How to Create Winning Presentations for your Interior Design Concepts

Written for the National Design Academy

We see them every day…beautifully sketched interiors artistically finished off with water colours, stunning 3D renders that immerse you into an interior designer’s vision for a space…Instagram is overflowing with rows of striking interior design plans to scroll through, while animated walkthroughs in TV makeovers hint at the big reveal that’s yet to come.  

Impressive as they are, being able to create such stunning visuals is actually not as hard as you think. Yes, it takes practice and effort to master these skills, but the benefits are more than worth it.

Presentation Techniques & Skills

As an interior designer, you might ask yourself “But isn’t it all about the end-result, and not artistic skills or impressive presentations?” That may be true, but there are plenty of advantages for you to have strong visual presentation skills. 

Good visual communication helps designers sell their ideas to clients more easily, clearly and professionally. They ensure that designers and clients are on the same page and seeing the same thing. They also speed up designers’ work and simplify making changes as needed. In addition, they make it easier to deal with contractors and suppliers and calculate correct quantities of materials.

With all these benefits, it’s no wonder that designers are flocking to add these tools to their skill-set. There are a wide variety of visual communication and presentation techniques for interior designers. Here, we’ve chosen three key skills and tools to use for the concept development and planning stages of the interior design process.

Stage 1 – Sketch for Initial Concept

Design stage:

So you’ve just signed on a new client! You’ve met with them, taken some photos and dimensions of the living room they want designed, and you have your survey plan ready. You’ve already discussed conceptual options, what trends they prefer, and gone over examples of designs they like. Your client is now waiting for an initial concept from you. What do you do?

You’re excited to start working on your design, but it’s important to first ask yourself: what level of detail in the design is required at this stage? Your focus here should be on communicating a general direction for the plan, and using that to initiate feedback and more detailed discussions.

Visual Communication Format:

One of the best ways for you to quickly express an initial idea is to use the age-old reliable technique of hand drawing. A hand-drawn sketch will take you minutes to do. It’s allowed to look a little messy, and proportions and accuracy don’t need to be perfect. The bare bones are there to build on, but it hasn’t fully taken an exact shape yet.

At this point, you will have a rough idea of your floor-plan, and the amount and type of furniture that fits the space, but haven’t yet defined the exact items and their measurements. The loose style of the sketch reflects the fluidity of the design at this early stage.

The three types of sketches you can use are:

-       Floor-plans to give an idea of space distribution, zones and traffic flow

-       Perspective drawings to show specific zones

-       Elevations to show specific walls and furniture in that view.

Tools and skills

What sophisticated tools will you need for this? Mainly, the humble pencil... as well as an eraser, good quality art paper, a pen to finish off the sketch with - and if you want to add colour - then either colouring pencils, water colours, or pastels.  You can also go the digital route and use tablets or smart phones with sketching features that make it really easy to add colour and make changes.

As a designer, you’re not required to show off exceptional artistry, but it is recommended that you develop good skills in sketching and perspective drawing. The better you sketch, the clearer you’re able to communicate your ideas, and the more professional the impression. 

You can then incorporate your sketch into a presentation and add some information to elaborate on the design concept, and share with your client.

If you’re lucky, your client will approve the idea right away. But if you find that your design direction is off-track, then it’s back to the drawing-board for a revised concept. If your client agrees with your concept but wants minor changes, you can either send a revised sketch, or the same draft can be signed off, with notes added on the amendments.  

Stage 2 – Line Drawings for Layouts & Materials

Design stage:

Now’s it’s time to fine-tune! The basic concept you’ve presented needs to become more accurate, and your measurements need double-checking. You’re also starting to identify specific options for furniture and get their measurements. 

Creating accurate floor-plans at this stage will give you a clear idea whether you’re overloading your space with pieces or still have plenty of room left. Along with these, you’ll also create detailed elevations showing the different heights and openings. All of this will help determine the nature of your shopping list.

Visual Communication Format:

Your tool of choice? AutoCAD, naturally! This software has been the industry standard to draft floorplans and elevations for decades…and for good reason.

With AutoCAD, it will take you just a few hours to create your drawings. You can also draw your furniture items as per exact dimensions, or easily add them from the program’s furniture library.

This will ensure that all the furniture you’ll order or custom-make will fit in its designated areas, and help you make quick calculations for quantities of materials needed for all types of wall and floor finishes.

Your AutoCAD 2D plans are now done and shared with the client. They reply informing you that after thinking about it, they’ll need to add a reading corner, and they’re not a big fan of the L-shaped sofa.

No problem! Because you have a digital file that can be easily edited, it takes minutes to make the changes and send the revised drawings, which get approved this time around.

Tools and skills

To use AutoCAD, you’ll need to subscribe to a software license from the company Autodesk (www.autodesk.com) and install the software on your computer. There are plenty of video tutorials on its website and on YouTube, or you could sign up for a short course to master these skills quicker.

Stage 3 – 3D Models to Illustrate Zones, Furniture & Accessories

Design stage:

You’re now progressing fast with the design development. It’s selection time …everything from flooring, paint, wallpaper to fabrics, curtains, cushions, and furniture pieces.

Because there are many decisions that will be based on this stage, your client will now want a clear idea of the exact finishes you’ve chosen and how they go together.

Visual Communication Format:

What’s the best way to show all these different finishes and styling, in addition to giving a realistic feeling of the layout and different zones?

SketchUp Pro is the most popular and easiest way to achieve this.  This 3D modeling software not only helps clients visualize the finished design, but is also invaluable to designers to audit their concepts. Now’s a good time to evaluate your design choices before final decisions are made.

You can create a 3D model for the project by inputting your AutoCAD drawings and incorporating all of your selections.

You find that you need to lighten your wall paint colour and the flooring doesn’t quite go. So you mock up and test out different materials before discussing with your client and making your recommendations. Looking good! And your client agrees!

But now that your client has a clearer idea of what the space will feel like, they ask if it’s possible to add a custom-made piece of furniture as a semi partition. So it’s back to SketchUp again, where you easily calculate the space you have and digitally design a bookcase.

Tools and skills

As with AutoCAD, you’ll need to subscribe to a SketchUp Pro license (www.sketchup.com ) and download the software on your computer (there is a web-only version that’s free, but this is not recommended if you want to use the program for interior design projects). Tutorials are easily found on the website and YouTube, or again you can sign up for a short course.

Stage 4 – Animated Walkthrough for Final Sign-off

So what’s next? Using SketchUp again, you create a few simulation scenes to help your client visualize each zone as well as the full space. Almost there!

They then ask for a meeting, where you get to proudly present your animated walkthrough and make it easy for them to visualize the living room of their dreams. Later on in the day, you get the green light to move forward and get quotations from contractors to start working on site. Perfect!

Because you’ve invested in learning practical skills and helpful tools, you’ve saved lots of time, presented your vision clearly, and left little room for miscommunication.