Software for Concept Work

Hi all,

I’m not a professional designer though I have some schooling in architecture and a general affinity for design and drawing. I studied parametric software ages ago and am familiar with Pro-E, good with Adobe suite, but no experience with, i.e. Rhino or Alias.

I want to come up with some great concept images of product ideas that I have. I’d like to use them to inspire others that I may try to get involved in making these ideas a reality. And I’d like to do them myself to both give myself a creative outlet - and not spend any money.

So my question - what do you recommend in terms of design software that would be a balance of:

  • sufficiently high-res final images
  • reasonable learning curve for the purpose (concept images, subject to iteration, i.e. not to spec)

On another thread I saw the usual Pro-E/Solidworks, Rhino/Alias. Are there any options out there more geared to concept studies?

Thanks a lot.

Check out these three videos

http://www.idsa.org/these-ain’t-your-kidz-sketching-tools

http://www.idsa.org/content/content1/sketch-work-flow-brook-stevens

http://www.idsa.org/work-flow-process-dodgeburn-demo-thomas-maguire


These are instructional videos i hosted/created that may provide you with options.

If your goal is concept images to create excitement and explain ideas, I’d stick with the basics and try Sketchbook Pro. It will allow you to explore as you communicate.

Thanks to both for your suggestions. I’ll checkout the links.

I’ve got Sketchbook Pro on my iPad but I’m sure it’s probably more suited to use on a Mac, maybe with a Wacom tablet?

My product idea is a leather-bound consumer technology accessory - really want to convey the premium surface and some details like colored stitching, so I thought I might need a rendering tool.

Thanks again!

The Wacom tablet + Photoshop is certainly a good combination to render. If you want photorealistic renderings, Rhino + Keyshot is a great, somewhat inexpensive combination ($1800). I have never really been fond of Flamingo, Rhino’s native renderer. YMMV.