I picked manual drafting over CAD for my last project

Had a client ask for a set of plans for a small shed last month. I chose to draw it by hand instead of firing up AutoCAD. Took me about 6 hours total compared to maybe 3 in the computer. But the client said they liked the hand-drawn look and even framed the final sheet. Has anyone else found a niche where manual work actually pays off?

2 comments

2 Comments

cole_davis472mo ago

Six hours for a shed? At that rate you could have built the dang thing by hand too... But hey, if the client framed it, that's a win. Maybe you should start charging extra for the "artisanal" look, like a hipster coffee shop charging five bucks for toast. Just tell people the pencil marks have more "soul" than a PDF. Though I bet the CAD crowd would argue your lines are crooked or something... People will pay for anything if you call it "handcrafted".

thomas1051mo ago

Wait, you're telling me people are actually paying extra for pencil marks on their lumber now? I swear I've been scraping those off for years thinking they were a flaw, not a feature. Maybe I need to start leaving my coffee cup rings on the blueprints too, call them "organic design notes.