Presenting a design
A good design poorly presented can be rejected. Learn to tell the design story with diagrams, drawings and images — for clients, reviews and your portfolio.
In this lesson you will
- Structure a design story
- Use diagrams to explain ideas
- Choose drawings and visuals for an audience
- Design clear boards and portfolios
Tell a story
Lead with the problem and the key idea: "A house that opens to the north garden while shielding the street." Then show how the site, plan, section and form deliver it. Every drawing should support the idea; cut anything that doesn't.
Diagrams
Simple diagrams communicate faster than detailed drawings: site analysis, zoning, circulation, sun and ventilation, structure, massing evolution. Use few colours, consistent graphics and short labels.
Drawings and visuals
Clients need plans with furniture, a section that explains space and light, and a few perspective views. Reviewers want to see process and resolution. Render only what adds understanding; honest, well-composed images beat flashy ones. Use SketchUp, Rhino, Revit or hand sketches as suits the stage.
Boards and portfolios
Use a grid, a clear hierarchy (title, key image, supporting drawings), consistent fonts and generous white space. Label scales and north points. For portfolios, show a few projects in depth — including your role and process — rather than many superficially. Compress images for sharing (KitWren's image and PDF tools can help).
Common mistakes
Showing everything you drew.
Select the drawings that tell the story; put the rest in an appendix.
Tiny text and unlabelled images.
Test the board at viewing distance and label every drawing with scale and north.
Presenting renders before the plan works.
Resolve the plan and section first — images can't fix a poor layout.
Exercise
One-board presentation
- Choose a project (your studio design or house plan).
- Write the design idea in one sentence.
- Create three diagrams, a plan, a section and one perspective.
- Lay them out on one A2 or A1 board with a clear hierarchy.
You should end up with: A single board that explains a design in 60 seconds.
Checklist
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Lesson quiz
Every drawing in a presentation should support the main design idea.
Finished this lesson?
Taking the quiz marks it complete too. Your course page picks up where you stopped.
Free KitWren tools that help
- Area ConverterConvert square metres, square feet, acres, hectares and more.
- Length ConverterConvert between metres, centimetres, millimetres, kilometres, inches, feet, yards and miles.
- Renovation Cost CalculatorBuild a renovation budget from area, build rate, fixtures, fees and contingency.
- Paint CalculatorWork out how much paint you need for a room’s walls and ceiling, in litres or gallons.
- Flooring CalculatorCalculate how much flooring, timber, laminate or carpet to buy, including waste and boxes.
- Image CompressorCompress JPG, PNG and WebP images to make them much smaller — with a before/after preview and the size saved.
Free, independent learning material written for KitWren. We never provide software downloads, licence keys or cracks — use the official sources.