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Architectural Presentations

Presentation drawings are those we typically think of when the term “design drawing” is used or mentioned. These drawings describe a design proposal in a graphic manner intended to persuade an audience of its value. The audience may be a client, a committee, or merely someone browsing for an idea. Whether produced to assist the client's imagination or to obtain a commission, either privately or through a competition, presentation drawings should communicate as clearly and accurately as possible the three-dimensional qualities of a design. Although the drawings that comprise a presentation may be excellent two-dimensional graphics worthy of an exhibition, they are merely tools for communicating a design idea, never ends in themselves.

Architectural Presentations

Unless presentation drawings are comprehensible and persuasive—their conventions understood and their substance meaningful—a presentation will be weak and ineffective. An effective presentation, however, also possesses important collective characteristics.

Point of View

Be clear about design intent. A presentation should communicate the central idea or concept of a design scheme. Graphic diagrams and text are effective means of articulating and clarifying the essential aspects of a design scheme, especially when they are visually related to the more common types of design drawing.

Efficiency

Be economical. An effective presentation employs economy of means, utilizing only what is necessary to communicate an idea. Any graphic elements of a presentation that are distracting and ends in themselves can obscure the intent and purpose of the presentation.

Clarity

Be articulate. At a minimum, presentation drawings should explain a design clearly and in enough detail so that viewers unfamiliar with it will be able to understand the design proposal. Eliminate unintended distractions, such as those caused by ambiguous figure-ground relationships or inappropriate groupings of drawings. Too often, we can be blind to these glitches, because we know what we want to communicate and therefore cannot read our own work in an objective manner.

Accuracy

Avoid presenting distorted or incorrect information. Presentation drawings should accurately simulate a possible reality and the consequences of future actions so that any decisions made based on the information presented are sound and reasonable.

Unity

Be organized. In an effective presentation, no one segment is inconsistent with or detracts from the whole. Unity, not to be confused with uniformity, depends on:

  • A logical and comprehensive arrangement of integrated graphic and verbal information;
  • A synthesis of format, scale, medium, and technique appropriate to the design as well as to the place and audience for which the presentation is intended.

Continuity

Each segment of a presentation should relate to what precedes it and what follows, reinforcing all the other segments of the presentation.

The principles of unity and continuity are mutually self-supporting; one cannot be achieved without the other. The factors that produce one invariably reinforce the other. At the same time, however, we can bring into focus the central idea of a design through the placement and pacing of the major and supporting elements of the presentation.

Presentation elements

A single drawing cannot fully explain a design. Only through a coordinated presentation of related drawings can the three-dimensional form and character of a design be communicated. To explain and clarify aspects that are beyond the capability of the drawings, we resort to diagrams, graphic symbols, titles, and text. In any design presentation, therefore, we should carefully plan the sequence and arrangement of all of the following elements:

All of the above elements have properties that must be considered in composing a visually balanced presentation:

  • Shape, size, tonal value, and visual weight
  • Placement, direction, and interval

We generally read design presentations from left to right and from top to bottom. Slide and computerized presentations involve a sequence in time. In either case, the subject matter presented should progress in sequence from small-scale to large-scale graphic information, and from the general or contextual view to the specific.

Drawing Relationships

The sequence and alignment of the drawings should reinforce their projected relationships.

Forming Visual Sets

Design drawings are usually presented as a related set or group of figures. Typical examples include a series of floor plans for a multistory building or a sequence of building elevations. The spacing and alignment of these individual drawings, as well as similarity of shape and treatment, are the key factors in determining whether we read these drawings as a set of related information or as individual figures.

  • Properly related drawings that form a visual set can themselves define the edge of a field for another drawing or set of figures.
  • Lines can serve to separate as well as to unify, emphasize, and outline. Avoid using lines, however, when spacing or alignment can achieve the same purpose.
  • Boxes can establish a field within a larger field or within the boundaries of the sheet or board. Be aware, however, that using too many frames can establish ambiguous figure-ground relationships.
  • A tonal value can be used to define a field within a large field. A darker background for an elevation drawing, for example, can merge with a section drawing. The foreground for a perspective can become the field for a plan view of the building.

Graphic Symbols

Graphic symbols help the viewer identify the various aspects and features of a drawing or presentation.

