Overheard a client call a floor plan 'a Picasso' and it threw me

Was at the print shop yesterday picking up a set for a residential job. Guy next to me on his phone, talking to his architect. Said, and I quote, 'This layout is a Picasso. I love it, but which way is up?' The architect must have sent something wild. Made me think about how we present our work. A clear, clean drawing should explain itself. No one should need an art degree to read a floor plan. How do you guys balance creative design with making sure the client actually gets it?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucash5320d ago

What if we took @brianm66's furniture idea a step further? For tricky layouts, I'll sometimes sketch in a tiny, obvious thing like a TV on the wall or a coffee mug on a counter. It gives people one solid anchor point to understand the whole room's flow.

brianm6620d ago

My old boss used to say a floor plan should be readable from across the room. We'd do a simple north arrow and a faint furniture layout in every presentation. It gives people something familiar to latch onto before they even look at the walls.

roberts.leo20d ago

Yeah that makes total sense, @brianm66. Reminds me of a buddy who's an architect, he showed me a plan for a really weird shaped sunroom addition once. It just looked like a blob on paper until he drew in a single lounge chair and a little potted plant in the corner. Suddenly my brain just clicked and I could see how you'd actually use the space. That tiny detail did all the heavy lifting.