Architecture Presentation Board Layout Techniques in Photoshop
This tutorial focuses on the presentation board layout for architecture major. There are seven rules included in the tutorial throughout the layout process: Full Bleed, Floating Image, Gradient Background, 2/3 Rule, 50% White Space Rule, Sans Serif Font Rule, and Borders. These techniques are helpful in the case of layout presentation boards for final in schools or in office for clients. The architectural model in the tutorial is Winton Guest House.
1.Full Bleed Rule
Create a 36" x 72" presentation board in Photoshop. As the beginning of the sequences, choose a best image among all renderings and photos you have, locate it at the bottom of the board, then adjust the size of the image to make it “full bleed” (we can’t tell the boundaries of the image because they merged with the board edges).
2. Gradient Background Rule
In this case, the sky background is too strong. Since the image is a section, the sky background is not necessary. Select the sky background, open Gradient Editor, and set the gradient mode as black to white. Add a mask to the section layer, apply the gradient effect to the mask (adjust the distance and angle of the gradient to get the best effect).
3. Floating Images Rule
The make the contrast with the full bleed image and balance the images on the board, we also need some floating images. Choose some diagrammatic image such as exploded axonometric and section-perspective and clear out the background of them (we can add levels to the layers and use white pick to clear the background or select backgrounds and use mask to hide them).
4. 2/3 Rule
As the process of adding and locating images, we need to make some guide lines that divided the whole board in 1/3 both vertically and horizontally. In the example, the floating images should locate near 2/3 guide lines (either closer to the left or right, top or bottom) instead of the center of the board. If we want to add more framed images to contrast and balance with the floating images, we should locate them on board based on the 2/3 Rule as well.
5. 50% White Space Rule
As we finish adding the last segment (normally the text) on board, we need to think about if we need to adjust the scale of images in order to leave at least 50% white space out. In this way the board would look more comfortable and legible. If we add to many images on the board, it would be too busy and hard to read; on the contrary, if we leave too much white space, the board would look empty and shallow. So 50% white space is at the proper balance point.
6. Borders Rule
If we want to add border to certain image to emphasis the column in layout, we can choose the image (section-perspective for example), then open Stroke Editor under Edit panel. Set the proper width, color, and opacity of the stroke of the image (the border should be thin line, normally light grey so it won’t be distracting).
7. Sans Serif Font Rule
For the text font selection, in architecture major we normally use Sans Serif Fonts such as Helvetica. Serif Fonts such as Times New Roman are not recommended here. For the font size, 36pt for title, 24pt for subtitle, and 16pt for content is suggested for this board.
