What the client thought they wanted, and what they got
Ta’Da Laundry Co, Chicago. Mint green and cream, black and white mosaic floor. It started dark Victorian. Why it changed is the part nobody shows.
About direction sessions
01. The obsession
The client arrived in love with The Boardroom Lounge, a project we'd built for someone else. Olive millwork, brass, greenery, dark brick. He wanted that feeling in a laundromat.
02. The board
Before anything was modeled, the direction went onto a Pinterest board: oxblood tile, mahogany paneling, arched shopfronts, playing cards. Cheap to build, cheap to argue with.
03. Forty-eight concepts, none of them drawings
Then the board became images. Forty-eight AI concepts in an afternoon, all one idea: a Victorian laundromat, dark green and mahogany, Chesterfields. None is a deliverable. They exist to be reacted to.
The bot is fun for twenty minutes, then it hands you something beautiful nobody can build. Arches with nothing holding them up, a name spelled three ways. That frustration is the part we take off you.
Why a person, and not a prompt
We use AI ourselves. It's fast, cheap, and good at putting a feeling on a screen so you can say no.
What it can't do is decide. It doesn't know the arch has nothing holding it up or that the counter blocks the door. It has no eye, and it will never tell you your idea is bad.
That's the whole job. A person looks at forty-eight pictures, throws out forty-five, and knows why. Then draws the three that can be built, with products you can order this week.
So use the bot for the fun part. Hand us the annoying part. The expensive mistakes are the ones you find on site.
04. The pivot
Forty-eight versions of the dark idea told the client he didn't want the dark idea. He wanted brighter, more diner. The direction moved before anyone had modeled a wall.
05. What survived the change
Almost everything except the darkness. The millwork went mint. The plants, pendants and playing cards stayed. The mosaic floor turned black and white. The pivot cost a conversation, not a re-model.
06. The model, before and after the pivot
Settled in pictures, then built once. The first two rounds are the Victorian scheme in 3D. The third is the same room after the pivot, mint and cream.
Two rounds of drafts are included. This one ran to four, and rounds three and four were paid. That's what happens when something changes late.
Alternative versions inside a round are extra. The strip below runs Option 1 and Option 2 of the same round. If the second version is our idea, it's on us.
Every round lands in your own folder, named and dated. Nothing gets overwritten. Send it to a contractor as is.
Round one, option 1 · included
Round one, option 2 · extra, client requested
Round two · included
Round three · paid round
Round four · paid round, after the pivot
Quick render · a lighting study, not final quality
Renders like this run against a draft to check the light. Minutes, not hours. They catch a scheme that's too dark, early.
What's included, and what isn't
Two rounds of modifications are included in every fixed fee: a first presentation, then two chances to change it.
| Stage | How it is charged |
|---|---|
| Drafts 1 | Included · the first presentation, off the initial brief |
| Modifications 1 | Included |
| Drafts 2 | Included |
| Modifications 2 | Included |
| Drafts 3 | Included · approval usually lands here |
| Renderings | Included · they follow approval |
| Drafts 4 and beyond | Paid |
| A change of direction | Paid · new scope, not a revision |
| Options, as in option 1 and option 2 | Paid · when you ask for them |
| An option we offer unprompted | Free · if the second version is our idea, it is on us |
Ta’Da ran past that. Rounds three and four were quoted. That's what the paid rows are for.
08. The catalogue
Every fitting in the renderings, listed. Name, model number, dimensions, supplier and price. A light somebody can order on a Tuesday.
Catalogue
Ta’Da Laundry Co, Chicago
Every fitting in the renderings, listed
Sourcing catalogue
Ta’Da Laundry Co, Chicago
What the sourcing service actually hands over.
10. Delivered
Not sure what you want yet?
That's what a direction session is for, and it costs a fraction of a project.
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