There are some things even the best rendering software can’t show you.
As landscape designers, we spend plenty of time working in programs like Land F/X, SketchUp, and Lumion. They’re incredibly useful for exploring ideas, communicating design intent, and helping clients visualize what a space could become. But eventually, those ideas have to translate from what looks good on a screen to thoughtful, technically sound plans.
That’s where getting out from behind the screen can make a difference.
This summer, with a slightly slower season and three interns joining us in the office, we took the opportunity to bring several vendors and product specialists to Lucido & Associates for a series of Lunch & Learns.
Bridging the Gap Between Design and the Real World
Lunch & Learns give our team direct access to people who know their products inside and out. Instead of searching through specification sheets and product PDFs, we can see materials firsthand, ask questions about unusual applications, learn about new products, and better understand the technical considerations that can influence our designs.
A recent session with Southwest Greens, for example, gave our team a closer look at artificial turf products, technical details, and solutions available for more complicated applications.
Ceramic Matrix brought another benefit that no digital resource can quite replicate: actual samples. Seeing and handling pavers, tiles, and their various finishes gave our designers a much better understanding of scale, texture, and true color than even the best digital swatch can provide.
Those details matter when you’re making decisions that will eventually shape how a place looks, feels, and functions.
Learning From the People Behind the Products
These sessions also give us an opportunity to strengthen relationships with the vendors and specialists who serve as resources throughout our projects.
Our summer lineup included KOMPAN, a commercial playground and outdoor fitness equipment manufacturer we’ve worked with on projects including Pioneer Park Playground. Their equipment can also be found at several parks throughout our region, including Whispering Pines Park, Jessica Clinton Park Playground, and Rotary Park Playground. Looking ahead, we’ll be collaborating with KOMPAN again on Newfield Community Fields Park.
We also welcomed Hardscape.com as part of the series, continuing the kind of product and vendor education that helps our team stay current as materials, technologies, and options evolve.
It’s professional development in a format that encourages questions, conversation, and knowledge-sharing across the office—including with interns and younger designers who may be encountering some of these products for the first time.
And Yes, There’s Lunch
Of course, we’d be lying if we said the educational content was the only thing being evaluated.
According to one enthusiastic member of our team, Panera delivered respectable boxed lunches and Publix made a strong showing with fried chicken and lemonade, but the unofficial summer title went to Chick-fil-A’s nugget platter and chicken wraps—which apparently disappeared shortly after the presentation.
As they put it, enjoying food while learning “keeps the energy high, keeps us awake and paying attention throughout the technical lingo, and creates common ground for a good conversation.”
Fair enough.
Ultimately, that’s what makes these sessions valuable. They’re a chance to step away from our individual projects, gather around the same table, ask questions, discover something new, and bring that knowledge back into our work.
Good design requires us to keep learning—and if that learning occasionally comes with a nugget platter, we certainly aren’t going to complain.
