CityPads Building Illustration
Graphic Design & Illustration
Client:
CityPads
ROLE:
Illustrator
DURATION:
2 Weeks
Illustration created for a real estate investment and development firm to visualize their typical floor plans within a set of fundraising materials.
PARAMETERS
5-6 story building
Shown at a ~45 degree high angle
Show "sections" of the building as being sets of traditional, micro and coliving units
Use call outs of each floor plan type with a magnified and stylized view of the corresponding floor plan
Use call outs/graphically showcase other parts of the building:
Situate the building in a dense, transit-oriented, walkable and green neighborhood. Styling for these elements can be less prominent/more stylized than the main building
Trees & shrubs
Bikes, a train
A small storefront
INSPIRATION
The client provided imagery from Dumbo Heights as a source of stylistic inspiration. Specifically, the water color texture juxtaposed with clean lines were desired in this project's final output
ASSETS
The client provided architectural drawings and floor plans to guide the specific dimensions of the building in the illustration.
Floor Plans
Building Reference
PROCESS
Layout
To begin the project, I threw together a quick, nondescript layout to confirm the direction with the client.
Components
I created the initial structure of the illustration in Adobe Illustrator in order to maintain the appearance of clean lines. Then I exported these components so I could work with them in Procreate on my iPad, which allows for easier stylization and painting effects. Then I assembled everything once more in Adobe Illustrator for the final layout.
1st Draft
Finetuning
Floor plan notes:
"Traditional" Show a 1BR Unit and 2BR Unit o
"Micro-unit" - this visual should be smaller than 1BR. Bathroom can take up slightly more of the unit as well
"Coliving" -- This unit should be larger than the 1BR unit. Living room/kitchen/dining room area can be shrunk slightly
Other Notes:
Add more roof deck furniture pieces
Call workspace "co-working" instead
Move gym to ground floor level
Add on grade parking level by opening up building on the side, showing a column and a couple of parking spots
Add some more detail the building to feel more like a new build rather than an adaptive reuse; maybe increase darkness of color on the lower floors compared to upper floors
Final Illustration
DESIGNS
The length of the design process is always variable, depending on the needs of the customer. In most cases, I strive to iterate off of real user feedback, setting up moderated or unmoderated tasks to test partial prototypes for usability and comprehension.
BEFORE/AFTERS
PROTOTYPES
At the prototyping stage, I'm working closely with devs to ensure that expected behavior isn't only shown through the design, but annotated and documented for their reference as they bring the design to life.