What is graphics in landscape design

Landscape design helps to bring ideas into real illustration. And graphics are one of the design techniques used to transmit the information to pictures and letters.

”Be patient in practising drawings, you will finally develop your own style in graphics"

As verbal and written communication, graphic communication involves those principles: clarity, consistency and simplicity. There is no fixed grammar of graphic so as long as the symbolic vocabulary is clear and consistent and as labels are used to interpret symbols being used in your drawings. And rather than practice there is no way to develop your own graphics skills. Study works of other influenced designers will help you. Remember use reference when copy. In the end, your style in graphics will develop.

In landscape design, the graphics could be drawn either on paper or computer screen using landscaping design software. And in the beginner phase, learners feel easily drawing onto papers. There are various types of papers. And the use of the papers depends on which kind of drawing plan that designers work on.

First starting with site survey and analysis. Designers measure and inspect the site and then, transmit all information onto a map using graph paper. The graph paper is ideal for drawing the site analysis since there are fine lines with regular grids which make scaling more easily.

Second is tracing the site analysis map to a base map by laying a transparent butter paper on top of the graph paper. The designers then created a base map and could print the map into several versions on bond papers which are commonly used at all most all photocopy stores.

The third is creating a bubble plan. The bubble plan shows a relationship of site spaces and the movement or visual connection between them. It is hard to describe the site in detail, such as pavements, walls, trees, pool, etc. at very first. So in this case, bubbles in such plans help represent roughly functional spaces of the site. The designers could draw the bubbles directly on the copied base maps, then, visit the site again to inspect convenience of arrangement of functional spaces. After being back, the designers could rearrange the spaces' positions if necessary.

The fourth stage starts with creating a concept plan. The concept plan can be drawn directly on the bond paper of the copied base map or on the tracing paper which is more expensive but more convenient. Purpose of the concept plan is showing clients detailed drawings which giving a vision of their site. And the content of the concept plan can vary depends on the preference of clients.

Finally, if the clients agree with the concept plan the designers can start to create a planting plan, construction plan and master plan. Those plans are drawn on the copies of the concept plan using white bond paper. The final versions of those plans should be kept by yourselves for further designs. All colouring is done on the copied of those plans and then scan them to send clients if they require.

Drawing materials, other than paper, includes pens, pencils, coloured pens. There are no fixed rules about which materials should be used in the design. And all the materials have value in different situations and for different purposes.

Pencils are classified in a range of lead amount. H's are harder then B's, but lighter. Whereas B's are softer and thicker. For the start learning designers and who works on the very early stage of the design plan, pencils are effective since they could erase the drawing and/or get new ideas on the design plan.

Pens are applied to add weighting to the drawings. Although pens are more expensive and limit freedom of drawing in inexperienced hands, the use of pens in design is somewhat necessary. While light lines show parts being low on the ground like pavements, grass; bold lines present parts of the design which are high or important to drive viewers to. Example of those needs bold lines is house walls, fence, trees, new hardscape structures.

Coloured/Felt tip pens are applied at the nearly final stages of design to add more interest and visualization to the viewers. Usually, colours are added to the concept plans, planting plans, and rendering the Master plans. But remember not to over-focus on colouring to every single pattern as it is only for gaining more interests. There are also other coloured rendering materials like watercolour, coloured pencils, aqua pencils, dry pastel. The designers are better to experience all of them to find their suitable coloured materials. And they could use a limited range of colours to achieve a maximum effect on rendering work.

Keep your patience in obeying these rules, and you will finally find out your own style in graphics as well as designing.