Hand drawn designs vs CAD designs...

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi all, I was just wondering, when you are in the market to purchase a Kitchen, Bedroom or Bathroom, would you prefer to see your designers concepts and ideas hand drawn or created using a CAD package? I have used both and see the advantages that either can give a designer, but I would like a better understanding from a clients point of view, vote/comment below!

CAD Design

Hand Drawn Design

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PRO

User

8 years ago

CAD is great and sure is neat, but hand drawn for me have that extra personal touch and a bit of magic too

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Comments (104)

PRO
DC Carpentry and Construction
8 years ago
Better detail
PRO
Feilden Fowles
8 years ago
Hand drawing allows more creative and instinctive design.
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bechandersen
8 years ago
I recently saw an example of CAD designing at its worst.

A neighbour wanted to put two adjacent apartments together and the first salesman happened to sell kitchens. As could be expected he produced a design of a wonderful kitchen, using CAD, and it looked like a ball room in a 70 m2 apartment. That’s tiny. The customer told me how wonderful it was that she would have room for a food mixer although she never uses one. The proposed kitchen, as it turned out, would have taken all her money, so she decided to sell the apartments instead.

Blame the CAD, blame the salesman, blame whoever you want. An hour with the customer over a sketchbook at the initial stage might have saved the project.
PRO
All Aspects Architectural Joinery Limited
8 years ago
Hand drawn is more personal and gives more customer interaction.
PRO
Greig Young Visuals
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Personally when I have worked on projects with designers & clients I have always had both. I specialize in visuals for architects & interior designers. From my architectural background I find sketches/hand drawings an ideal way to communicate early concepts & ideas between designers and clients. This is especially helpful during one to one discussions.

Once a design is into later stages then a CGI visual would be recommended. From meticulous surveying to rendering in 3DS MAX with VRay. My aim is always to get CGI's to be realistic and give an accurate representation of a finished project. Due to the elements involved in creating a CGI, a concept hand drawing will not capture the elements such as natural & artificial lighting.

If I could I would vote both. In my view a professional CGI is just as personal as a hand drawing. Not just because they can take the same amount of time but because every single one should be bespoke to the user.

Sketch View 1 · More Info

Eagle Brow Master Bedroom CGI Visual · More Info

Sketch View 2 · More Info

Master Bedroom CGI Visual · More Info

Thank you,

Greig Young
PRO
Sarch Studio
8 years ago
I think hand-drawings are great for getting ideas across quickly and can show 3-d elements initially before working out absolute sizes. It's helpful to the client to have a personal touch and the designer to get a good hand-to-brain feel for the work required.
PRO
Richard Lee
8 years ago
This is still very interesting, as an old time visualiser everything had to be in place to commission artwork for a design... These days with CGI the design doesn't need to be, so the process is somewhat diminished and the responsibility of the designer to not keep adjusting things accepted. Designers will always keep adjusting things until 2 days before the 3 day process of rendering is due! Chuckles irreverently...
PRO
Slemish Design Studio Architects
8 years ago
we'd use both hand drawings & cad & 3D renders for our clients - cads great to get the idea of the floor plan across, but the 3D renders beat everything hands down for showing clients the potential of the project.

We've some great examples on our profile if you'd like to take a look.
PRO
User
8 years ago
It is really interesting to see so many opinions on often such overlooked, but how important aspect. Everyone here seems to have their own preference and experiences and looking at the poll it is head to head. I think that Joe did us all a favour by starting this, so big thanks to him!
Joe Hurles
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you! To be honest I didn't think I would get this reaction! obviously a very important subject for a huge number of people. Such a close vote too!
PRO
User
8 years ago
Nearly 450 votes and 65 comments so far! I would be very keen to see a breakdown for home owners. What's their preference.
PRO
Greig Young Visuals
8 years ago
Perhaps if it wasn't for apps such as this then people who are not in the industry are unaware of the access to a CGI visualisers.
PRO
dwell design
7 years ago
we use both as much as we can, both are excellent design tools but quick sketches really help clients get an understanding of spaces.
PRO
Cotswold Architects Ltd
7 years ago
Both have there own place. We produce sketches initially and then more accurate CAD drawings.
PRO
FBA Design Ltd
7 years ago
We use both. Both has their advantages. Hand drawing will always be more special, but Cad drawings are more accurate and easier to amend and distribute.
PRO
Interior View Design
7 years ago
AutoCAD for planning rooms , as it is the most accurate for dimensions and along with 3D HD render this I believe is what people now expect . Being able to show the actual tiles and possible units in a 3D image stops client confusion and therefore less problems at the end - basically "Oh I didn't think it was going to look like this comments" these for any good designer will be few and far between but will still arise if only hand drawing.
PRO
Greig Young Visuals
7 years ago
I couldn't agree more. AutoCAD plans & 3D HD renders are now what people expect but do they understand the cost and time they take?
PRO
Interior View Design
7 years ago
That is an excellent point and probably the answer would be no. So as with everything it is a question of education ... the way I work is I use hourly rate but in the end I have never billed for actual time it would be a ridiculous cost so I charge what I feel the work is worth. The people who annoy me most is the companies who say we give you the bathroom you want with no design fees [these are usually TV/online companies] so what sort of bathroom do the clients get ? . Also showrooms still say free design service "FREE!!!!" do me a favour I worked for design outlets who offered that but they had to pay me and where did that money come from?..... now let me guess here - CLIENTS.
PRO
Gary Johns Architects
7 years ago
Hi Joseph -interesting poll - what software do you use? We use Archicad with Lumion which allows us to convert CAD models to hand drawn drawings.
PRO
MS Interiors & Design Ltd
7 years ago
Hand drawn I feel gives the client a better visual and gives the impression you have spent more time creating a interior design just for them.
PRO
Jonathan Hendry Architects
7 years ago
CAD is great for flexibility but we also love freehand sketches to show clients
PRO
OnePlan
7 years ago
We always start with pencil sketches ... Finish with CAD.
PRO
Jane Ashley Garden Design
7 years ago
You know that CAD is easy to change without going back to the start - also more likely to be accurate
PRO
Interior View Design
7 years ago
Ms Interiors & Designs Ltd commented that hand drawn gives better visual ... I am not so sure better, but I would say maybe more personal .. but HD 3D render gives the actual look of the room which will include 99% of the time the actual tile which I feel is one of the most important items in bathroom all a hand drawn can do is give an impression so your telling the client it will look something like this instead of saying "IT" will look like this. In the image note the tiles behind the basin area.
PRO
Fitzgerald + Associates Ltd
7 years ago
I remember when we first moved to CAD and presentations to council were not welcomed until we bought a small piece of software called "Squiggle" that gave the illusion of hand drawn - how things have moved on since then !
PRO
Interior View Design
7 years ago
I don't know about all but the 3D render packages I know, all have the facility to do a hand drawn type image. Funnily enough doing that at the moment as I am doing work for a designer who does not want present client with too much information at this time.
PRO
Paul Cashin Architects
7 years ago
We find that clients like to see hand drawings, especially if they are drawn in front of them in meetings or on site. CAD has it's advantages of course with accuracy and for production information, but hand drawn information shows character from the designer themselves.
PRO
User
7 years ago
Hand drawings give the clients a much more personal touch - CAD is of course excellent software but as I was trained to draw by hand I personally prefer this method
PRO
G W Foran Design - Garden + Landscape
7 years ago
Hand drawing is important to the creative process.
PRO
Joseph James Interiors
7 years ago
Hi all, this is Joe Hurles (I started this whole post..) I now offer freelance design services, please follow my profile. Thanks
PRO
Greig Young Visuals
7 years ago
All the best Joe.

