Graphic Design for Architects

Graphic Design for Architects is a handbook of techniques, explanations, and examples of graphic design most relevant to architects. The book covers a variety of scales of graphic design, from portfolio design and competition boards to signage and building super-graphics, addressing every phase of architectural production.

This book combines and expands on information typically found in graphic design, information design, and architectural graphics books. As architectural communication evolves to include more territory and components of a project, it is important for designers to be knowledgeable about the various ways to communicate visually. For example, signage should be designed as part of the process, not something added at the end of a project. The portfolio is a manifestation of how the designer works, not just an application to sell a design sensibility. Considering architecture as a systematic and visual project, the graphic design techniques outlined in this book will help architects process, organise, and structure their work through the lens of visual communication.

Each chapter is titled and organised by common architectural modes of communication and production. The chapters speak to architects by directly addressing projects and topics relevant to their work, while the information inside each chapter presents graphic design methods to achieve the architects’ objectives. In this way, readers don’t have to search through graphic design books to figure out what’s relevant to them. This book provides a complete reference of graphic techniques and methods most useful to architects in getting their work done.