Being a successful interior design company requires a special balance of creative vision and business acumen. However, to turn the unique visions of your design team into a saleable product is not always so easy. Fortunately, with the help of innovative software, interior design companies can quickly bring their designs to life and connect with clients like never before, here are 5 of the top interior design software tools your firm should consider using.
1. Autodesk
Autodesk is one of the leading names in software, with its wide array of programs used in industries such as engineering, manufacturing, medical imaging, and animation. However, the Autodesk 3D Modeling software actually offers many unique benefits to the interior design industry.
3D modeling software allows design firms to create visual representations of proposed ideas. This can help both the design company and client save a substantial amount of money, as any changes to the project can be made digitally before ground is broken in real life. In addition, it can help companies use realistic simulations to present side-by-side comparisons.
2. SketchUp Pro
While perhaps not as well known as Autodesk, SketchUp Pro is another great 3D modeling software that can allow design teams to get it right virtually before donning the hard hats. Among the ways that SketchUp Pro can help your design team bring its ideas to life include:
- Efficiency – you don’t have to be a CAD whiz to leverage the software. The system has hundreds of thousands of 3D models using real products available for free in the SketchUp 3D Warehouse, allowing you to put products from your favorite manufacturers directly into your virtual design
- Exquisite renderings – make renderings appear as hand-drawn or realistic as you please. Upload your own hand strokes or use one of SketchUp’s many extensions to produce photorealistic images
- Win bids fast – you don’t have to spend hours selling clients on what your firm can do. You simply have to pull up any saved model and display it to quickly win over new clients
3. Infurnia
Infurnia is a leader in BIM software that allows your team to design beautiful interiors in a fast and efficient manner. With Infurnia, your team has access to a central admin dashboard for real-time collaboration, a platform-independent program that allows you to access projects from any device, and an easy-to-learn interface that allows designers of all backgrounds to quickly create 2D/3D renderings, surface designs, false ceilings, and more.
4. Bullseye
For any interior design company that has multiple retail outlets, it is critical to have the best store locator software included on the company website. Therefore, in order to avoid losing high-interest leads to a competitor, design firms should consider the benefits of Bullseye locator software. Among the ways that Bullseye can help interior design companies include:
- Customer engagement – use branded local pages to include details like showrooms, design services, and project photos
- Segmentation and conversion – once website leads are ready to make an inquiry, automatically route and direct them to the nearest design professional. Use integrated lead workflows to automatically send follow-ups and close sales
- Reporting and analytics – track website leads to sales with Bullseye’s closed-loop reporting. Follow leads’ progress all the way through the customer journey, allowing you to analyze critical data such as lead sources and marketing campaign effectiveness
5. Gather
Gather is an innovative software platform designed specifically to serve the interior and architecture design industry. A powerful, yet easy-to-use, cloud platform, Gather helps design teams share resources, communicate, and instantly create consistent deliverables. Used by some of the interior design industry’s most respected companies, Gather allows design firms to collaborate in real-time with all stakeholders of a project, helping the company build a comprehensive project library, keep track of products, and generate specifications quickly.
Some of the ways in which design teams can use Gather software include:
- Sourcing – whether it be products, materials, or ideas, team members can quickly save images from their favorite websites to their secure Gather Library, allowing for instant access and unlimited reuse
- Communication – all vendor contacts are neatly organized within the software, making it easy to distribute, share, and reuse favorite suppliers and sources
- Management – categorize and assign sections of a project, budget and calculate costs, track important dates, and provide status updates for all events
- Export – deliver professional reports and presentations to clients, contractors, and any other stakeholders with the click of a button
- Collaboration – arguably the most important feature of Gather software, all team members can log into the project independently to tackle tasks at their own pace. Everyone can access chat and live messaging to stay apprised of any changes to the project in real-time
With all of the ways that Gather is specifically designed to foster the creativity, collaboration, and productivity of an interior design team, it is a must-have software solution for any design firm.
5 Interior Design Software Tools for Design Firms
There are many ways that software can help an interior design company. Whether it be cloud-based business management solutions, retail store locator assistance, or 3D rendering capabilities, software can truly take your interior design business to the next level. With this in mind, Autodesk, SketchUp Pro, Infurnia, Bullseye, and Gather are 5 pieces of software every interior design company should consider using.
Sam Willis is a contributor to Innovative Building Materials. He is a blogger and content writer for the real estate industry. Sam is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and architects discover materials and methods of construction that increase property value, maximize energy savings, and turn houses into homes.
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Sam Willis is a freelance writer that loves sharing his knowledge and expertise in residential and commercial real estate, as well as engineering and construction. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia where he enjoys spending time with his wife and researching real estate trends in his free time. Sam’s work as a freelance writer can be found on Building Product Advisor, a construction industry resource site.
