How to Brief Your CAD Designer Like a Pro (Without Touching SketchUp or a pencil )
Here's a scenario we at Clifford Design House see a lot: you've got a new project on and you sit down and try to knock together a rough SketchUp model to brief to your CAD design team - because that's what "briefing a designer" is supposed to look like, right?
Except you're not a designer, you’re not in SketchUp Pro every day and you love being on the workshop floor, on the tools or out visiting your clients and on site. Every hour you spend wrestling with software you didn't sign up to learn is an hour you're not on the tools, not quoting the next job, not actually earning.
We have some good news: it doesn’t need to be this way. You don't need to model anything to brief us properly, you just need to tell us what you need. As experienced designers, we’re able to work from a variety of briefing options, saving you the headache of SketchUp and giving you more time back - whether you use it for work or simply for a bit more much-needed downtime.
That's exactly why we built a free downloadable brief template: so you can skip SketchUp entirely and still get a spot-on design back, first time.
Step-by-step to briefing your CAD designer
Instead of a SketchUp file, all we need is three simple things - and thankfully it’s the things you likely already have! No software required.
1. Send us photos of the space
This is a big one and can really help us visualise the space. Take clear, well-lit shots of the space from a few angles. If the space is empty, that can help but it isn’t essential. An additional video can really help us when it comes to making design suggestions and optimising the space.
2. Include your measurements
You expected this one! Room dimensions, ceiling height, doorways, anything we'll need to work around. You’re taking them anyway, so pop these into the brief for us and that’ll save you some time.
3. Provide a written brief
This is the one everyone gets stuck on, and why we’ve built our downloadable CAD designer brief template. Here’s a summary of what to include, but we recommend using the file instead for a more thorough approach:
What's the space for
What's not working now
What solution we’re solving for them
What style or vibe the client's after
The style of the rest of their home (period property? New build?)
Any materials they love or hate
Are you going to struggle to remember this each time? Download the brief template (for wardrobes) and skip the SketchUp step →
Why We Built This
We know a lot of you have been sending us your SketchUp models or hand drawn sketches, because that's just how it's always been done. But we've heard from enough of you that it's become the bottleneck - you don't have the spare hours and it was never the best use of your time in the first place!
So we built a template that cuts modelling out of your side of the process completely. You brief us the way you already think about a job and we take it from there. As experienced designers, rather than only being CAD designers, you can trust us to take your measurements, brief and/or photos and design something your client will say yes to in a heartbeat.
Plus for you that means, less time in software, faster turnaround on your quotes and more time in the workshop.
About Clifford Design House
We're a bespoke joinery and CAD design studio based in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, and we've been working with joiners, carpenters, builders, and interior designers since 2021 to produce 3D visuals, specification sheets, and build-ready technical drawings - everything you need to win the job and build it with confidence. If you've got a project you're trying to get over the line, we'd love to hear about it. Contact us today.
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