So from this post what is your approach going to be? Mixture of both?

Regards

Greig
PRO
Joseph James Interiors
7 years ago
I can now offer either, I visit site, offer the customer either a hand drawn design or cad, once this has been done and we agree layouts/product etc I produce a list of recommended products and information on where to purchase them, I can also introduce them to installers that are capable of exciting the designs properly. I also provide an annotated version of the designs for the installer to refer to, of course everything is conceptual and is completely dependent on the installer to agree is feasible, they usually prefer CAD in that they simply prefer seeing dimensions, but the hand drawn has an element of personalisation that I feel cad can struggle or provide.
PRO
Martha James Kitchens and Living Spaces
7 years ago
I believe both are important,however when customers find it hard to visualise their choices cad allows them to get a sense of reality.
PRO
User
7 years ago
Hi Joe wishing you all the best for your new business
Kristin Crouch
7 years ago
Not all hand drawn designs look as good as yours I must say... It's tricky to say. I prefer hand drawn if designed well, but sometimes CAD can give a better visual..
PRO
Collings & Heal Photographic Services
7 years ago
I think that if you able to do both, then you should do both. It shows that you are a creative and cut above.
PRO
Pixel Perfect CGI Visualisation Services
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
CGI's are the best way forward for truly understanding the designers vision.
PRO
Philip Morrison Interiors
7 years ago
Nothing like a real life visualisation
PRO
CP Shutters
7 years ago
How long until we start to use virtual reality in clients homes?https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us/why-hololens
PRO
IAN ARCHER DESIGN
7 years ago
LOVE DRAWING PERSONALLY

BUT CGI HELPS CLIENTS UNDERSTAND CLEARLY WHAT THEY'RE GETTING
PRO
Daniel Atkin Garden Design
7 years ago
Both are great but hand drawn look more organic to me.
PRO
Chic Cocoon
7 years ago
Both are very important. We will recommend to use a balance of both the techniques.
PRO
Logspan
7 years ago
CAD provides a clean and professional look
PRO
McEvoy & Rowley
7 years ago
We use CAD drawings here, we've found that our customers find it easier to visualise the final product this way!
PRO
Isidora Markovic
7 years ago
Hand drawn feels more personal and gives the customer a visualisation that is hard to glean from a 2D CAD drawing alone. But as others have said, to have both is best as it gives you the complete vision.
PRO
OnePlan
7 years ago
you cant do this on your phone/ tablet in the room with a pencil sketch though ?

http://panorama.2020.net/view/h4jdzlcneekyqa4cwp150a/
PRO
Vrender Company
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
https://vrender.com
PRO
Collings & Heal Photographic Services
6 years ago
I am now convinced that a good hand rendered illustration is definitely best as it shows that you genuinely have a good visual understanding and artisan spirit.
PRO
Chesterfields Of Mayfair
5 years ago
Love the magic touch hand drawn designs have ✨
Ciara Greggs
last year
Loved reading this discussion! I am an interior designer and have done my interior sketchign courses with BehindCanvas. The tutor is amazing and you can do the tutorials online in your own time and rewatch them. Highly recommend if you're interested in mastering sketching from zero!

Hand drawn designs vs CAD designs...

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