Jump to content

Are kitchen design & joinery firms a viable market?


Rich O
 Share

Recommended Posts

Keen to hear opinions on this. Here's a little anecdote:

 

So I'm just starting out in archviz, paid visits to two kitchen design & joinery firms today peddling my services using the "I'm just starting out and looking for portfolio work, will do a job for you pro bono" angle...

 

...and to my surprise I was told they have: software that does "exactly the same thing". Now I'm no Peter Guthrie or Alex Roman, but my Vray kitchen render I showed the guy was pretty good. Even my offer to work for free didn't seem to have interested this guy. Now, I don't believe for a moment his software was anything more than "AmazingKitchenDesigner Pro 2004 Edition" featuring The Sims 2 quality rendering but even so...

 

So here I am having doubts about what I thought would've been a perfect fit for small-scale archviz.

2 of 3 architects I've approached have shown keen interest but all the same I thought kitchens would be a viable market?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having spent some time working in the interiors market myself Im not surprised such firms have little interest in outsourcing 3d viz work. There really isnt enough money in typical bespoke kitchen/joinery projects other than for shaded (or coloured if your lucky) orthagraphical projection images from cheap cad software. Perhaps approaching the high end of the market might bear fruit but consider who you approach as the designer is more often than not the middle man between the manufacturer and the manufacturer will have a system in place which is easily repeatable and very cost effective.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, when they do it themselves, they are really generating a polished parts listing and order form with all of the options, finish codes, hardware and profitable add-on features built into that mediocre rendering. what they get from you is just a pretty picture and even though it's free (you shouldn't do this btw), they still have to wait for you to do it, spend time answering any questions you have, collect finish samples etc and redo it 100% in their own software before they can get the project out the door. also keep in mind that most kitchen design companies don't get paid a dime until the order is placed so, really, they are working for free too.

You would be better off building your skills by purchasing a few high end design collection publications and recreating the photos to build your skills and portfolio. you will learn more and have top notch design work in your portfolio when you are done which will appeal to your target so much more than suburban kitchen designs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

John is spot on. Through college I worked at a home improvement store and did some kitchen designs (I'm sure your place was higher end but the concept is no doubt the same). Their software, as you mention, won't produce the quality of Vray, but there's really no need for Vray quality. They'll sit down with a customer and build the kitchen there before their eyes while they go over issues and design it. After a couple hours you end up with a nice parts list with the price tag and everything. You can print out elevations and sure, even a fairly crude rendering, but one that shows the client what it will look like.

 

What would the kitchen designer have to gain by your offer? No one has ever asked for a better quality image. They'd have to coordinate with you and educate you on their product in order to get you going which is time out of their day for something they don't feel they need. Plus they're hoping the customer will make a decision on the spot so they're certainly not going to mention that if they wait around for another week they can have a better image.

 

As John mentioned, if you go high up enough in the food chain where the kitchen designers are designing some really high end stuff then you MIGHT have a better shot.

 

-Brodie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One possiblity is doing some marketing images for their brochures, make their stuff look sexier than it realy is. If your pricing is comparable to a good photographer they might go for it.

 

jhv

 

Agreed. One extra pitch is that if they do a design change it's far more cost effective for you to re-render then to set the studio back up and bring the photographer back in. It's also very cost effective for you to generate different lighting styles versus doing the same in a studio.

 

I'd wager that you'll probably have a good chance if you are targeting the high end custom home kitchens over your average home remodel kitchen for this type of work. Sports and movies stars need new kitchens too you know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...