Continued from The Hidden Costs of CAD (Part 2 of 3).
When and how is CAD best used in the design process? Let’s consider a couple of student-centered scenarios through the lens of design technologies.
Scenario 1: Pre-Design Research and Programming
Say I assign a new commercial design project to my second year interior design students and ask them to demonstrate evidence of their precedent studies, fleshed out program, analysis of the existing space, criteria matrix, and adjacency matrix by next week. How could computer-based tools best be implemented?
First consider precedent studies, for which most of my students will begin by googling the topic.
How some teachers view Internet research
Wikipedia and Google images are not the best sources of scholarly information, but that doesn’t mean we should write off all digital resources as a waste of time. In fact, much of the students’ precedent research can be completed online through the University library website and other reputable online sources. In order to facilitate their success we should probably spend a class period with a trained University librarian who can explain online resources and help them to locate – and assess the legitimacy of – information related to their topics. I can also provide the project description and program as a digital document that can be edited and fleshed out as they do their precedent studies.
Is there any limit to what I think can be done through computer-based tools? Yes, there is. I do have some concern regarding the analysis of space because this requires a certain degree of hand-eye coordination to trigger intuitive design drawing. The increased availability and accessibility of tablet computers (e.g. apple ipad, blackberry playbook, samsung galaxy tab 10.1), as well as the incredibly sexy Wacom Cintiq, has made it possible for some artists and designers to completely replace traditional drawing with digital drawing. Notice I say it’s possible for some. For the rest of us, because of cost or preference, doodle diagrams will continue to be an analog method for a while longer.
The pre-design research scenario demonstrates how a digital-traditional hybrid method can be successfully applied. For a fully digital deliverable, the student can scan spatial analyses to add to the digital research; for a fully print deliverable, the student can print the digital research to turn in with hand sketches. If it fits the project schedule you could also have students summarize the pre-design research and programming in a simplified deliverable, like an 11″x17″ sheet (print or digital).
Scenario 2: Schematic Design Phase
True story.
Now let’s look at the schematic design phase of a third year residential interior design project and consider how computer-based tools could best be implemented. In the schematic design phase we’re doing basic space planning, making preliminary design decisions, generally translating the design program into designed space.
Specifications and Cut Sheets
My students actually introduced me to this one. Old dog <– new tricks. Tools like Specify let designers create spec books and cut sheets quickly and easily. In studio we use the time saved to more fully explore their material and ff&e options and give critical feedback on their preliminary choices. Sure, they don’t individually copy and paste each piece of information into a word document template but I don’t think they’re missing out on anything educational.
Study Model
I’m of two minds about the digitization of a study model. I, for one, find physical study models incredibly helpful for visualizing the shell of a building. However, I have allowed students to experiment with digital alternatives. Hand drawn or digital plan obliques and digital models (Revit, AutoCAD 3D, SketchUp) can be substituted for a study model when the learning outcome of a study model is intended to be a better understanding of the space – such as its scale and architectural character. However, if the craftsmanship and construction process are important learning outcomes then I do not recommend digitizing this part of the project.
Conclusion: The Traditional-Digital Hybrid Workflow
Know your process. Know how you think and how you work most effectively.
“The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.” – Milton Glaser
There are many possible ways to insert digital technologies into your design process but first you must understand your process well enough to know when it’s going south. Sure, every new tool is going to have a learning curve. Sure, the more complex the tool the more challenging the curve. But if you pay attention to how your mind and your drawing hand(s) respond to the tool you can tell when something is working and when it’s not.
For example, if I pick up a ball point pen or a 4H drawing pencil I can feel my hand-eye coordination start to fail. My thoughts come slower and there’s a low level of frustration humming in the back of my mind. Take a moment to ask yourself if you have had an experience like this. What was the tool? Why do you think it didn’t work for you?
Retail display sketches in ink and colored pencil (schematic)
And consider this: Some designers prefer to work from the macrocosm (big picture) to the microcosm (details) of a project. Others begin with a strong concept that guides every design decision. Personally, I am most creative – and ultimately successful – when I bounce back and forth between the big picture and concrete details. During the early stages my big picture is almost philosophical, some might even say impractical, but it is the theory that guides my design decisions. On the other hand I am grounding that theory in action through sketches, vignettes, and diagrams that explore specific portions of the larger design whole.
Exterior concept
Interior detail concept
The development of Glowbug 2.0 was completely digital, from the big picture right down to the details. For me, it worked because the design began with known parameters – a shipping container – and every inch / millimeter counted. The images above are from the schematic phase, developed in SketchUp.
Now take some time – you may want to write this down – to consider your own design process. Do you begin with the big picture or an inspiring detail? Are you a linear thinker – point A to point B – or do you jump between ideas seemingly randomly? Where in your personal design process is it most logical to begin experimenting with digital technologies? If you are a teacher, how can you create low-risk scenarios in which your students can experiment with digital workflows?
Work in progress: digital ink and traditional colored pencil
I have spent the last five years being disappointed with most of the hand-to-digital textbooks I’ve come across. (Apologies to my friends in publishing). As a result I’ve begun to develop my own traditional-digital hybrid workflow.
That is not to say that I haven’t found a few good books along the way. I recommend the following to those who are interested in developing a strong traditional-digital hybrid workflow for their own design work:
In adopting too quickly any new tool we disrupt our creative and productive workflow. Our profession has adopted – relatively quickly – these new tools and we have not yet reached the apex of our collective learning curve. That is the hidden cost of CAD.
It is imperative that the informed designer (or design educator) understand that CAD is only one of many tools available for design communication and can not yet replace all the traditional methods at our disposal. In other words, we talking monkeys still benefit from the intuitive hand-eye coordination of good old-fashioned ink and papyrus (and their descendants in all analog forms).
The talking monkeys will evolve, just as we have with the transition from carriages to cars, and typewriters to keyboards. The relatively sudden boom in digital design technologies has resulted in a schism between the technophiles and the Luddites, yes, but given time, patience, and prudent application we will eventually adapt and find equilibrium. In the meantime, I am leaning toward the future. Cautiously optimistic. Proactive in self-education. Adaptable. Where will you choose to go from here?
As an environmental symbologist I am interested in the symbolic aspects of human-computer interactions, in particular design-related applications of virtual and augmented reality technologies. See my most recent augmented reality project: PowerCat Enhanced
