Interior design

Interior design is the art or process of designing the interior, often including the exterior, of a room or building. An interior designer is someone who coordinates and manages such projects. Interior design is a multifaceted profession that includes conceptual development, communicating with the stakeholders of a project and the management and execution of the design.

Interior design is the process of shaping the experience of interior space, through the manipulation of spatial volume as well as surface treatment.

History and current terms

In the past, interiors were put together instinctively as a part of the process of building. The profession of interior design has been a consequence of the development of society and the complex architecture that has resulted from the development of industrial processes. The pursuit of effective use of space, user well-being and functional design has contributed to the development of the contemporary interior design profession. The profession of interior design is separate and distinct from the role of Interior Decorator, a term commonly used in the US. The term is less common in the UK where the profession of interior design is still unregulated and therefore, strictly speaking, not yet officially a profession.

Architectural Digest

Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subject is interior design, not architecture more generally, as the name of the magazine suggests. The magazine is published by Condé Nast, which also publishes eight international editions of Architectural Digest.

Architectural Digest is aimed at an affluent and style-conscious readership, and is subtitled "The International Design Authority". The magazine also oversees the AD100, a list of top 100 architects and interior designers around the world.

History

Originally a quarterly trade directory called The Architectural Digest: A Pictorial Digest of California's Best Architecture, the magazine was launched in 1920 by John Coke Brasfield (1880—1965), a Tennessee-born importer and advertising executive who founded the John C. Brasfield Publishing Corporation, which was based in Los Angeles, California. Interiors and exteriors of residences were featured in the magazine, along with floor plans.

Hot-melt adhesive

Hot melt adhesive (HMA), also known as hot glue, is a form of thermoplastic adhesive that is commonly supplied in solid cylindrical sticks of various diameters, designed to be melted in an electric hot glue gun. The gun uses a continuous-duty heating element to melt the plastic glue, which the user pushes through the gun either with a mechanical trigger mechanism on the gun, or with direct finger pressure. The glue squeezed out of the heated nozzle is initially hot enough to burn and even blister skin. The glue is tacky when hot, and solidifies in a few seconds to one minute. Hot melt adhesives can also be applied by dipping or spraying.

In industrial use, hot melt adhesives provide several advantages over solvent-based adhesives. Volatile organic compounds are reduced or eliminated, and the drying or curing step is eliminated. Hot melt adhesives have long shelf life and usually can be disposed of without special precautions. Some of the disadvantages involve thermal load of the substrate, limiting use to substrates not sensitive to higher temperatures, and loss of bond strength at higher temperatures, up to complete melting of the adhesive. This can be reduced by using a reactive adhesive that after solidifying undergoes further curing e.g., by moisture (e.g., reactive urethanes and silicones), or is cured by ultraviolet radiation. Some HMAs may not be resistant to chemical attacks and weathering. HMAs do not lose thickness during solidifying; solvent-based adhesives may lose up to 50-70% of layer thickness during drying.