Show & Tell - Communicating Architectural Ideas Through Drawing and Writing
This webinar is part of the RAIC 2023 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!
Topics: Architectural Presentation
Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion
Writing and drawing are still the two most effective ways of communicating architectural ideas. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. In recent years, the similarities between these two expressive forms have become a topic of interest – in particular, the pictorial potential of writing, and the narrative capabilities of illustration. With an emphasis on writing skills, “Show & Tell” examines the connections between the two forms of expression and the ways that the strengths of one can be used to enhance the other.
Writers today are routinely told to “show” (i.e., paint word pictures) rather than just “tell.” Illustrators, conversely, are encouraged to “tell” (i.e., weave a story) rather than simply “show.” In both cases, this is excellent advice, but it can be restrictive and hard to accomplish. Today’s most persuasive writing and illustration incorporate both showing and telling as strategic elements. By showing and telling at the same time – applying writing skills to illustration, illustration skills to drawing (and architectural skills to both) – architectural communication can be significantly more effective. Using current examples, this Seminar will provide helpful guidelines for capturing your readers’/viewers’ attention and engaging them in the process, by illustrating and art directing like a writer, and writing and editing like an illustrator.
Learning Objectives:
By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Identify the aspects of your project(s) that need to be conveyed, and determine a point of view for your writing and drawing – figuratively and literally.
- Create imagery in your architectural writing that conveys the important elements, using the techniques of creative nonfiction.
- Develop editorial skills to generate narrative in your architectural Illustration – or direct others to do so – in order to engage the viewer.
- Employ a full sensory spectrum in both written and visual presentations.
Subject Matter Expert:
Mr. Gordon Grice
B.Arch, OAA, FRAIC
Architect, Gordon Grice + Associates
Gordon S. Grice, B.Arch., OAA, FRAIC, is an architectural illustrator, writer and editor. His publishing career encompasses over two-dozen books and 90 issues of architectural quarterlies. In addition, a number of his essays have been published in international design publications, and his illustrations have been exhibited globally. He frequently speaks on topics related to architectural communications – most recently for the RAIC 2022 Conference. Gordon is the editor of “The Right Angle Journal” and “The Straight Line,” Senior Advisor to the American Society of Architectural Illustrators, a member of the Massey College Quadrangle Society, and a recipient of the OAA Medal of da Vinci.
Pricing A-La-Carte