Kitchen Designer Ashley Day Rates Her Top 5 Tech Tools
In today’s digital age, rapid technological growth is expanding to almost every field. From automated assembly in industrial work to self-checkouts in the retail world and Zoom meetings for corporate businesses, it seems like there’s some tech tool for everyone.
In our world of design, there’s always a new, hot AI option to “help” us create or an app to manage tasks. But are they really helpful? Or just trying to make something easier that wasn’t truly complex in the first place?
Over the last few years, I’ve come to use these five digital tools that actually do seem to make my life easier – and just might make yours easier, too.
1 – Adobe Fresco
This free app has been a staple of mine for the last four years. While it does have some paid features, you certainly don’t need them in order for it to assist you in designing a new space.
Its ability to work without WiFi or data makes it a breeze to use in remote areas. All your items are saved locally until your next connection, where they update to your Adobe Cloud.
Fresco features the same capabilities that we love about all Adobe programs: layers, rulers, grids, image imports, text boxes and more.
Now you can draw your space on a base layer, and add notes to others that you can toggle on and off when you need them. Say goodbye to wondering what you scribbled in the margins of your meeting notes, because Fresco has a whole text layer dedicated to notes that you can actually read.
The best part: You can easily export your drawing to PDFs or image files to save in client folders, print for physical copies if needed and send to vendors for measurement references.
This tech tool is easily a 10/10 in my book.
2 – Asana
If you’ve ever worked with Trello, Asana is like its cooler, more put-together older sister. The ability to link more than one project to different boards has been instrumental in keeping projects running smoothly.
Now, individual tasks can be assigned to team members, management and field supervisors without cluttering everyone’s board with information they probably don’t need. Things like order arrivals, filed claims, returns and shipments can easily be filtered to administrative roles, while subcontractor trade organization info gets filtered to the jobsite supervisor.
You can even create different templates for different types of projects. Everything from room-specific designs to whole-house designs can be broken down by template, so you have an exact checklist of everything you need without clutter from other rooms or missing things by manually adding them each time.
You never again have to ask yourself if you called so-and-so to remind them of a deadline or to tell them that a client called for an update. So long, days of lost sticky note reminders and forgotten phone calls! Hello, Asana, task manager for designers everywhere.
While I haven’t been able to utilize the automations they offer as seamlessly as I’d hoped, Asana still gets an 8/10 for project management.
3 – Monday.com
Monday.com is amazing for automations. If you want something relieve you of sending monotonous updates to clients and have your back when it comes to maintaining good communication, this software is for you!
With Monday, I am able to set different “status” triggers that automatically notify my clients when specific tasks for their project are underway. I no longer have those panicky, oh-crap moments, wondering if I told someone that their tile had shipped and they’d be receiving a delivery scheduling notice soon.
I even built a “next steps” trigger to notify clients about who they’d be hearing from next, what to expect and congratulate them on their purchase, all with the click of a button.
Monday also makes it fun to track internal goals, sales for each quarter and projections for the next. The platform has a digital llama farm (yes, you read that right) widget available on the dashboard, which represents every project for the quarter and color-codes them by stage, with the llama’s size reflecting the monetary value within each project. As someone who loves design but also has to make a living, this tech has been extremely helpful in my projections, visualizing the number of projects being managed and giving me a guideline to hit project completion goals.
These features, along with Monday’s general project management set-ups, give the tech tool a solid 8/10.
4 – Pinterest
In the design world, one of the most common things we encounter is the “But I saw it on Pinterest” syndrome.
While I tend to veer away from anything that starts with “I saw it on Pinterest,” I do have to give the app a moment to shine because it does serve a great purpose in design. We often get clients who have a space that does not work for their needs and they want to redo it, but have no idea where to start.
Pinterest can be a wonderful tool for them to find things they might like (or definitely do not like), and help guide us to a starting point. Having clients pin things to their project board not only helps keep larger projects organized by room or space, but also allows them to see where their stylistic preferences lie and view the cohesiveness of their overall palette.
At the end of the day, it is our job to make their tastes shine in a way that is beautiful and functional. Pinterest’s tech helps designers get past the “What style are you looking for?” line.
Pinterest earns a solid 7/10 for helping bridge those initial project steps, but also for often starting the now-standard conversation of “that might be an AI-generated image, so let’s see what can realistically be done.”
5 – Canva
I know many graphic designers and design professionals were hesitant when Canva first came on the scene a few years back. And I agree, it’s not a replacement for the artistry that happens in the human mind, but it does have its place in our business.
Canva offers public viewing links and live mini websites that are the perfect sneak peeks and presentation portals for projects. Whether you are presenting to a boardroom or emailing a client halfway across the world, their view links work wonders.
Nothing says personalization like having a web link dedicated to each client’s project. Gone are the days of zip files and gigantic GB emails. Now you simply upload your design images, mood boards and more to a Canva design and email the link to your client.
You can also deactivate the links at any time to make edits or simply protect information if a client has opted not to move forward with your services.
Canva links have the potential to expand businesses past the brick-and-mortar shop by allowing design content to be easily displayed, accessed and updated without ever having to resend large files again.
The software also allows you to upload brand standards and elements, make templates and set teams so that your presentations can be consistent, beautiful and easy to use. There’s nothing worse than having to copy and paste an old design, delete all the content and reuse it for another project, only to realize you accidentally edited the original. Their templates feature prevents that from ever being an issue.
Overall, its ease of use and multi-functional capabilities put Canva at a 9 out of 10.
At the end of the day, designers are responsible for taking someone’s vision and bringing it to life. While the beauty of human creation can’t be replicated by machines, there is a place for tech in our field if we only choose to embrace the tools at our disposal.
—Ashley Day is a kitchen designer with Cleveland Cabinets
