I often get asked for advice as to how to present ideas to clients. Whilst I think that over time every designer develops their own particular style, here are a few tips to get started:
Most people who employ and interior designer will be doing so because they are looking for something a bit different from the norm, so try and make your presentations as attractive and interesting as possible. I don't just meant the actual scheme content here, but the layout and design of the sample board and supporting documents as well.
Put your self in the shoes of your client. They possibly don't have the vision, creativity or confidence to create schemes for themselves. Therefore your presentation needs to be very visual, so that they understand exactly what the finished scheme will look like.
Vagueness really doesn't cut it. A vague sample board portraying an approximation of a colour scheme with several possible ideas for wall coverings which may go with a variety of upholstery fabrics...... This just wont inspire confidence in your clients, but will leave them feeling confused and unenlightened. Whilst it is a good idea to have a few alternatives up your sleeve in case they dislike something, you need to present a good solid scheme that you can really "sell" to them.
Include as much detail as possible without getting too technical. Including detail in your schemes will give your client the confidence that you have really thought about how everything will work in their environment. Rather than say "we need a lamp on that table" you should show them exactly which lamp you propose that will co-ordinate with everything else. In the same way rather than saying you propose the use of a wallpaper for a feature wall, you will need to explain which wall you intend the feature wall to be. The client wont want to be making these decisions for themselves -this is what they are paying you for.
Have an idea of what things cost. Often when explaining a scheme you will find your client stops you and asks questions such as "how much per metre is that carpet?" Now it is really hard to know every price, but it is certainly worth having a few notes of costs to help you along. Likewise it is a good idea to have made a few notes about sizes of furniture etc.
Make sure your sample board is really neat and well labelled. This sample board is your "selling tool" and to this end it must be as near to perfect as you can make it. Imagine if you were a client presented with two sample boards for the same scheme -one with all the pictures carefully cut out and glued on, with neat labelling and titles, and the other with tatty edges to all the pictures, half of the pictures falling off, and some of the items not labelled. Which designer would you use? Which designer looks like they are most likely to pay attention to detail when it comes to re-designing your house?
Hopefully these tips will help you to see why it is so important to spend as much time as possible in preparing for your client presentation meetings. Like everything else, these things come with practise so if you are feeling nervous about the standard of your presentation, why not show them to a few friends or family members to get some quality feedback. As time goes on you will develop you own particular style of presentation which you will be confident with.
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