Best Design Software – Part I

By Gail Doby, ASID
CVO & Co-Founder, Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting & Design Success University

Switching to new design software is a big investment in time, money, training and, possibly, equipment. Whether you are choosing for yourself or your team, you’ll want to take your time to explore at least several products, as each has its own strengths and shortcomings. How satisfied you will be with a particular product depends on the type of projects you do, how you work, and how comfortable you are designing on a computer.

While there are dozens of software programs and apps available, most are not suitable for professionals, except for sketching out ideas. For high quality images, flexibility and precision, you’ll want a program created with professional designers in mind. In this first installment, we’ll look at the most popular of the full-function programs, those most often endorsed by other designers.

AutoCAD®, by AutoDesk, is the leading all-purpose program, although Revit, which includes Building Information Modeling (BIM), has gained in popularity among commercial designers and many interior design programs. With AutoCAD you can create highly detailed 2-D and 3-D plans and drawings, incorporating lighting, materials, finishes, and a variety of visual styles. Documents and drawings can be securely shared using AutoDesk’s TrustedDWG technology, and a number of mobile apps are available. AutoCAD takes some time and effort to master. It now is available only by subscription for PC or Mac ($210 per month / $1,680 per year for a single-user license).

Chief Architect professional version for interiors (not to be confused with Chief Architect Home Designer, which has limited functionality) is a robust 3-D modeling and design program that allows you to realistically design every detail in 2-D, elevation, or 3-D perspective views using a 3-D library with thousands of cabinets, appliances, furnishings and textures developed with selected manufacturers. It’s drop and drag functionality makes it fast and easy to create impressive renderings and 3-D models. Available for PC or Mac at $1,995 or a monthly rent of $199.

VectorWorks is well suited for interior designers, with a focus on drafting, designing and rendering. The Fundamentals package lacks some of the more architecturally-oriented features of the other two products, but includes very good lighting and texture effects as well as 3-D modeling. It is easy to learn and use, and supports a wide variety of formats, including PDFs, photos, web images, and SketchUp files. Available for PC or Mac starting at $1,895.

Each of these products offers a free trial option and online support, so you can try them at no risk and choose the one that suits you best. Next time, we’ll examine some more specialized, more user-friendly, and less expensive products.