FIG. 02 — WHO’S BEHIND IT

Ten years in practice. Five years in the classroom.

I’m a college instructor in Ontario teaching interior design and architecture, going on five years. Before that — and alongside it — a decade of professional practice across civic, transit, industrial, and residential projects.

My work centres on user experience, wayfinding, and accessibility. That shapes what you’ll read here more than it might seem. Buildings are used by people who are tired, in a hurry, unfamiliar with the space, or navigating it with a disability — and the same standard applies to a portfolio, a drawing set, or a piece of advice. If it doesn’t work for the person receiving it, it doesn’t work.

Teaching is where the gaps become obvious. The same questions surface every semester, usually from students far enough along that nobody expects them to still be asking — and nobody ever told them.

This site is deliberately kept separate from my teaching. Nothing here is assigned reading, nothing here is promoted in class, and no student of mine is ever pointed at a link I earn from. What’s written here is the advice I’d give a student over coffee — published where anyone can find it.

The guides here reflect what I’ve seen work for students in North American programs. Your school’s software list, requirements, and expectations may differ — always check.

FIG. 03 — HOW THIS IS PAID FOR

Affiliate links, stated plainly.

Some links here are affiliate links — if you buy through one, a retailer pays a small commission. You pay the same either way. That’s what keeps the guides free and ad-free.

The obvious risk with that model is that it quietly rewards recommending expensive things. So, the rules this site holds to:

• Every recommendation states its drawbacks. If a machine is heavy, loud, or overpriced for what most students need, that’s in the review.
• Cheaper is often the right answer, and gets recommended when it is — even though it pays less.
• Some things are recommended with no link at all, because they’re the right call and there’s nothing to earn.
• Nothing is recommended that wouldn’t be recommended to a student in person.

Full details in the Affiliate Disclosure. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

FIG. 04 — WHAT’S HERE

FIG. 05 — GET IN TOUCH

Ask a question. It might become the next guide.

Corrections, suggestions, and student questions are all welcome — and all answered.