Category

Stories

Elma Gardner – Featured NKBA Study Guide Designer


Author's portrait By Adrean Stephenson

 

Elma Gardner has only ever drafted her designs by hand, and they are beautiful. A fading art in our digital age, the small details are the most impressive in her style. My personal favorites are the tiny circles that don’t quite encompass the numbers for her Floor Plan Specification labels, eluding to the efficient confidence in speed her hands must take on as they traverse the page.

 

“I just happen to be one of those strange people that actually enjoys hand-drafting and have made a deliberate decision to stick with it. I like the process.”

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NKBA Competition Winners become Design Study Guides


Author's portrait By Adrean Stephenson

 

Over the years I’ve had a number of opportunities to leverage Chief Architect’s tools for projects with our friends in the industry. Not only is it exciting to mix up my regular routine, but I always get the extra benefit of coming away with newfound understanding of needs and details in these specialty areas; this latest project was no exception.

 

The Goal: Create examples of Kitchen and Bath projects that can be used as references for those studying for the CKBD examination.

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Sample Plans – Where do They Come From?


Asian inspired modern home design.

Author's portrait By Adrean Stephenson

 

Downloadable Sample Plans are a great resource for experiencing the features in Chief Architect’s software hands-on and in real-time. A variety of plans are available on both the Chief Architect and Home Designer websites. 

Now that the latest Home Designer product line has been released, we are excited to offer another set of great tools for DIY designers and Home Enthusiasts to showcase their talents. There are many new features offered in the product line that you can view here; however, today I want to share our process for creating new downloadable sample plans and shine a light on the sources of our inspiration.

With each new release of software, Chief Architect’s Art Department develops a new look for the products’ packaging. For the Home Designer product line, separately featuring 5 unique packages is no small feat! The goal this year was to utilize a photograph of a residential design that is well suited to the functionality available in the product. If you click on the images below, you can see that we create our version of the scene using the software and then display the rendering as an inlay on the product cover.

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Caesarstone Custom Furniture Design with Chief Architect


Caeserstone coffee Table with multiple stone materials.

Author's portrait By Adrean Stephenson

 

Custom furniture pieces like this coffee table are easy to create with Chief Architect’s modeling tools.

Additionally, 3D models from other sites can be imported into the program to create an endless selection of furnishings, accessories, and fixtures for your design projects. (more…)