Any Designers out there?

[David Creighton]

I am writing a thesis on the use of computers in the design
process. I am trying to understand exactly where CAD is appropriate.
I am a furniture designer and maker and I am particullarly intersted
in this area. However, whatever field you are in, I would be
interested in any comments you might make.

Would it be fair to say that AutoCad is used mainly at the working
drawing stage? Does anyone use it for playing around with ideas at
the stage when one would normally use a sketch book?

If you use 3D Studio or similar packages, would you ever use them
to help in your design or would you use them to convey your ideas
once a design is established.

Does anyone do any conceptual work on a computer?

Thanks!

David Creighton
dr...@tikos.win-uk.net

[edwards]

: Would it be fair to say that AutoCad is used mainly at the working

: drawing stage? Does anyone use it for playing around with ideas at
: the stage when one would normally use a sketch book?

Well, I'm a draftsman, and I've been drawing for about 5 years for two differentdevelopers and several independant contractors in my area. I've found that
when I am actually designing a floor plan from scratch, I find it easier to
draw on grid paper. It seems to be faster, because I'm a finatic about making
sure the wall lines are always clean. Even though I use an architectural
package, I still have to do some work to keep it clean. Anyways, I only use
the paper when I'm doing something by myself, or when I'm first meeting with
the clients for the first time. After that, I find that the clients are confused
If I draw preliminaries on paper (I've actually never done it, but even the
first meeting seems to be difficult for them to visually on paper. So after
I design on paper, I go directly to the computer. Then I do minor revisions
when necessary. Hope this helps a little.

Phil
pedw...@ucssun1.sdsu.edu

[BilsAnder]

I've been working with AutoCAD for the past seven years in the
architectural field. I worked for four years before that with the
traditional methods, bum wad, pencils and erasers. I often argued
with my employer over when it was necessary to use CAD versus
pencils. He is not computer literate and thinks that computers are
only valuable for large scale projects or repetetive projects (multi-
floor buildings).

I quickly convinced him that CAD is valuable from the inception of
the project. He'll use sketch paper to flesh out ideas with the client
at the first conceptual meetings, then bring the sketches to me to
input into CAD. One of the problems I often run into is that
everything works in his sketches, until I input the CAD drawings and
find out that it works because he made the bedrooms 3' x 3'.
Sketching is limited by the ability of the person to sketch to scale,
and this is a dying art. The CAD programs allow us to flag potential
conflicts and problems long before we get to the working drawing
stage. This limits problems down the road, and helps the client get a
better handle on how his project will turn out. My boss ended up just
having the client sit down with me and have me flesh out the design
with them on the computer.

Using CAD at the earliest design stage also allowed our office to
present multiple design solutions to a client in a single sitting, giving
them a choice of directions to go. If this was done by conventional
methods, the time constraints would be too great to offer more than
two or three choices. Using CAD allows us to generate far more for
the client to chose from. This can be both a blessing and a curse.

CAD also allows us to change designs in mid thought when
problems or design dead ends happen. In my earlier, pre-CAD
offices, we often resorted to redrawing the entire design because
there was so much work involved in erasing and redrawing that it
was easier to just start over.

I have recently begun working for a furniture and fixture company
which is using a 3-dimensional design package that can also
program their cutting machines. I haven't been using the program for
very long, but if you are interested, E-mail me and I can give you a
longer disertation on that.

I apologize for the length of this response, and hope this is of some
help to you.

Bill Sander
Bils...@aol.com

[Vincent Di Giorgio]

Yes, in architecture we currently use architrion,microstation, and autocad as
well as rendering and ray-tracing packages. All are very useful at various
points in the design stage...a rough concept is usually penciled up and
immediately placed into the computer, slowly it is refined (almost in real
time!) and updates occur simultaneously on the screen and on paper, the
ongoing refinements complement each other.

Futher, as resolution evolves and you begin to approach something that
resembles a detailed concept.

Eventually a full blown concept is in place.You see, the computer allows
infinitely precise accuracy and an infinite number of geometries that can be
tested rapidly and almost like a piece of clay on a potter's wheel the idea
is built from conception to completion almost entirely in hyperspace.

In the end, you have a resolved solution or design which can then immediately
be transferred into working drawings.

--

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