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Interior Design (BID)

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A Tradition of Making Updated For a Future World

Immerse yourself in a world of thinking through making with our cutting edge facilities for advanced manufacturing, such as the Design Technology Lab.

Is It for You?

Ontario’s most highly recognized and successful interior design program, The Creative School’s Bachelor of Interior Design helps students gain an understanding of technological, aesthetic, ideological, environmental, cultural and social dimensions of the built environment. Accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) and with a required internship, the program’s graduates are industry leaders dedicated to creating inspiring spaces for an equitable and sustainable future.

 Faculty
The Creative School

 Program Format(s)
Full Time: Four Year

 Degree Earned
Bachelor of Interior Design

 Minimum Grade Range
75%+*

 Non-Academic Requirements
Portfolio, personal essay

 Experiential Learning
Mandatory internship

 Accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).

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What You Need to Know

 Thinking of applying? Make sure the program is still accepting applications.

*Actual minimum grade ranges required for fall 2023 admission/wait list consideration will be determined based on grades and qualifications presented by the applicant pool as they become available. Required grade ranges may fluctuate from year to year (up or down) as a result of competition. Applicants not educated in Ontario may present the equivalent of the Ontario requirements. TMU reserves the right to determine equivalency at its sole discretion.

Tuition and Fees 2022/2023

Domestic Ontario Students Fees Range: $7,103 - $7,821
Domestic Out-of-Province Students Fees Range: $7,600 - $8,328
International Fees Range: $31,841 - $32,453

For detailed fees information visit Tuition and Fees by Program.

Academic Requirements

Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent with a minimum of six Grade 12 U or M courses including the following program specific requirements.

Typically, a minimum overall average of 70% establishes eligibility for admission consideration; subject to competition individual programs may require higher prerequisite grades and/or higher overall averages:

  • English/anglais (ENG4U/EAE4U preferred)
  • Grade 11 U or M or Grade 12 U mathematics (one of MCF3M, MCR3U, MHF4U, MCV4U, MDM4U)
  • One additional Grade 12 U or M course from: visual arts (AVI4M, AWA4M, AWB4M, AWC4M, AWD4M, AWE4M, AWF4U, AWG4U, AWH4M, AWI4M, AWJ4M, AWK4M, AWL4M, AWM4M, AWN4U, AWO4M, AWP4M, AWQ4M, AWR4M, AWS4M, AWT4M, AWU4M), Canadian and world studies (CGU4M/CGU4U, CGW4U, CHI4U, CHY4U, CIA4U, CPW4U), social science and humanities (HHS4U/HHS4M), science (SPH4U) or technological design (TDJ4M, TGJ4M)
  • Students should take physics (Grade 11 or higher) and the art option in Grades 11/12 if available. Preference may be given to applicants with Grade 12 U courses in history or visual arts/art history
  • Note: the minimum grade(s) required in the subject prerequisites (normally in the 65-70% range) will be determined subject to competition

Academic admission requirements for all other applicants are available at: Admission Requirements.

Non-Academic Requirements

In addition to meeting competitive academic requirements, you are required to submit the following non-academic requirements. 

 Your non-academic requirements are due by February 1, 2023 or 10 business days from your application submission date, whichever comes later.

Your portfolio should include: 
  1. Eight to 10 examples of your original work. Each piece must include: date executed, media used, dimensions of work, and state whether the item was self generated or a school assignment. 
  2. Three black and white, freehand drawings, placed into a physical context to show perspective. Drawings should not be from a photograph or picture from the internet but from an existing condition (real life). The three items should include: 
    1. A freehand drawing of a staircase
    2. A freehand drawing of a collection of organic material (e.g. leaves, pods)
    3. A freehand drawing of a chair
Guidelines: 
  • Demonstrate your spatial thinking and ability by using a variety of media (2D, 3D, computer and hybrid work, e.g. jewelry making sculpture) 
  • Include quality work as opposed to quantity (be selective)
  • Furniture prototypes, scale models and installations are encouraged
  • Sketches of incomplete projects may be used to demonstrate process and sketching ability
  • DO NOT use AutoCAD or Sketch-Up drawings

 Save your work as a .pdf file and upload as per the submission instructions below.

