Every designer needs a strong digital presence to stake a place in a crowded marketplace. This course presents easy-to-implement, expert advice for how creatives can craft effective websites and social media profiles that help build their brands and attract prospective clients.

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Thermally fused laminate (TFL), also known as melamine panels, has become the leader in durable realism in kitchens, closets, home offices, and organized storage, delivering great value, quality, and safety without sacrificing design. Presented here is the evolution and manufacture of TFL and its properties and performance attributes, the link between texture and perception and the role texture plays in the visual impact of a TFL panel, and finally, residential living trends that are forcing designers and manufacturers to innovate.

Daylight is an essential part of our health and well-being, but it needs management. Shading strives to maximize daylight without compromising building occupant comfort and well-being. This course explores the role daylight has within the built environment and its impact on occupants and energy usage, with a focus on how to better specify shadecloth based on factors such as project type, solar optical properties, shadecloth composition, and environmental factors.

Automated-shading systems are designed to maximize natural daylight, increase building energy efficiency, and ensure occupants have a comfortable environment with views to the outside. This course will explain how an automated shading system predicts, monitors, and responds to the daily microclimate surrounding a building to effectively manage daylight, solar-heat gain, occupant comfort levels, and energy use demands.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

When deciding on outdoor cabinetry, understanding the available material options is essential to the selection of a long-lasting, sustainable choice. This course reviews the pros and cons of these options, with a focus on the attributes, sustainability, and performance characteristics of marine-grade high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material, engineered to withstand extreme conditions while maintaining optimal structural integrity.

In this course, the second segment of a two-part series on practice management, industry professionals offer their tried-and-true guidance on how to take a design business to the next level.

Presented here are the strategies for expanding business and increasing revenues, as well as other factors to consider when scaling your practice, such as finding a business partner or setting up a satellite office. Most importantly, the lessons in this course will prepare any design principal to be an effective leader during times of change.

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Quartz surfacing is a man-made material consisting of up to 93% natural quartz crystal. In this course, you will discover the other components behind the beauty, durability, and flexibility of this surfacing material. You will see the composition, production, and quality assurance processes that go into making the material and the resultant attributes and capabilities, as well as the installation basics of quartz surfacing materials.

From classrooms to boardrooms to living rooms, hanging display systems enhance spaces and provide design freedom. This course examines wall hanging systems with a focus on integrating systems in the overall design of a project and includes discussions on system elements, selection criteria, specialty applications, and sustainable design.

While architects and designers have many choices for specifying dynamic architectural surfaces in their projects, the result of using photography in such applications has historically presented challenges. This course explores typical digital images used in glass installations, gigapixel photography, guidelines for glass transparency, and the impacts of luminosity and reflectivity. Finally, it looks at potential applications for gigapixel images in large- or small-scale architectural surfaces.

Architects and designers have many options for specifying site furniture products for their projects. Selecting materials and finishes is an integral part of this process, yet making material selections has become more and more complex. The course examines conditions and constraints of outdoor environments; evaluates materials commonly used in outdoor applications; discusses using green building standards and rating systems, and the role of suppliers as resources for material selection; and provides examples of products that adhere to a higher environmental standard.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

The office furniture industry is an ever-changing marketplace and this changeability has produced huge amounts of unwanted furniture. Remanufacturing addresses the waste, cost, and storage that comes with replacing office furniture. This course looks at trends in the office furniture industry, the environmental impacts created by legacy furniture, and a review of the environmental and economic benefits of remanufactured furniture as an alternative to scrapping, downcycling, or discarding to landfill.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

High-performance waterproof panels are engineered to mitigate moisture damage in areas where water is ever present while offering easy installation and lasting beauty. This course reviews the importance of moisture management in wet applications and examines the performance attributes of waterproof panels that make them a complete wall solution.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

There is an extremely wide array of coated or composite fabrics available on the market, each type formulated for specific uses and with different levels of performance and quality. To assist in the decision-making process, standards have been developed to show product performance, facilitate quality control, and assure designers that the product they are specifying is suitable for normal commercial use. This course briefly outlines the history, properties, and uses of coated fabrics, the intent and content of one coated fabric standard, and the testing protocols that support it.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) suite of rating systems recognizes projects that implement strategies for better environmental and health performance. Presented here is an overview of LEED v4 BD+C New Construction credits to which paints and coatings may apply. The course reviews LEED credit intents, explains credit requirements, and describes where to find materials to meet the needs of the credits.

