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Brooklyn-based design firm Claudia Giselle Design LLC. prides itself in creating luxurious interior designs that prioritize health and wellbeing. Before switching to Vectorworks, the firm relied on multiple drafting programs. Now they’re creating 2D and 3D models as well as high-quality renderings in one designer-friendly software.
Let’s explore the benefits the firm is finding by using Vectorworks software. If you’d like to watch a full presentation on the firm’s work with designer Catelyn Seifert, click the button below.
“We were spending way too much time trying to figure out how to use certain aspects of Revit instead of actually designing bespoke interiors. That’s why we decided to make the switch to Vectorworks.”
- Catelyn Seifert, designer at Claudia Giselle Design LLC
1) A complete design workflow in one program saves time
With Vectorworks, you don’t need to worry about switching files between software programs. Everything you need can be found in Vectorworks, saving you tons of time and stress. Claudia Giselle Design discovered this and are reaping the rewards in their workflow. Here are a few features that showcase the all-in-one nature of Vectorworks.Design Layers – So Much More Than Trace Paper
If you’re used to sketching with pencil and paper, then design layers will make a lot of sense to you. Design layers are the equivalent of trace paper — you can draw on them, stack them, reorganize them, and, most importantly, you can use them to almost instantly produce a variety of important outputs like renderings and presentation packages.
Ready-to-Go Object Catalogs
Within Vectorworks’ Resource Manager you’ll find thousands of premade objects that you can easily insert into your file. These objects have information attached to them so you can confidently produce reports and takeoffs.
Design Iteration & Exploring Design Options
Catelyn Seifert of Claudia Giselle Design noted that the ability to replace generic geometry with more specific objects saves them a ton of time. They’re able to use objects from the Resource Manager and ones created with basic drawing and extrusion techniques to share concepts with clients in early design phases.
The below image is an example of how you can use design layers and ready-to-go object libraries to quickly provide clients with design options.
Then, as the project matures, these generic objects can be extrapolated into more information-rich and graphically pleasing options. Vectorworks' custom modeling capabilities combine with and complement the software's ready-made objects, enabling a complete modeling toolkit for interiors.
2) Templated files lead to high-quality drafting standards
The firm begins each project with a templated file instead of starting completely from scratch. This allows them to spend less time on organization and more time being creative.
Aspects of the firm’s templated files include:
- Design layers
- Sheet layers
- Title blocks
- Font styles
- Class attributes
In addition to the time-saving benefits of template files, they allow new team members to quickly get up to speed. Seifert noted that you can even include instructions in the template file on how it’s organized and the most effective ways to use it. Templates also help ensure you’re being consistent in terms of branding.
3) Visualization & graphically presenting ideas are more important than ever
The graphics capabilities in Vectorworks were a huge draw for Claudia Giselle Design as they considered making the switch. They’re now able to render their models at various design stages in just a matter of minutes.
“We find that a 3D rendering really sells the design idea,” Seifert said. “Our renderings are done completely in Vectorworks with no other programs or postproduction.”
Custom Renderworks styles can be created to customize the look of your renderings. You can create different styles corresponding to different project phases and levels of detail necessary. Seifert shared that they use speedy, interactive renderings for concepts and high-quality for final presentations. Styles are easily created, applied, and saved via the Resource Manager.
You can also apply filters to your rendered views through the Edit Image Effects option should you want to adjust your style for a particular project. All together, this means you don’t have to rely on another program like Photoshop for post-production on your renderings.
Watch the Full Presentation by Catelyn Seifert, Designer at Claudia Giselle Design
If you’re interested in a full Claudia Giselle workflow demonstration, you can find that and more in the webinar designer Catelyn Seifert hosted with us.
All images are courtesy of Claudia Giselle Design LLC.