  • North arrows indicate the major compass points on architectural plans so that the viewer is able to grasp the orientation of a building and its site.
  • Graphic scales are graduated lines or bars representing proportionate size. These scales are especially useful because they remain proportional when a drawing is enlarged or reduced.

Graphic symbols rely on conventions to convey information. To be easily recognizable and readable, keep them simple and clean—free of extraneous detail and stylistic flourishes. In enhancing the clarity and readability of a presentation, these devices also become important elements in the overall composition of a drawing or presentation. The impact of graphic symbols and lettering depends on their size, visual weight, and placement.

Size

The size of a graphic symbol should be in proportion to the scale of the drawing and readable from the anticipated viewing distance.

Visual Weight

The size and tonal value of a graphic symbol determines its visual weight. If a large symbol or typeface is required for readability but a low value is mandatory for a balanced composition, then use an outline symbol or letter style.

Placement

Place graphic symbols as close as possible to the drawing to which they refer. Whenever possible, use spacing and alignment instead of boxes or frames to form visual sets of information.

Lettering

A wealth of well-designed and legible typefaces is available in digital typography. You should therefore spend time on the appropriate selection and use of fonts rather than attempt to design new ones.

  • Guidelines are required to control the height and line spacing of handlettering. The maximum size for a handlettering is 3/16 of an inch. Beyond this size, the letters require a width beyond what a single pen or pencil stroke is capable of producing.
  • Use a small triangle to maintain the verticality of vertical lettering strokes. The visual movement of slanted lettering can be distracting in a rectilinear drawing scheme.
  • Maintain similar proportions among the characters of a title or line of text.
  • Everyone inevitably develops an individual style of handlettering. The most important characteristics of a lettering style are readability and consistency in both style and spacing.

Lettering in a design presentation should be carefully integrated into the composition of drawings on each sheet or board.

Text

Organize text into visual sets of information and relate these sets directly to the portion of the drawing to which they refer. The line spacing of text should be more than one-half of the letter height used, but no more than the letter height itself. The space between blocks of text should be equal to or greater than the height of two lines of text.

Presentation Formats

A set of related drawings may be laid out in a vertical, horizontal, or grid format. In planning the layout for a presentation, first identify the essential relationships you want to achieve. Then use a storyboard or small-scale mockup of the presentation to explore alternative drawing arrangements, alignments, and spacing prior to beginning the final presentation drawings.

  • Remember to explore potential relationships between the sheets or panels.
  • Maintain horizontal continuity across sheets with a ground line or by the alignment of drawing titles.
  • Do not include unnecessary dimensions or employ borders and title blocks; we reserve these conventions for construction or working drawings.
  • When a presentation consists of more than one sheet or board, identify each panel by a number. This information should be in the same relative position on each panel.
  • If the panels of a presentation are to be displayed in a specific manner, you can use more graphic means to identify the relative position of each panel in the display.
  • A symmetrical layout works best in presenting symmetrical designs.
  • Centralized formats are suitable when presenting a plan surrounded by elevation views, an expanded paraline drawing, or a key drawing surrounded by detailed portions drawn at a larger scale.
  • If a series of drawings are treated in different ways or are of different types,you can unify them by framing or boxing them in a uniform manner.
  • We can display drawings horizontally with text below each drawing to form related columns.
  • Avoid using a double or triple frame around a drawing. Doing so can create the impression of a figure on a background that itself has a background. Attention would be diverted from the figure, where it belongs, to the frame around it.
  • A grid provides the most flexibility for laying out a series of drawings and text blocks ona panel or series of boards. The underlying sense of order created by the grid allows a great variety of information to be presented in a uniform manner.
  • The grid may be square or rectangular, uniform or irregular.
  • We can display drawings, diagrams, and text in individual boxes or frames.
  • An important drawing may take up more than one box or frame.
  • Graphics and text may be integrated in an organic manner.

Digital Formatting

Drawing and page layout programs give us the ability to try out different ways to arrange the elements of a presentation. However, because what we see on a monitor may not necessarily match the output from a printer or plotter, a trial layout should always be printed or plotted to ensure that the results are satisfactory.

Digital Presentations

Digital technology has introduced the elements of time and motion into architectural presentations. Presentation software enables us to plan and present slide shows of static graphic images as well as animations. Whereas we can roam and ponder a series of drawings displayed on a wall of a room, our viewing of a computer-based presentation is sequential and controlled by the presenter.