The Interior Design Reference & Specification Book

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Chapter 4: Presentation and Communication

Drawings perform multiple tasks for the interior designer. They help communicate

ideas to the client at the beginning stages of a project; they present the image and

content of the design at strategic points in the process; and they are integral to the

construction documentation. Their effectiveness, however, depends on the manner in

which they are presented. Designers have a variety of presentation methods avail-

able to them, all of which have specic functions in the design process. Anything that

an interior designer transmits to the public should be considered a reection of the

design practice. Referred to as Branding it is a “name, term, sign, symbol or design,

or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of a design

rm and to differentiate them from others. Letterheads, business cards, proposals,

brochures, design boards, models, and projected images all serve to communicate

the designer’s ideas. It is thus important to develop a clear and graphically cohesive

program regardless of how the work is being presented.

DEVELOPING A PRESENTATION

A key skill for the designer is the ability to develop an appealing and successful presentation

that translates the ideas and processes that led to specific design decisions. Creating a nar-

rative, outlining and storyboarding the presentation, and determining the appropriate medium

for the content are but a few of the interior designer’s tasks.

The designer must also grasp how drawings—used as graphic elements—function within

different types of presentations, and how the principles of graphic design can influence the

presentation. It is a good idea to keep an updated library of graphic design references that not

only offer inspiration, but also provide strong examples of article layout and narrative develop-

ment. The design award issues of graphics magazines are an excellent starting place.

Keep in mind that the relatively recent appearance of high-quality color prints—even from

fairly inexpensive inkjet printers—has expanded the resources available for presenting ideas

in printed form. It is important that the interior designer take a look at how the format of a

print can affect the translation of design ideas, and also how to draw on graphic skills to sup-

port this communication.

DESIGN BOARDS

Design boards set up a sequential and ordered structure in which the intent of the

proposal is illustrated. For boards to succeed, the principles of storyboarding must be

applied to the information being presented; this entails the hierarchy of the elements on

the board itself and the sequence in which the narrative unfolds. Design boards allow the

client to spend as much time with the work as possible, and thus elements should be

paced to allow for further discovery the longer they are examined. Numerous issues need

to be considered when designing presentation boards.

Number of Boards:

ber of boards in a presentation, several

questions must be asked: What is the size

of the project? How many drawings will be

needed to adequately describe the project?

Are there going to be perspectives? Will

samples be attached directly to the board or

scanned and added to a perspective?

Narrative Development and Outlining:

Developing a narrative for the presentation

means, essentially, telling the story of the

design process. A well-conceived narra-

tive structures what and when to include

in the presentation. Narratives provide a

framework that can allocate emphasis and

importance to certain aspects of the proc-

ess. Maintaining an outline of the design

intent, and developing it as the project itself

evolves, will focus the narrative.

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THE INTERIOR DESIGN REFERENCE + SPECIFICATION BOOK

Job:02-30056 Title: RP-Interior Design Reference and Specification

#175 Dtp:216 Page:58

(RAY)

058-075_30056.indd 58 3/4/13 7:24 PM