Originally developed to reduce solar heat gain from entering through a pane of glass, window films in today’s market provide UV protection, reduce glare, reduce fading, increase occupant comfort, offer safety and security, and yield energy savings. This course evaluates the performance of different types of solar control window films and offers daylighting strategies for commercial, retail, and residential building and architectural applications.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

Our built environment must be optimized to create comfortable and healthier spaces. Shading systems can be used to enhance our spaces by providing optimal daylight and comfort to create an ideal indoor environment. This course reviews the performance, aesthetics, and material health of various shadecloth compositions and how each factor contributes to the shadecloth selection process.

 This course is part of one or more "Course Collections". Click here to view the details...

Surface design and color impact people in one way or another. Why do some surroundings induce a sense of calm, happiness, or inspiration while others offer nothing but distraction, discomfort, chaos, doom, and gloom? Interior surfaces are the point of contact between users and their environment, as well as an important connection between the visual and physical worlds. This course examines the integral role that surface color and design play in interior spaces and how color and design can improve health, reduce stress, enhance safety, and promote well-being in building occupants. Key requirements in the selection and specification process are also discussed.

The architectural uses for perforated metal span a wide variety of interior and exterior applications for residential, industrial, and commercial projects. Reviewed in this course are the applications and the specification considerations for standard and custom perforated metal, along with a discussion on how it is used to sculpt light, control sound, and compose views.

The design of behavioral healthcare facilities should address the therapeutic and safety needs of patients and staff while meeting the applicable codes and regulations. Reviewed in this course are ligature-resistant products developed for patient rooms and bathrooms that strike the balance between providing the safest design solutions while creating a noninstitutional environment.

Les panneaux décoratifs en bois composite (TFL), que l’on appelle aussi panneaux en mélamine, sont devenus le choix no 1 pour ce qui est du réalisme durable dans les cuisines, les garde-robes, les bureaux à domicile et le mobilier de rangement, en raison de leur excellent rapport qualité-prix, et de leur qualité, tout cela sans avoir à faire de sacrifice esthétique. Nous voulons vous parler de l’histoire et de la fabrication des panneaux de TFL, de leurs propriétés et caractéristiques techniques, du lien entre la texture et les perceptions et du rôle que joue la texture dans l’effet visuel d’un panneau de TFL. Enfin, nous allons parler des tendances dans le domaine résidentiel qui forcent les designers et les fabricants à innover.

Sealed integral blind assemblies are a low-maintenance and cost-effective solution where shading, privacy, sound mitigation, security, or sterile conditions are required. Presented here are integral blind assemblies and their benefits over conventional blinds, components and framing options, performance characteristics and testing standards, and common applications.

Acrylic solid surface is an attractive design solution, delivering enhanced aesthetics combined with superior performance properties. This course compares the characteristics of 100% acrylic solid surface to other surface materials and reviews the driving factors that contribute to its growing role in sustainable design strategies. Also discussed are the manufacturing, fabricating, and thermoforming processes of acrylic solid surface and the related green standards and certification programs.

The commercial space design trend toward open plans has had a major impact on interior electrical and digital infrastructure. Offices, hotels, retail spaces, and transit areas all utilize open spaces, each with their own specific issues and requirements. This course provides designers with the information required to provide code-compliant, user-friendly, and convenient power, data/communication, and AV access for a wide variety of spaces and end users, including facility managers, cleaning staff, and visitors.

Architectural laminated glass has become an increasingly desired material for indoor and outdoor projects, and digital imagery is a popular method of incorporating design elements. This course describes how vector graphics can be used in architectural design, what vector graphics are, and how they differ from raster images. It also examines in detail how vector graphics are used in architectural laminated glass.

Acquiring ideal clients and developing a productive rapport so you retain them are the keys to growing and maintaining a successful design business. Presented here are digital marketing strategies to help attract potential clients, factors to consider when vetting clients, best practices for effective communication, and methods to employ to minimize conflict.

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