Businesses where MIAD interior graduates have been employed:

Anderson/ Miller
interior design and architecture As You Like It
furniture designer, manufacturer

Aurora Health Care
health care

Bainbridge Design
interior design firm

Catral Doyle Creative
graphic/interior design studio

Continuum Architects / Planners
architecture firm

Design/Build Lansdscape Company
residential designer

Engberg Anderson Design Partnership
architecture firm

Eppstein Uhen Architects
architecture firm

Ethan Allen
furniture sales

Field Paoli Architects
architecture and urban design

Forrer Business Interiors
business interior consulting and sales

Foxcor, Inc.
furniture and interiors

Frank Mayer & Associates, Inc.
point of purchase, display design

Gould Evans Affiliates
architecture firm

Hay Dobbs Architects
architecture

Interior Systems, Inc.
interior design, retail design

Jordy Carter Commercial Interiors, Inc.
commercial office interiors

Kinetikos Medical - KM1
implant manufacturer, medical

Kohler Company
manufacturer, durable plumbing

Lively Designs and P&H Interiors
design & furniture company

Mehmert Store Services
retail design

Poggenpohl US Inc.
european kitchen design

Rotpunkt Kitchen
furniture design, interior architecture

Ruud Lighting
architectural/engineering firm

Superior Exhibits & Design, Inc.
exhibit design

Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects
architecture

Wynn O. Jones & Associates, Inc.
interior design, interior decorating, furniture

Zimmermann Design Group
interior design firm

Aeron Knutson
From Student Unions to Showcase Homes: A Designer's Passion for Space.

• attended New Berlin West High School, New Berlin, WI
• graduated 1999, BFA Interior Architecture + Design
• currently an Interior Architect + Designer at P & H Interiors, www.pnhinteriors.com

"Growing up, I wanted to be a fighter pilot, which ironically brought me full circle. I loved building model jets, and that taught me the importance of scale, detail, and patience, which are all essential to being a designer." Even before graduating from MIAD, Aeron Knutson was a designer on the move. As a junior, Knuston created a fresh and innovative coffee bar design for the remodel of MIAD's Student Union, a project which opened a number of professional doors on the road to a career in Interior Architecture +Design. And what a successful road it has been. Over the next two years, Knutson would go on to design workstations and display walls, and propose full-scale renovations for a variety of spaces within MIAD's academic facility. While a student, the recognition of Knutson's progressive designs for MIAD attracted a number of outside clients, and generated several substantial commission projects, leading him to start his own company upon finishing his degree. His company's commissions included space and furniture design for the William F. Eisner Museum of Advertising & Design, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Massive Records, as well as many Milwaukee area private residences. Knutson has since obtained a lucrative position in a leading Interior Architecture + Design firm in Southern Florida. Q. What is your first memorable experience with art and design? A. As far back as I can remember, I have always loved art and the power of creativity. My first memorable experience with architecture and design was when my senior high school art teacher did a presentation on "Architecture Is Art, Too." I remember how well Mr. Heil presented Frank Lloyd Wright's concepts in "Falling Water," and how he made architecture interesting and fun by discussing architecture philosophy, composition, and aesthetics. That was when it hit me, and I remember thinking to myself, "I could really love doing this."

Q. How did your MIAD education affect where you are today? A. While at MIAD, I developed a strong portfolio of fabricated work, and gained invaluable real-world work experience. MIAD gave me great confidence in my work, and by my sophomore year I knew I would love designing for the rest of my life. I was given great opportunities to design and build my concepts during my four years in IA+D at MIAD. One of the most valuable things I learned at MIAD was presentation. I saw some great ideas lost because the work was not presented well. Q. What's the one thing you would tell a high school student who is considering attending MIAD now that you've experienced life after graduation? A. I was given a great opportunity to discover my passion for design, without knowing a thing about architecture before I attended MIAD. Now, I'm a successful architectural designer with skilled knowledge in my profession.

Q. Please define how you saw your major while you were in school, and how that definition has changed over the years. A. It's funny, I saw architecture as something boring and lifeless before I knew anything about it. In fact, it was intimidating because I didn't think I would like all the math and technical things in involved with it. Now, it's the most interesting and exciting subject I would want to study, and all the technical material has just become common knowledge. Q. Are there any specific parts of your résumé that you would like to share? Notable spaces that you've created? A. I am currently working on Custom Showcase Homes (luxury model homes) for new neighborhood communities in South Florida. While a student, I was very privileged to design my personal work station at MIAD, the Student Union Coffee Bar, Interior Architecture + Design display walls, and oversee, along with fellow IA+D major Deborah Baumgart and Professor Bob Lynch, the renovation of MIAD's fourth floor Illustration Department. That work is a great example of the potential success a determined student can achieve while attending MIAD.