A story is told without words, through the lens of Katy Fetrow. Katy’s creative background teaches us the differences and similarities between interior design and set design.
Katy playing the part while set designing at Carnegie Mellon.
Q | How has your professional career in Interior Design affected your career in Set Design, and vice versa?
Interior Design gave me an incredible foundation of technical skills, creative problem solving and professionalism to carry into my graduate program at Carnegie Mellon. This experience allowed me to focus on learning how to craft a space around a narrative. What blossomed out of this was an understanding of how to create an environment that can influence your emotions. Every visual detail can reveal a story about the people who live, work and play there.
Q | How is Interior Design and Set Design the same/different?
In both you’re ultimately faced with the same question - How do you fill an empty space? By utilizing an almost identical skill set, you’re creating a unique experience for someone. Whether it’s an apartment, a baseball stadium, or a musical production, the way something is designed will affect how an individual, a team or an audience will feel about an environment or event.
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Every visual detail can reveal a story about the people that live, work and play there.”
- Katy Fetrow, One Line Design Studio
In a traditional sense of architecture there is a relationship between conscious, clear design and functionality. There is a general program of spaces that are needed to serve the user.
In theater the problem of design does not start as logically. Time and space do not always act logically so I find it requires more of one’s intuition, asking how does it make one feel. Design for a theatrical production walks a fine line of what is visible and what is invisible. Good set design encourages the audience to fill in the blanks.
Film is a kind of hybrid of these two ways of thinking. Through its own clever illusions and editing techniques it presents its own curated perspective of a person’s relationship to a space.
What I love most about interior design and set design is that every work can have its own style and strategies of connecting people to each other and their environment.
Q | The Why Question is important for any creative, artist or designer. What motivates you to continue a career in design? Why do you do what you do?
For me design and emotion have always gone hand in hand. They share a mutual symbiosis where one cannot thrive without the other. By fostering both sides of this coin I ultimately want to build spaces that build empathy. Architecture shapes how we come together and is directly tied to society, our past, and how we envision our future. It takes both a reflective and open approach to discover how we can create a more equitable and just world.
About Katy Fetrow
Katy’s enthusiasm for connecting people to their surroundings is evidenced by her multi-faceted design experience. After numerous years creating multi-family residential and corporate spaces at architectural firms in Boston and Miami, Katy integrated her skillset into film and theatre to visually tell stories though art, lighting, and architecture. Her passion for travel and her curiosity for innovative technology has expanded her vision of how mindful elements can universally connect us. Her work and research have been internationally featured at the Prague Quadrennial, nationally recognized by USITT, and seen on CBS’s FBI and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. Katy earned her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, is an active member of IATSE USA Scenic Artists 829, and is an integral part of the interior design team at One Line Design Studio.