Concept Statement

Concept statements are used by interior designers to propose and explain their ideas for a given space that they are working on. Concept statements are usually presented in a short paragraph, sent via email or read aloud, and are used to persuade clients. The widespread use of concept statements in the interior design discourse community allows interior designers to explain their plans to clients and help achieve a common goal of the community, creating a functional, appropriate, and aesthetically pleasing space for clients to enjoy.
Concept statements are rarely posted for the public eye because their intent is to share ideas with a client, but they can sometimes be found if the client publishes them on a website to announce the upcoming renovation or building. An example of this is when Waukesha County Technical College,

in Wisconsin, published the concept statement they received from Designs in Perspective for their student lounge design. This concept statement is written in the third person and uses an active voice to explain the characteristics of the new student lounge. Due to the fact that concept statements are geared towards clients instead of other interior designers, it does not include specialized language specific to the interior design community. Although it does not include specialized lexis, it does have formal language that makes the concept statement sound professional. Along with formal language, it also includes proper grammar and varied sentence structure to build the companies credibility.

The main thesis or purpose of the concept statement is also clearly stated when Designs in Perspective stated that “The new design will include space planning to provide the students, staff, and faculty a student lounge with a variety of seating options that will allow the space to take on many different functions” (Designs in Perspective). The company then explains how they plan to achieve this goal by using specific colors, textures, and flexible seating options that work for all occasions. This can be seen when Designs in Perspective says, “A warm and inviting atmosphere will be created through the sensible use of warm colors such as reds, yellows, and oranges that will be mixed into an overall neutral color scheme” (Designs in Perspective). This statement demonstrates the “evidence” used within a concept statement; although this may not feel like the type of evidence or support used in a more formal academic piece of writing, it is the only form of support used in concept statements. Due to this, concept statements do not follow any specific style such as MLA or APA because no citations or works cited are needed. Overall, this concept statement, along with others within the interior design discourse community, follow specific expectations in order to depict an idea to a client to create a functional and pleasing space for the specific client’s community.