When Do Clients Feel empowered to make intelligent comments?

[Fletch]

This Kitchen by Xrok1 thread is a perfect example of a debate we had at our firm, and something I have seen discusssed in a few threads around the web...

• does photo-artistic/realistic render foster or stop participation by the client in the design process?
• Do clients stop feeling free to make changes when they see a photo-like rendering in comparison to their willingness to comment/make changes when they see a, for instance, water-color type image? or just straight SketchUp image?

It appears from this thread that as soon as people saw the image so photorealistically, they felt they had enough information to see exactly where the design was going and comment in a constructive way. It's obviosly an excellent rendering, and as a result there were no comments on "this or that material doesn't look realistic" (besides the exterior, which as he rightfully pointed out had nothing to do with the topic at hand and therefore was a moot point) (There were geometric questions like windows and things, but not on the rendering aspect.)

• If Xrok1 had not shown this rendering, but instead shown a watercolor, would the other helpful critiques on the design itself have come at all?

[Stu]

Fletch, this debate, of course, has been going around for years and as a new convert to the wonders of 3D I was always a bit perplexed by the catagoric statements from design heavyweights that clients should always be presented with sketchy, schematic concepts rather than anything approaching photorealism. The arguement being that the poor, impressionable [OK lets just call them plain stupid! ] clients would feel there wasnt anywhere to manoeuvre and were locked in to that particular concept.

Yeah...as if!!

I feel the whole purpose of photoreal 3D images in this context is to communicate to clients the design intentions and ideas we have for them....and the clearer these ideas are expressed, the more information the client has to make decisions with. I generally preface a 3D concept presentation with the emphasis that the pretty pics arent necessarily the final design but I presume also that the client has got his head around that as well.

What I do find quite often is that the more photoreal the concepts are the more revision there can be......simply because all the design elements are there to be clearly seen. OK, so a bit more work, but it means that the clients know what they are getting....with not too many surprises at the end.

Stu

[grdnblak]

Well put Stu,

I agree that even though there is more work involved in photoreal images, the more accurate the presentations that can be made then the more flaws that can be found and the more opportunity there is to design out all problems.

Don't get me wrong, conceptual images (watercolours etc) all have there place within the design process and are great for expressing the potential within a project, something to get the client excited with. Once they're onboard then its time to pin the details down and bring out the big guns.....