Campbell Yule

Category: Codesign [Spaces]

  • Reflecting on Codesign — and Looking Ahead

    Reflecting on Codesign — and Looking Ahead

    A few months ago, I shared the news that we had made the difficult decision to close down Codesign. It marked the end of an intense and rewarding chapter in my career.

    At the time, I wrote:

    “Following an extensive internal review, including exploring several alternatives, we have made the difficult decision to close down the Codesign business effective immediately.

    As a small team, we are incredibly proud of our achievements over the last 4.5 years. We want to thank all of you who contributed as collaborators, contributors, customers, and investors.

    From the beginning, your support has been the cornerstone of our success. We are immensely grateful for your trust and the wonderful relationships we have developed over the years. Your involvement has been invaluable.”

    Those words remain just as heartfelt today. I’m proud of what we built — both the product and the community — and I’m grateful for everyone who was part of the journey.

    An Exciting Time for AEC Tech

    While Codesign’s chapter has closed, the AEC tech ecosystem is more vibrant than ever. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a wave of innovation — from design collaboration platforms to AI-driven project planning and open-source BIM tools. New startups are challenging the status quo and offering architects, engineers, and construction professionals better ways to work.

    This momentum is exciting, and it reinforces what we believed from the start: that there’s a real need for thoughtful, user-centered tools in this industry.

    I continue to be deeply engaged in this space — through new ventures, advisory work, and staying connected with the growing AEC tech community. I remain optimistic about what’s ahead and look forward to supporting the next generation of tools that help designers and builders do their best work.

    Thanks again to everyone who supported Codesign. Onward.

  • New iPads are the best ever!

    New iPads are the best ever!

    On Tuesday, Apple held its latest Release Event, which was all about the iPad.

    We’ve always championed the iPad as the optimal platform for Codesign, and with the latest releases, the possibilities have expanded exponentially, sparking a new wave of excitement and intrigue.

    While the M4-based ultra-slim (only 5.1mm!!) iPad Pro 13-inch stole the show for performance, display, and size, we were extremely pleased to see the new range of iPad Airs.

    Yes, the fresh new Air now has a range with the release of an 11-inch and a new 13-inch version.

    The new iPad Airs not only introduce a fresh size variant, but also boast the powerful M2 Apple Silicon, a feature that has already proven its mettle in the previous generation of iPad Pros, leaving us all impressed and eager to delve deeper into its capabilities.

    From our point of view, these new Airs represent fantastic value for money and have both the screen size and performance to power Codesign perfectly.

    In addition to the iPads, a new Pencil—the Apple Pencil Pro—was released, and we can’t wait to investigate what we can do with it!

  • Brand transition complete – Codesign available now!

    Brand transition complete – Codesign available now!

    Today the transition from Spaces to Codesign was completed with the launch of the new Codesign App – available for immediate download now.

    Checkout the full press release on the Codesign blog.

    Unveiling the Future: Introducing the New Codesign App for Architects

    Revolutionizing Design with Our Latest Innovation

    In our quest to continuously push the boundaries of architectural design and technology, I am excited to unveil our latest innovation: the Codesign App, the first specialist concept design application crafted specifically for architects. This tool is not just a product of our imagination but a response to the real needs and challenges faced by architects today.

    Born from a Vision

    The genesis of the Codesign App was driven by a simple observation: architects need more intuitive, efficient tools that seamlessly integrate into the early stages of design. The conceptual phase is critical—it’s where ideas blossom and take shape. Yet, it’s often bogged down by cumbersome processes and tools that aren’t tailored for creative exploration.

    With that challenge in mind, we set out to create something different, something that feels less like a tool and more like a partner in design.

    A Tool Like No Other

    The Codesign App stands apart for several reasons. It’s designed specifically for architects, with an interface that is both intuitive and powerful, stripping away unnecessary complexities and focusing on enhancing creativity.

    A Step Towards a Brighter Future

    Today’s launch of the Codesign App marks a significant milestone in our journey at Codesign. It represents our commitment to innovation and our dedication to supporting the architectural community in creating more magnificent, sustainable, and efficient designs.

    Get Involved

    Your role is crucial in this journey. I invite each of you to experience the Codesign App firsthand. Explore its features, test its capabilities, and let us know how it enhances your design process. Your feedback will be instrumental in refining and evolving the app further.

