Award-winning interior designer Jessica Ma
Jessica Ma (B.F.A., interior design, 2020) has been named Emerging Interior Designer of the Year by the International Design Awards (IDA). Her award-winning portfolio focused on helping people, companies, and venues surmount obstacles that hinder human interaction.
“Interior design is truly a way to make substantial differences in our well-being,” Ma says. “As a creator, I shape experiences and the feelings associated with them.”
Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Ma grew up believing she would be a doctor. As a teenager, her family moved to Macau, where she attended International School of Macau. As a volunteer desk clerk at The Macau University of Science and Technology hospital, Ma saw first-hand how a building’s inefficiencies and outdated design components impact the treatment and well-being of patients.
The SCAD Atlanta 2020 valedictorian lives in New Jersey, speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, and English and, in her downtime, plays classical piano.
Jessica Ma:
As a child, I was always drawing and expressing myself creatively through art. As I got older, I started making my mom take me to open houses in our neighborhood. I loved seeing how people decorated their homes. When I got into The Sims, I played it a lot. My mom should have probably understood then that I was going to become an interior designer.
Before transferring to SCAD Hong Kong in 2017, I was studying medical engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. While I was doing well in my courses, I realized I had to make a change. I remember telling my parents, “I have to follow my heart. I’m going to be an artist.”
At SCAD, I became a different person. I was finally able to embrace my creative spirit. Following my heart and studying interior design was the best decision I ever made.
Interior design truly is a way to help people and make substantial differences in our well-being. We are constantly indoors, and we use spaces to connect with each other hundreds of times a day, whether in an office, home, café, hotel, or other public or private space. As a creator, I shape those experiences and the feelings associated with them.
My professors at SCAD provided guidance, and gave me space and freedom to create. There were no boundaries placed on what was possible, and that allowed me explore groundbreaking ideas. Working with chair of interior design Ryan Hansen, I was able to embrace new concepts on each new space I worked on.
In my submission to the IDA, I included designs I created for The Independent Living, Inc. I began working on the concept my junior year in the class Interior Design Studio II: Specialized Interior Environments. Professor Hansen encouraged us to reimagine and design a space that would assist autistic individuals integrating more fully into society.
The project helped me realize the power of designing for specific industries. For example, healthcare providers are constantly upgrading their facilities as the needs of their patients change. Interior designers are crucial to that effort.
Interior design is a young industry. It will be crucial to our society for years to come. We need safe havens to curate relationships, create connections, and rejuvenate ourselves. I see myself as a difference maker. I wouldn’t have gotten here without SCAD.
Learn more about SCAD interior design.
Written by Robert Almand
