JGMA Creating Efficiencies with all Ideate Software Tools

JGMA is an architecture and design firm with projects across North America, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Based in Chicago, JGMA’s vast portfolio ranges from small to large projects that span the areas of education, research and technology, hospitality, residential, healthcare, commercial, interiors, urban and master planning, product design and graphic design. Its professionals constantly cultivate the concept of architecture and look at each project as an opportunity to influence civic life and transform communities. 

Bringing Ideate Software to JGMA

When Darya Minosyants Stefanovic joined JGMA as the Director of Technology, she brought extensive experience with Ideate Software tools for Revit, having used them at the firm she worked at previously. “My last employer was a strong user and advocate of Ideate Software products,” said Darya. “I came to JGMA knowing their power, and after a few discussions and demonstrations of how we would spend less time on tedious Revit tasks, the team was sold.”

Daley College Manufacturing Technology & Engineering Center. JGMA used building transparency to showcase machines, equipment, and products integral to the learning objectives of the colleges and to provide a visual connection to the surrounding community.

Getting to Know Ideate Software Tools

“We subscribed to the Ideate Software bundle about two weeks ago,” said Darya. “The team is busy exploring the functionality and building the workflows into their daily activities.”

Here are some ways JGMA is already benefiting from Ideate Software tools:

• Ideate StyleManager – “My responsibilities include managing templates and ensuring that projects are set up correctly with our company standards,” said Darya. “Ideate StyleManager streamlines the process and makes cleaning up existing projects easy.”
   
• Ideate BIMLink – The architects and designers at JGMA are digging into the many functions of Ideate BIMLink. So far, they appreciate that it enables them to quickly change worksets throughout a project and rename families.
   
• Ideate Sticky – Because JGMA works a lot in MS Excel, they immediately saw the benefits of live-linking Excel spreadsheets to Revit projects, so changes to the Excel document are automatically reflected in the Sticky and everyone is always looking at the current version.
   
• Ideate Explorer – JGMA’s Senior Project Designer Ted Hogan has been advocating for the use of Ideate Explorer. The main benefit he sees is that they can quickly get away from looking at elements in two dimensions only and really understand what is happening by isolating them in 3D with a selection box. This workflow of isolating and previewing elements in 3D really helps the whole team understand the full condition. 
   
• IdeateApps – So far, JGMA’s two favorite tools from the IdeateApps collection are:
  • Ideate SheetManager, which they use to quickly clone sheets with similar properties, place views on sheets and align views between similar sheets. This worksflow really streamlines the process when sheets have to be set up in the beginning of the project. 
     
  • Ideate QuickSelect. “There are a million ways to hide something in Revit,” said Darya. “With Ideate QuickSelect, it’s easy to find out why an element is hidden and resolve problems.”

Esperanza Health Centers. JGMA designed this fully accessible building utilizing forward-thinking design to attract and unite the surrounding community.

“In addition to streamlining processes, our team is talking about how Ideate QuickSelect is helping them learn about Revit, because it explains how Revit works and how projects are set up,” said Darya. 

“Although the team just started using these tools a few weeks ago, they are using them daily and enjoying the time savings,” said Darya. “The tools will pay for themselves in a few months and will continue to bring additional value as we use them more and more.”