Case study - Presenting ideas

Design student Daniela La Cava has put forward proposals for the redesign of a gallery at the V & A Museum in London. She has used a concept based on the idea of ‘movement, tunnels and routes’ to help develop her design. It has been crystallised around the occurrence in some parts of the London Underground of walkways that partially intersect, giving people on station platforms incomplete glimpses of other walkways, and the people using them. This idea was one that intrigued and fascinated Daniela, and it proved strong enough to give rise to the concept. In turn, the concept has informed, for example, the structure, traffic flows, decorative scheme and material choices of the finished museum scheme. Daniela has generated sketches, collages, scale models and formal drawings to develop, refine and resolve her ideas. These have all been used to produce material that has helped to present the conceptual design of the space to the audience.

Note that when presenting a project, it is not always necessary to produce highly sophisticated visual material. Simple techniques such as sketching, collage and photocopier work leave their own traces of rawness on the images which are not ‘perfect’, yet this hand-crafted look is often very helpful in presentations, simply because it looks natural and real. It is very engaging and appealing, and there is something about these qualities that encourages discussion with the client. In contrast, overly finished visuals can appear somewhat dictatorial, as if you are not allowing the client any room for manoeuvre within your proposals, which the client could negatively interpret.

You don’t need to be a great artist to be a designer, but you do need to be confident about communicating your ideas visually, whatever technique you use. This will come as you practise the different techniques, and this confidence in your presentation work will, in turn, give clients confidence in your abilities as a designer.

For the title sequence of her presentation document, Daniela used two pages of tracing paper over a graphic copy of a photograph. The three pages layered interconnections, movement and excitement, engaging the reader from the start.

A quick sketch overlaid with trace is a simple way to explain the concept.

As part of the analysis of the space, photo collages were created to help understanding of the gallery and its approaches.

Photo research was used in combination with numerous rough sketches to define and develop design details. Sketches allow ideas to be generated quickly and visualised so that they can be easily evaluated.

Sketch-style scale models were built out of card, which were then photographed. Lighting effects were replicated during the photography. Subsequently, the images were manipulated to include cut-out human figures. These add life to the images and give an instant indication of scale. Some aspects of the decorative scheme were also added to the images.

Accurate scale drawings were produced. In the initial stages of the project, they would have helped to identify and resolve issues connected with the design. Then the drawings were finished to presentation standard. Colour and the human figure are added to make them easier to read. Representation of the human figure is an excellent aid to understanding drawings; try covering up the figures to see what effect it has on your interpretation of them.