Book review: 'Business of Design' looks past pretty exterior

— -- We see it on every newsstand and a multitude of TV channels: gorgeous interior design and architecture. But ask any professional in the trade what it takes to produce a magazine-worthy project, and they will describe months — even years — of coordination.

But like everything you don't see in that magazine spread or the "reveal" scene of a decorating show, designers tend to think of their back-office obligations as an afterthought, says design management consultant Keith Granet.

"Designers and architects are some of the most creative people on Earth … but they can be some of the worst businesspeople I have ever met," Granet writes in the first sentence of his new book, The Business of Design: Balancing Creativity and Profitability.

Granet, who got his start as an intern at the international architectural giant Gensler, is now heralded as agent to the design stars. Most of his clients have TV shows, furniture lines and books to their credit — in no small part due to Granet's dealmaking.

He counts among his clients three of the stars on Bravo's Million Dollar Decorators: Jeffrey Alan Marks, Kathryn Ireland and Mary McDonald. Other clients include Thom Filicia, who's starred in multiple decorating shows on Bravo, Style Network and HGTV; and Nate Berkus, the designer made famous by Oprah Winfrey who now hosts his own network show.

"Mr. Granet … has become to decorators what Swifty Lazar was to screenwriters and stars," A New York Times profile reported this summer.

Yet the business advice he imparts could be applicable to any small-business owner, such as:

•Vetting clients . (Trust your instincts; don't be afraid to say "no.")

•Negotiating fees and contracts. ("The true negotiator knows how to express his value to clients in a way that they understand what it is that they're paying for.")

•Project management. ("No budget, no software and no schedule can ever replace the power of communicating well with your client.")

•Brand building. ("Be able to describe it in one sentence or less, and create a strong logo to illustrate it.")

Granet takes a conversational tone throughout the book's 200 pages. He uses charts and numbers that one might find in a business-school textbook, but explains subjects such as financial management, human resources and product development in an eminently readable way, interspersed with interviews, anecdotes and examples to illustrate each point.

To Granet, creative types need a lot of convincing and hand-holding to realize that their talents are actually worthy of a successful business model.

"Hiring a designer is considered a luxury. Yet as a luxury profession it doesn't command the respect of the business world in the way other professions do."

Here's why: "Most designers love their profession more than just about anything and see it as such a labor of love that they'd even do it without getting paid, if they could afford to. This starving-artist syndrome is a major reason why so many designers are paid so little," Granet writes. "I'd say that very few designers and architects are taught to value their work. Nor are they taught much else about how to earn a living."

To fix this professional flaw and elevate their stature among clients designers must turn to basics: They must pay attention to the cost impact of projects and anticipate contingencies associated with contracts.