Raw notes and impressions on April Greiman lecture, 02/15/08

The classic triptych of architectural presentation in school consist of;
Concept
Research
Project

It is this Bermuda Triangle, where most mishaps happen and underestimating one of the three can lead to unforseen disasters in the form of an aggressive jury's open season on the hunt; you.
It also devaluates your work considerably, which is even worst.

A well thought out presentation is like a well composed music where every note is recognized, timed, defined, so the musical intention and the talent of the composer can be experienced to its fullest impact.
Besides music; writing, architecture, dance, film, graphics and many other art activities utilize these basic compositional guides.
A presentation is really a communique. If you don't communicate your ideas well, your work gets buried and chances are, it might never surface again under the normal circumstances. You don't want to bury your valuable work just because you didn't take the necessary steps to present it well.

This is not to say, everything must be stacked, lined up and buffed.
But, let me assure you, a seemingly chaotic art work is usually a well thought out precision machine under the surface, if that is the method you decide to communicate your project with.
Everything is possible under the sun and on the white walls of Sci arc, as long as some of the basic systems are (again) recognized, timed, defined and manipulated.

Your graphic design mentor, April Greiman, has illustrated some basic use of visual media in her overall commentary, superimposed on your boards.
She has identified some basic tools and gave some examples of their effective applications towards a well communicated presentation.

Like many of you, who attended the studio on Friday, I have made some bullet type of notes on her comments. Before I list them below, I would encourage you to add your takes and questions on this very important issue of ‘graphics,’ which, most of the time for architects, doesn’t go further than some ‘stuff’ on the pulp, to be fast crossed in shortest possible time, before the basswood modelistas and the three dimensional renderlings take the center stage...

Consider;

Visual communication through pin up boards are best viewed when;

The typeface is simplified.

Using different type of media, such as; drawings, text, photos, sounds and others, quality is more effective than the quantity, edit well.

Hierarchy of images must be well thought out and continuity of story must be considered.

The rule of thumb for typography/fonts is max. 50 characters per line.

Contrast of anything against the background surface must be studied, if you have written the story of your life in light gray on white surface, I won’t be reading it.

Fonts, fonts, fonts; they can communicate urgency, importance, humor and personality.

Use of colors on boards is a critical point and must be well choreographed.

Titles of your ideas and propositions must be done to further your delivery, like, ‘what’s in a title, doc?’

Crop your pictures thoughtfully.

Crop your contents on the board thoughtfully, use a piece of paper to arrange different pieces on board. Remember, things appear proportionally different on computer screen.

Treat your board as a space, articulate your graphic field, study negative and positive conditions.

Manipulate placement of different parts of your ideas and research on the board so they can interact, create tension, relief and breathe (setbacks of elements.)

Graphic space/graphic space/graphic space; explore this concept,

“Space emphasizes what’s in it.”

Integrate different systems on your boards wisely, don’t let them eat each other, be nice...

Look up Edward Tufte to start with...

Wait, this is not all. More will be revealed in time, on; how to develop the concept(s) of your work, while integrating some graphic process into your projects. You will notice that everything in your imaginary triptych is actually turns and turns and turns and broadcasts your music, and graphic design is one of your essential tools to shape that sound.
When you are putting the presentation of your studio project together, remember this; some of the people who will be evaluating the work, have never seen it before and it is your job to make them see the work without a major effort on their part.