An Interview with Ian Rolston

Discover Ian Rolston's journey from interior design to founding Decanthropy, his insights on global work experiences, and advocacy for diversity and inclusion.

Design is a powerful tool for solving problems, creating more inclusive spaces and inspiring new ideas – all things the JennAir Disrupting Design Advisory Board members know well. 

Ian Rolston is the founder of an innovation consultancy Decanthropy, designing strategic interventions for executive teams committed to equitable futures in private and public sectors. We spoke to him about his experiences breaking into interior design, what working overseas has taught him and why he’s passionate about the need to advance representation and inclusion.

Tell us about why you chose interior design as a career.

I always had sort of a curiosity about people in spaces.I was encouraged by my art teacher (Mr. John Doyle) to apply to OCAD, the Ontario College of Art and Design.I actually ended up skipping school for about two weeks without my parents knowing and put together a portfolio and was accepted into the school. 

I have always had this curiosity about how design shows up in the world and sought out other curious creatives. I was fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to interview at a really great firm in Toronto, and was hired, so that's when I felt like my design education started.

You’ve worked all over the world. How have those experiences shaped your approach to design?

I think I learned the craft of design and really how to engage with people. When you're standing in a meeting on the other side of the world, where perhaps English isn't the first choice in terms of communicating…

You really have to learn how to listen beyond just the words that are spoken. I think they're those experiences taught me how to notice how humans respond to ideas without even saying words.

This focus around designing for inclusion and designing for cultural understanding and awareness to sort of take shape…mid career.I remember questioning designing an Asian tea house in a northern province of China – just thinking, “hmm, the kid from Scarborough with a Barbadian background is designing an Asian tea house, in an Asian country.”

Something didn't completely sit right with that idea, so I started really thinking about how to become this cultural sponge, a conduit and a facilitator in the design process and not necessarily owning outcomes.

That approach began to shape and form who I was becoming as a designer. 

And so, I wanted to have more conversations. I really began to understand that I wanted to impact design through an authentic exchange of what I just call humanity in the design process.

The company I founded and I'm working for now, Decanthropy, was shaped in that understanding and ethos. We like to make systems and strategies and spaces more human.

What kinds of barriers to breaking into interior design have you experienced?

My parents came to Canada from Barbados in the early ‘70s.When you look at immigrant families, there's a great deal of sacrifice that goes into establishing oneself in a new place, in a new context. There are a lot of difficulties that have to be managed and endured.

And so when you are paving this path and creating this foundation for your children, you really want them to find the path that gets them to safety and security, especially from an employment standpoint.

So, my parents were all about me becoming an engineer, or doctor – professional occupations that are stable and that have perceived prominence to them. It was a barrier for me because I wasn't built that way. 

I was lucky enough to have a fantastic art teacher who opened upmy understanding around architecture and design. That began to light that fire - that “oh, this is possible, perhaps I can actually support a family doing this, if I get the right education and find the right opportunities.”

In school, you struggle a bit because there are others there that are 100% dedicated to just attending classes. I felt like I was always about 10 steps behind everyone on projects.I was managing having to work to pay for school, attend classes and make good grades. I wouldn't change it because I think it's shaped some things in me that were critical to who I am as a human being today.

What are some of the barriers to creating a more inclusive and equitable interior design industry?

When you look at the industry, it's not really that diverse.Me being a Black designer, it was a little bit of an anomaly in some ways.Things are certainly improving now, but there are still sort of challenges that we are looking to address in design leadership. There are systemic issues around building a practice: access to relationships, securing the work, and securing operational funding from banking institutions, that you have to address.

There is a societal narrative that's attached to me as a Black male, that I carry everywhere I go. In a store, on public transit or in board room. I showed up at a meeting one time and other consultant thought that I was the individual providing tea service. They were shocked when they realized I was leading the meeting.

I learned not to take it so personally over time, but also to understand I play a role in changing the narrative. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to but do so in hopes that others after me will not have to at all.

It has gotten better, but there is still so much runway to impact change. Being a part of the Disrupting Design conversation is a really important part of that impact. 

Why is cultivating a more diverse interior design industry important to you?

Diversity in design is really important to drive different outcomes. Things in our world are changing so quickly. We can't solve this the same problems with the same perspectives or the same technology. So you need people that see the world in very different waysto create conversation and address conflict and tensions, because out of those conflicts, out of that tension, out of that inquiry, new possibilities are forged.

Design for me really is something that is universal.I think is much like music.It has the ability to communicate and emote, and to really bring people together without necessarily having to know the language.It moves you in ways that are difficult to describe, the good stuff is in the unspoken and intuitive.

There's this research that's being done by the University of Singapore, and they've identified that from culture to culture, we see the world differently and so it's important to understand that… difference is a part of who we are and how we navigate the world. Difference should be embraced, not excluded.

I think it's important that that difference shows up so that we can share knowledge and experiences and information, so that there is this sort of sense of connection that we get to foster within the context of design and built forms. Because everything we do happens in a space, it's so critical to who we are as human beings and our human experience.We know that space is supportive of better health outcomes, better relationships, and better being overall.

Disrupt with us

The JennAir Disrupting Design program aims to break the structural barriers for Black, Indigenous and people of colour to have better access to study and work in the design sector – because better representation of racialized Canadians in interior design will drive stronger, more diverse design work. There’s still a long way to go. Learn more about how to get involved with JennAir Disrupting Design programs.

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