Part I 

In 500 words or fewer, please respond to the following excerpt from an essay by the designer and architect Juhani Pallasmaa. Your response must describe your experience with interiors and materials (from your past or present), explaining how and why your experience compares with Pallasmaa’s statement.

“Natural materials - stone, brick and wood - allow the gaze to penetrate their surfaces and they enable us to become convinced of the veracity of matter. Natural material expresses its age and history as well as the tale of its birth and human use. The patina of wear adds the enriching experience of time; matter exists in the continuum of time. But the materials of today - sheets of glass, enamelled metal and synthetic materials - present their unyielding surfaces to the eye without conveying anything of their material essence or age.”

[Juhani Pallasmaa, “An Architecture of the Seven Senses,” in Questions of Perception: Phenomenology and Architecture, ed. Steven Holl, Alberto Pérez-Gómez, and Juhani Pallasmaa (Tokyo: a+u, 1994), 29.]

 Please use 12 point font, single line spacing.

Part II

Please tell us about yourself and the experiences that inspired your passion for spatial design or visual arts (maximum 300 words). Consider activities you were involved with either at school, in your community, or in a broader context that influenced your interest in design and speak to your relationship with these activities. Examples could include sports teams, clubs, committees, math, science or art competitions, and/or hobbies. You can also speak to your past employment, community service work, internships or experience in leadership roles.

 Please use 12 point font, single line spacing.

Weighting

Weighting of the Non-Academic Requirements are as follows:

  • Written component Part I: 10%
  • Written component Part II: 10%
  • Portfolio: 80%

The non-academic requirements assessment fee is $50 CDN and must be paid in order for your submission to be reviewed. Here’s how to pay:

  1. Access your ChooseTMU Applicant Portal account (instructions to access the portal can be found below under Submission Instructions).

  2. Click on the button to link to the eForms Centre.

    eForms Centre button highlighted in the applicant portal account
  3. Next, click on the eForms Centre tile.

    eForms Center tile indicated at bottom-left corner of Student Homepage
  4. Then click on the Non-Academic Fee Form link.

    Non-Academic Fee Form indicated on left navigation of eForms Center page

Do not submit non-academic material until after you have submitted your application for admission. You will receive an email acknowledgement of your application that will include your TMU Student Number. Please include your TMU Student Number on all materials you submit.

You are required to submit your portfolio and written statement via SlideRoom.

Go to SlideRoom, external link, opens in new window and create an account (or sign in if you already have one).

File Preparation

SlideRoom recommends:

  • 1024 >< 1024 px at 72 ppi is a good standard to use as a general guideline for browser based-viewing
  • Images larger than 1280 >< 1280 >< 72 ppi will be resized in SlideRoom
  • Images (up to 10MB each)
  • PDFs (up to 20MB each)
  • Use PDFs where possible for multi-page documents
  • Process Work is recommended as a multi-page PDF
  • PNGs are great for preserving the quality of your work
  • Do not submit working files (.ai, .psd, .indd, .docx)

Submission Instructions

Label all portfolio pieces so that it is clear which pieces belong together. 

Use the following format for labelling your pieces:

  • Portfolio_Piece1*_TMU Student Number [*replace the number for each piece (2,3,4)]

For additional uploads related to the same portfolio piece:

  • Portfolio_Piece1a_TMU Student Number
  • Portfolio_Piece1b_TMU Student Number

Label all process work.

Use the following format for labelling your process work:

  • Process_1* _TMU Student Number [replace the number for each piece (2,3,4)]

For additional uploads related to the same process work:

  • Process_1a_TMU Student Number
  • Process_1b_TMU Student Number

If you are applying for readmission or reinstatement, you are not required to submit non-academic requirements.

 You must inform the program department of your intentions by February 1, 2023, or 10 business days from your application submission date (whichever comes later).

After Graduation

Pursue professional membership with the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) if desired, and contribute to the world of design through exhibition design, set design, contemporary interior design offices, independent consulting firms, organizations, furniture manufacturers, marketing and promotion and facility management. You may work as an interior designer, film production designer, exhibition designer, product designer or visual merchandiser. Or, pursue graduate studies in interior design, architecture, product design, curatorial studies or a related field.

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