    Thank You for Being Part of Our Journey

    Launching this app wouldn’t have been possible without your invaluable support and belief in our vision. As we move forward, I am eager to see how the Codesign App will empower architects around the globe, helping bring your incredible visions to life with ease and precision.

    Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey. Together, let’s shape the future of architectural design.

    Jump over to https://www.getcodesign.co to get started today

  • A new brand (and name)

    A new brand (and name)

    I’m sitting here in LA, having spent the day at AEC TECH+, and just now, I’m updating all our marketing – website, social accounts, etc. – to Codesign, Spaces’ new brand.

    We’ve been in the market for over 18 months now, and while we love the Spaces name as it encapsulates our vision, we have found it a problematic name from an awareness/marketing standpoint.

    Earlier this year, we decided to improve our Spaces brand, so we engaged with Simon and the team at Previously Unavailable.

    We had wide-ranging discussions, and while the exercise aimed to improve and refine the Spaces brand, we were open to exploring all opportunities. With that, the name was up for review.

    Change is always difficult, but being open to change is the first step to succeeding. We embarked on this journey together, working extensively with Simon, Hannah and Harry. As we explored names, colours, and messaging, we collectively developed our new brand, Codesign.

    With today’s launch of Codesign, we are extremely happy with what we’ve achieved. This rebranding has opened up new possibilities and created a strong platform for our future growth and success.

    You can read more over on the Codesign blog.

  • Seed Series Raise for Spaces

    Seed Series Raise for Spaces

    A couple of days ago, I was immensely proud to announce Shadow Ventures as the Cerulean Labs Seed Round lead.

    This process started before my previous post, when I first pitched Matt at Shadow in May 2022. At the time, I wasn’t too sure how it had been received, but I was delighted to hear back from Matt and arrange another pitch with KP Reddy, the founder of Shadow Ventures.

    But let’s back up the truck a little—why Shadow Ventures? As we started looking to raise our Seed round, I was focused on finding a VC that understood the AEC Market. This was critical in my mind in order for them to have a deep understanding of the market we operated in. It escapes me exactly how I found Shadow Ventures, but somehow, I landed on their website, and everything I read clicked with me.

    Since May, we have diligently worked through the traditional process of receiving a Term Sheet and then set about making it happen, ensuring a thorough and confident decision-making process.

    This was a little less straightforward as Cerulean Labs is a New Zealand-based company with a few handfuls of New Zealand Investors (Friends, Family, and Angel Groups). Shadow Ventures required Cerulean Labs to incorporate in the United States, so we formed Cerulean Labs US, Inc. as the overall company, which in turn owns our New Zealand (and via NZ, our United Kingdom) operations.

    While it may sound straightforward, this process, commonly called a “flip,” took much time and discussion to get over the line. We worked through challenges across tax, accounting, and legal aspects.

    Having completed that part of the process, we can use Shadow’s funds and some minor (but valuable and vital) contributors to fuel our Spaces journey. 

    I’ve really enjoyed the discussions to date with KP [Reddy], Matt [Ohlmam] and Nick [Durham] and look forward to many more.

  • A’22 – Chicago

    A’22 – Chicago

    Following our release of Spaces version 2, we hit the road for NXT BLD in London and the AIA A’22 show in Chicago.

    I was fortunate to have time to explore Chicago – a city I’d never visited before – and see the evolution of the Skyscraper in a single city.

    Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, over 14,000 buildings were destroyed. A group of architects came together and started using new building techniques and what we know as sky scapers began to appear.

    Over the following decades, Chicago continued to innovate and as you can see in the photos below a rich history of architecture has been created. No other city in the world can boast such a broad range of styles in a relatively small area.

    BEST of SHOW – Innovation Category

    Following the A’22 exhibition, the Spaces team were thrilled to receive a BEST of SHOW award in the Innovation category from architosh. We’ve only been in the market for a short time so this recognition was especially pleasing.

    Spaces caught the attention of attendees at the AIA (American Institute of Architects) National Conference and Expo in Chicago last week. So it comes as no surprise that it received a 2022 Architosh BEST of SHOW award.

    architosh

  • Spaces version 2 – released

    Spaces version 2 – released

    Since I was last here, my team and I have been heads down working on what turned out to be our second most significant release ever!

    While it’s only a little over seven months since we officially launched Spaces (v1), we have been single-mindedly working towards our recent v2 release.

    When we launched, I told people that we felt we had at least 12months more development to build out our core vision for spaces.

