I'm a designer - 3 years on?

I realised recently that it's been 3 years since the completion of my first proper design job, and as well as wondering where the devil the time has gone, I started thinking about how different my business, the projects I work on and how I approach them is now to back then. And what have I learned in that time??

1) It's bloomin' hard work: I've worked longer days than I ever have before. Despite being determined to have at least one day off a week, invariably I find myself sneaking off to check my emails or visiting clients on a Sunday. Now I'm not complaining, it comes with the territory of getting any new business up & running - I just don't think I was realistic when I started out about how much time time being a designer involved! But it has been completely worth it - despite starting up just as the recession began my business has steadily grown each year. I've had 3 times as many clients this year as the 1st, and the size & complexity of the some of the commissions has grown too.

2) It can get a bit lonely: unless you're lucky enough to work in a design studio, most designers are sole traders and spend many days working on their own. I found as time has gone on and I am getting more gardens built, I spend more time with contractors and clients, so the amount of days I am completely on my own has dropped, especially this year. But there are other ways of beating the loneliness - I have found that joining my local SGD (Society of Garden Designers) cluster group was one of the best. Was able to get advice from designers who had been in practice for a while, attend various events & talks and just have some folks around who understand when things weren't going so well. Many of them are now friends, who I socialise with regularly.

3) Don't be afraid to ask questions: even after gaining a GD qualification, there is lots we need to learn when we leave college. Again, don't think I was quite prepared for how much! But one thing I know is not to try & pretend you know about something that you don't - can get you in all sorts of hot water. Most clients would prefer that you were honest and told them you didn't know the answer right now, but you'll find out for them. Having good relationships with contractors, landscape suppliers and nurseries means you always have someone to turn to get advice from. And this is another good reason to join the SGD. 

4) Use on-line resources: I have found websites and online communities an invaluable resource. I have hooked up with lots of other designers on Twitter who regularly pass on useful information, and are just nice to chat to! Sites such as LandscapeJuiceNetwork has forums where you can usually get technical advice. I have written a blog post about this (http://mcquegardens.blogspot.com/2010/03/im-designer-looking-for-work-now-what.html) but having a website is taken as read now. I am getting more recommendations now, but it was setting up a website when I got started that got me much of my initial work. Make sure you update your website portfolio at least once or twice a year, I am in the middle of re-vamping mine completely. Blogging about current projects also lets clients see that you are an active garden designer.

5) Diversity: it can take a while to earn a decent living from being a garden designer, and there are invariably going to be quieter periods in the year, especially over the winter. Apart from just pure garden design there are lots of other ways of working in horticulture and I've realised that I shouldn't discount other ways of making some money. I was offered a lecturing job, and my initial reaction was of terror and to turn it down. I have now been teaching GD and Horticulture students in Project Management, Specification & Job Estimation for the last 2 years. It's only for one term, but it earns me as much money as I'd probably earn from a decent sized design job. I really enjoy doing it and as a result I was involved in working on a show garden at this years Chelsea - http://mcquegardens.blogspot.com/2010/06/fun-at-chelsea-2010.html

Many garden designers I know do garden maintenance - specialised pruning and the like. It's good for enhancing your plant knowledge and some maintenance jobs can lead to planting or full design work. 

6) Don't be frightened to toot your own horn: by having a website we are showing our potential clients (and the world) what good work we are capable of. So why stop there? There are lots of ways of getting your name out there - I know a few designers who have had local newspapers feature interesting project that they've worked on and it is potentially free advertising. The first design job that I mentioned above was featured in the SGD Garden Design Journal Review of the Year 2008: 

 

And then another featured in the SGD Review of the Year 2009:

Not bad for someone in her first 2 years of business?! Toot toot.

7) Be prepared to get your hands dirty: I mentioned working hard and not being afraid to ask questions and both of these can be nicely linked together by getting your hands dirty. I worked hands on building some gardens, learning how to lay paving, mix mortar and build decks. It gave me an invaluable insight to a landscapers working day, got me lots of good landscape & nursery supply contacts and improved my knowledge of costs of materials, labour, plant hire. All of these have given me a source of people & organisations to ask advice of and contractors who see you have a practical knowledge of what you're designing are much keener to build your gardens. Many landscapers, rightly or wrongly, have a perception that working with designers is more trouble than it's worth and all we do all day is colour in and point at things (I wish!). By being able to talk to them about technical details and ask the odd question gains a lot of respect, and I really enjoyed doing it. One thing most designers I know bemoan is being able to get good contractors to build their gardens - doing the above certainly helped me. PS This isn't me working hard!

So there you go - it would seem I have learned quite a bit in the last 3 years - I have grown in confidence, my designs have improved and this feels like the best job in the world. Well most days anyway.

Using Sketchup & Photoshop for design work - part II

It's been a few months since I wrote about how I use Sketchup and Photoshop for my garden design work. Got lots of feedback and correspondence about it, so thought I'd look at another one. The previous one was in my first year of business, a flat, small and relatively straightforward garden. This one was late last summer, about 18 months later - although it too is small, it is very steep (2 metre drop over 10 metres long). It was also quite tricky to survey, had lots of vegetation, poor sight lines and a rockery that crumbled under our feet when we stood on it.

