Jones said these experiences lend themselves well to students' web-based portfolios, which are a requirement for all IMC majors. “Everything our students do is portfolio-driven. We want potential employers to see our students' abilities.”
Walker found out he was capable of more than he ever dreamed.
“I still can't believe all the skills I have, the software I know how to use, and the friends I've made through IMC. Now I'm deciding whether to enroll in IMC's graduate program or get a job after I graduate this summer. You just have to decide if you want to look for it.”
Lewis, who will not graduate until spring 2025, is focused on finding an internship, another requirement for all IMC majors. “I've only worked in retail so far, so this summer I'd like to intern in public relations or something similar. After I graduate in spring 2025, I hope to find something in the interior design field. “Whether or not you get it,” she added. “I'll have a portfolio, a resume, and a wealth of practical experience. So I know I'll be successful.”