    We’ve achieved this milestone five months early with a tiny dev team (and me), and I am immensely proud.

    This by no means is an indication that we are finished; we probably are only just at the end of the beginning.

    Having our core vision now in place, we are extremely well prepared to focus on business growth and expansion and continue improving and adding to the Spaces feature set.

    We launched a lot with our v2 release and we want everyone to be able to experience everything Spaces has to offer.

    That’s why with the release we announced the availability of an extended 3-month trial!

  • Spaces – reviews

    Wow! I knew I hadn’t posted here for a while, but it turned out to be longer than I thought!

    Having launched Spaces last October we’ve been busy continuing to develop Spaces while also building traction in the market.

    While I haven’t been posting here, I have been writing articles for our website

    I’ve also worked with industry publications to help educate the market about our new Tool.

    Spaces might look like a pretty simple tool, but it’s actually got a lot of hidden depth and capability, even though it only launched October 2021… it’s a tool for every architect.

    Martyn Day – AEC Magazine

    It has been great to read the reviews published especially since they confirm many aspects of our mission and aims with Spaces.

    …delightful to find a conceptual design tool for architecture that not only runs on the iPad but is completely aligned to it in spirit and harnesses its full potential… …so that you are literally designing actual buildings on the iPad quickly and fluidly.

    Lachmi Khemlani, AECbytes

    While I worked closely with Lachmi and Martyn, it was a wonderful surprise to find Anthony’s article on architosh:

    …the iPad is merging the nature of trace paper (infinite roll) with the sketchbook, something that fewer architects seem to carry these days but is still incredibly useful. Spaces the app is simply a new form of trace paper.

    Anthony Frausto-Robledo, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, architosh

  • Capital Raising

    We recently completed a funding round for Spaces by Cerulean Labs.

    As a pre-revenue start-up, capital raising represents a vital form of validation while recognising the increased risk the investors at this point are taking.

    The process took around six months, with the first three months putting feelers out into the marketplace and making initial introductions.  

    To keep the business operating, we opened the round to existing shareholders and a handful of new investors while landing the bigger fish.

    While we raised the majority of funds from four New Zealand Angel Groups, the process was reasonably straightforward with Ian Frame for Launch Taranaki and then Graeme Thomson from Manawatu Investment Group taking the lead to manage the internal processes with the Angel Groups.

    “A kiwi based in Europe right now is a really distinct advantage in launching a new product on the global market,”

    Ian Frame, Chair Launch Taranaki

    In the end, we managed to get everything over the line with only a handful of Zoom meetings – I’m based in Budapest and the Angels are all New Zealand based. However, outside of the meetings, the efforts were a lot more time-consuming, with extensive materials and several top quality QA sessions.

    The last part of the process was essentially mechanical with all the documentation and was more an administration task.

    Having completed the process, with the money now in the bank, we have the runway to support our upcoming commercial launch.

    Capital raising is a process that start-ups need to focus on regularly and well in advance of when funds are required. That said, I’m looking forward to a slight pause from capital raising where I can focus on our business goals.

  • Ship It!

    When developing software, there is always more you can do, more features you can add, more bugs you can fix, more improvements to existing tools.

    This can quickly spiral into a situation where you want to do “just one more thing..” before you release.

    This is a slippery slope and one the requires discipline to avoid.

    Don’t get me wrong, no one wants to release low-quality bug-filled software, but it comes down to focus and prioritisation as with everything.

    There is always an endless supply of ideas when it comes to new features and improvements, but again you can fall in the trap of releasing features customers don’t want.

    This is what “shipping” is a critical part of the development process. Regularly releasing software is a habit and forces you to push features out to users sometimes earlier then you want.

    Shipping regularly is hard but worthwhile.

    The pay-back though through the user feedback loop is a critical part of the development process. User feedback is a key input for prioritisation.

    Shipping regularly forces you to bite of small pieces of functionality and gain insights – pulling you back on track where necessary and avoiding wasted effort.

    Shipping is a very rewarding activity. While things aren’t always perfect – and someone crashed your app within hours of release – the great thing about regularly shipping is your ability to make the required fixes and get them out into the market quickly with the next release.

    While we always strive for perfection and to be better, it is refreshing to know the next release is only a matter of weeks, not months, away, which also reduces pressure on testing.

    We shipped another version yesterday – and it feels good!