Confident Concepts

Confident Concepts is a hands-on workshop designed to help interior designers develop, visualise and present their concepts quickly and confidently through hand-drawn techniques and perspective.

EVENT PROGRAMME A one-day intensive workshop designed to help interior designers develop free-hand sketching as a practical and dynamic tool for concept development. Led by Charles Leon and Lester Bennett, both past presidents of the BIID, this intimate, hands-on course brings together decades of professional experience and a shared passion for sketching as an essential part of the creative process.

The day will focus on using overlay techniques and free-hand sketching to translate three-dimensional spatial thinking into clear and confident two-dimensional visual communication. Through demonstrations, guided exercises and individual support, participants will explore how sketching can be used to test, develop and communicate concepts quickly and effectively.

The morning session will begin with a discussion of attendees' floor plans and initial concepts, followed by live demonstrations from Charles and Lester exploring hand-drawn approaches to visualisation, both on paper and digitally. Participants will then begin developing their own concepts using overlay sketching techniques.

In the afternoon, attendees will build their concepts further into three-dimensional sketch perspectives, with one-to-one guidance throughout, working towards a final developed sketch by the end of the day.

WHAT TO EXPECT Expect an immersive and intensive day of creative exploration, focused on concept generation and development through free-hand sketching and overlay techniques. This workshop is not about the full design process, but about learning how to think visually, communicate ideas quickly and confidently, and develop a stronger design narrative from the earliest stages of a project.

You'll be encouraged to push ideas further, drilling deeper into a brief and using sketching as a tool to develop robust, well-considered concepts that go beyond surface-level solutions. The focus is on developing a process that can support presentations, client communication, contractor communication and internal design development alike.

Attendees will: Take part in engaging exercises designed to build confidence in sketching. Learn techniques to quickly record spaces and forms with clarity. Explore perspective, composition and tonal studies. Practise in an inspiring setting with expert guidance throughout. WHAT YOU WILL LEAVE WITH

You'll leave with a fresh and faster approach to concept design, using overlay sketching as a thinking and development tool that sits alongside, and often ahead of, CAD. More than simply learning a technique, you'll develop greater confidence in your ability to sketch ideas spontaneously, communicate concepts clearly and visualise spaces quickly and effectively.

By the end of the workshop, you'll have developed your own sketch plans, details and…