Client presentation

[dskogg]

What type of styles do you use to present your designs to clients?

[Alaskan_Son]

For question #2, it totally varies based on WHY I'm showing them a rendering.  Do I want them to see and understand some construction detail?  Is it a surface detail or the inner workings of something?  Is it for general massing purposes?  Do I want them to see the focus on the form or the finishes?  For me it just totally depends.  Don't have time to exapand on it, but here's something I posted elsewhere a while back to give you an idea of how I operate...

 

I use all of them with the exception of Duotone and Painting.  I'm not super good at describing artistic rational but I'll give it a go...

 

Vector Views result in very sharp, clean lines, and can be used in color when you want to accent the details about the basic form and include a very general sense of color schemes but still remain a bit disconnected from reality.  The "cartoon" like qualities help keep the model from feeling like the real thing and therefore allow a person to focus on whats important during the initial design phase.

 

Glass House is good for seeing how the various design elements interact and correlate with each other.

 

Technical Illustration is one of my favorites for accenting form without bringing color into the mix.  A person could use vector views with colors turned off for this as well, but I find technical illustration much more realistic, much warmer, it brings better depth and just has a better overall feel in my opinion. 

 

Watercolor to me is like the opposite of technical illustration.  I use it (usually with line drawing) to accent color while only giving a very general sense as to the details of the overall form.  Used along with line drawing it seems to help a person more freely envision the deign without getting tied up in the details.

 

Line Drawing is much like watercolor in that you can use it (especially early in the process) to make the design feel more like a rough idea...a sketch...which again, keeps people from getting too tied up in the little details yet it still allows for a relatively good way to accent the form. 

 

 

EDIT:  PBR  and Ray Trace I use just to either highlight actual material and lighting decisions, or (more commonly) just to give clients something kinda fun and exciting to look at.  Which one I use just depends on the scene and on how much time I have.  I prefer Ray Traces for a number of reasons, but for some scenes and projects PBR does well enough.

[DavidJPotter]

People are different. So it is one's job to gauge one's clients and deliver the level of graphic communication necessary to fulfill their needs. Our job is to graphically communicate that we understand what they want, so whatever that requires is correct for that client. There are no slots that everyone fits into. Chief makes it easy  to get that job done for sure.

 

DJP 

[dskogg]

I was thinking of how everyone conveys their design to a client... 

back in the day all we had was line drawing plan and elevations to show a client a design.

so I was hoping to get a sense of what others do and if you have time why you do what you do.

i remember doing perspective drawings with vanishing lines on a drafting table with pencil on vellum.. boy have we come far.

 

so my question is really focused on design presentation.. these days it not ok just to draw a line for cabinets in a kitchen but show the cabinet style, splash, lighting, cabinet configuration, hood style, fixtures, etc

 

 same thing holds true for the exterior, missing, material changes, window configuration etc.

 

 we all are selling a design to a client

 

anyways I hope to see a good response to see what others are doing so we all can learn from one another..

 

 

[MarkMc]

I never do 360. Have tried it and not always happy with the result and the clients were not impressed.

 

During the design process I start out with Tech Illustrations to keep them focused on the spacial and functional aspects of design which is why they come to me in the first place. That prevents them from getting too involved in finishes and forgetting the rest. During meetings I often show Standard/Vector views. I show them what PBR will look like using a previous job or two BUT emphasize that they MUST select finishes from real life samples.

 

Once the layout is (mostly) settled I use PBRs, done prior to the meeting and keep optional materials in a dedicated folder in the user library. I try to prevent having to spend excessive time matching a sample on screen by just doing the best I can before they get to see it. Finals are exported as PNG image at 3-600 dpi with a unit size set (6-9" wide) then imported into the layout. Cameras are saved but layout views are static not live.

 

I do something similar for my drafting clients since the materials are often selected during revisions. They are given Tech Illustration, update on demand, so they can alter the camera views to suit, though I often have to do that live in a Zoom for them. Finals for most are PBR. There will often be overhead renders done in watercolor with line included along the way, always when multiple rooms or full home. Exteriors are very often Ray Trace if it counts.

Third party renders rare as are super good (extra time) PBR or RT.

[dskogg]

Mark here is a 360 i did with very little time spent staging and such...i know floors are too shinny..i did it for a realtor that is listing and selling a reno...renovator usually doesn't get plans done so the realtor wanted to show him what it could look like so they don't have to discount job at end because of design decisions renovator makes without any design input.

 

I find clients like to share their designs with friends and family for input..360 works well for this.

 

https://accounts.chiefarchitect.com/360/view?share=150042410378297

 

[joey_martin]

99% of the time, this is my initial presentation to my clients. As the design progresses, I use more of these.

[rgardner]

Every case is different but I sometimes use something like this to different degrees of finish.