Again we did a radial survey, using a dumpy level, compass and measuring tape. From it I was able to draw the survey at 2D which has the boundary, where lawn was and North point:

As before I use this 2D outline to create a basic design. This is the only part of the process that is done with paper and pencil - these are just fairly small thumbnail printouts, which allows some basic design work which provides the basis for the final design. The brief was to clear the garden, create contemporary terracing and include a path to the front door. This curvy path concept was created:

These get scanned and imported into Photoshop, where they are given a bit of colour for the presenting:

Next I was able to use the heights we'd taken at all the key points to create a 3D contoured plan. This is done using Sketchup Sandbox tools (the From Contours option), which gave me this model:

I then also import the scanned concept drawing into Sketchup which allows me to create a properly scaled paths, walls but more importantly see how those will work in the context of the sloping ground. First, get the 2D elements working:

Then using my survey data, drag up all the walls, steps and path to the heights - really easy to do in Sketchup using the Push/Pull tool. This gives me a model which looks like it has really scary tall walls:

But once it is merged with the 3D model of the survey, then where steps and walls work (or don't!) become apparent:

As well as being able to double check whether this design makes any sense to build, I find it a really useful tool for presenting to clients, so as well as showing them the Photoshop concepts I have this model which I can show them. I take my laptop and am able to let them see how it feels walking up the path, view from the house etc. Really invaluable I find, especially for gardens with as many level changes as this.

Now for the final polished Photoshop treatment - this is a mounted board that gets given to the client. 

The next phase is where Sketchup really comes even more in to its own . It allows me to give the contractor 3D views and lots of measurements to not only price but build the garden. Each area of paving, walls, gravel paths is calculated automatically, so can be labelled easily and it is great for setting out on site too.

As well as measurements I can triangulate off known points (the bottom step on the left hand side) to get exact dimensions and curves of walls. Genius, accurate and much less work than mucking about with a scale ruler I reckon. 

Anyhow, build went very well and here are some pics of during and finished.

This is it all rendered and then painted in shade matched with exterior paint:

It got planted at the start of May this year, and looked like this (excuse the dirty walls, I hadn't hosed them down yet!):

This is it only 7 weeks later, bit of a grey rainy day, need to go back and photograph when it's sunny.

Although it was a pretty small garden, I would have found it much more daunting and difficult to tackle if I hadn't used Sketchup to realise the levels, paths and walls and using that same outline to create final drawing for client in Photoshop. Throw away your drawing boards and don't spend a penny more on pencils & tracing paper!

Fun at Chelsea 2010

It's been far too long since my last post, things are so busy with one thing and another here. Chelsea is now almost a distant memory, but thought I'd pop up some photos of our time down there. We had a complete blast - being inside the showground for the build up was an amazing experience, it was good to see we weren't the only ones that were last minute and a bit disorganised. Here's the first few days:

The perspex screen goes up and the wind filtering barriers are installed and working, these look lovely when they turn slowly via a remote control.

Help! It's raining!

The plants start to go in. It's much harder than we think to make the planting look naturalistic.

And the green roof goes on.

The back screens get their lovely graphics added. Very proud as it's my husband's done the art work for them despite not even knowing what an Alder tree is.

After 9 days on site and many many long days we are done. Huzzah!

Getting to stay late on the Tuesday night for the parties was great fun. Swanned around the other gardens, blagging some nice food & free bubbly.

When we got a chance we had a peek at how everyone else was doing. Watched the folks on the Japanese garden brushing moss with paintbrushes. Now that's dedication.

Favourite time of day was first thing in the morning:

Before this happens:

Anyway, it's back to life up in Edinburgh now, time to catch up with all the design projects that have been going on since I left for the adventure in London. The students have all finished their exams, assessments are all marked and they are off to try & make their own way in the design world. I feel incredibly lucky to have been involved with them and their vision. Now all I need to do is figure out if I'll ever do one of my own...!

SAC Strutt & Parker Chelsea Show Garden

Well, that's the SAC students all packed up and off in their big lorry down to Chelsea to put together their show garden. They've built a lot of the garden in advance up here in Edinburgh, so they are hoping that it keeps things a bit less frantic on site. Here are some of the photos we've been taking of progress over the last few months that follows the Chelsea adventure. First of all the garden itself. It's a 21st century croft which reflects concerns about sustainability & renewable energy whilst adopting contemporary styling. Native plants, a water rill and insect homes provide ideal conditions for birds & insects. Elevated design drawing:

Here's some wood and teeny weeny plants, what can they be turned into...?

     

Within a few months they managed to turn the pile of wood above into a base, frame and the side of a house:

Some beautiful details in the garden is the slate rill and shallow bee/bird bathing pool. Once water is running down it, it'll look really stunning.

There are also yew & willow screens which divide the garden from the highlands beyond. I've never seen Yew wood before, it is a lovely rich colour. The engineering students from Edinburgh university have created a mechanism for making them rotate, which is a sight to behold.

The plants are filling out a treat, but they need constant attention & watering. Trying to get them all to flower & reach their peaks just at the right time has meant a lot of moving plants in and outside.

The students have all worked really hard, especially in the last few weeks where quite a few of them have barely had a day off.

It was a very frantic day yesterday, finishing off some bits & pieces before loading up the truck with the garden and some of the larger trees. 

With pretty limited resources and lots of hard work they have done an amazing job. I'm joining them down there later next week, which I'm super excited about. If any of you find yourselves at the show next week, come by and say hello.