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How to Create a Successful Architecture Presentation Board

• Updated: December 31, 2023

Architecture is as much about effective communication as it is about innovative design. At the heart of this communicative process lies the architecture presentation board, a tool quintessential for architects to convey their vision, ideas, and concepts.

These boards are more than mere visual aids; they are the narrative bridge between an architect’s imaginative conception and the practical world where these ideas may take shape. They are not just a requirement for academic submissions or professional proposals but are a fundamental aspect of the architectural design process.

They serve as a canvas where ideas are visualized, concepts are explained, and designs are brought to life for various audiences, be it clients, peers, competition judges, or the general public.

Understanding how to effectively create and present these boards is crucial, as a well-crafted presentation not only showcases a finished scheme but also reflects the thought process, attention to detail, and the authors ability to communicate complex ideas succinctly and visually.

What are architecture presentation boards used for?

Architecture presentation boards serve several different purposes:

• Students use them to present work to their professors and peers.
• Professionals use them to present designs to clients, committees, shareholders, and exhibitions.
• They may be a means to win a commission, or they may help to take a project into the next stage. 

What is the purpose of an architecture presentation board?

Architecture presentation boards are a tool to showcase your work. They are a way to draw your viewers into your design process and methods, providing an overall summary and vision for the project. You are communicating your design and showcasing your artistic skills, and your sense as a designer. 

Every successful project has a central concept, a “big picture” theme that gives it purpose. When you look at your project, what is that big idea?

As it is central to your whole project, this will guide you as you prioritize your work and determine the flow of your ideas. The primary purpose of your project is to communicate this central concept in the best way possible.  

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How do you layout an architecture presentation board, 01 – structure/order.

Before you begin laying out your presentation board, think about the main points you want to convey. From there, determine what images and graphics will best represent those ideas. Gather all of the information you will need, making a note of what graphics and text you will need to communicate your ideas.

Remember, you are essentially telling a story, so pay close attention to the flow of the narrative as you arrange your elements. Consider the beginning, middle, and end of the story you want to tell.

Depending on the guidelines you are given, you may present your boards side-by-side, as separate boards presented in a sequence, or as one big poster. If no strict parameters are in place, figure out what structure and layout will tell your story the best. While a series of boards will logically convey your story, one big board is often the easiest option.

02 – Orientation

Will your presentation board be oriented in portrait or landscape? Sometimes you will get to make that call, but many times it will be determined for you by your director, client, or professor. Make sure you know beforehand what the parameters are.

If you get to choose, give it some careful thought. Which orientation will give your graphics the room they need to be the most impactful? Which orientation gives your whole project a natural flow for your narrative? 

03 – Size

Much like orientation, you may or may not get to decide what size your presentation boards will be. You will often have restrictions that limit you to a specific board size and a certain number of boards.

Make sure you know your limitations before you start working on your layout. Your boards should all be the same size to achieve continuity.

You can use a combination of different sizes to produce a board of equivalent size. For example, a combination of two A1  boards will add up to an A0 board. 

04 – Layout

The most common way to organize your layout is by using a grid. Using a grid will help keep the boards in your project consistent.

If you are using InDesign , you can achieve this uniformity by creating a master page that acts as a template for your whole project.

Templates are useful because they can save you a great deal of time, and they ensure uniformity throughout your project. Your grid should include spaces for titles, numbering, your name, and any other information that will repeat on each board.

Before you start laying out your actual boards, sketch out various configurations so you can determine what will work best. You can do a small-scale sketch to get the basic idea of the flow of each board. This allows you to change the arrangement of the elements before you commit to anything on your boards.

You can do this initial phase using software or sketching it out on paper.

After you have determined what type of layout you want to use, estimate how much space you will need for each element on the page. Each graphic needs to be large enough to have an impact. Determine how much space you would like to leave in between each graphic.

Use equal spacing throughout your project to create continuity. Here is an excellent tutorial on planning your layout using Indesign:

The layout of each board should show the relationship between all of the elements. It should be clear to read and follow a logical left-to-right and top-to-bottom progression.

Imagine a viewer looking at your presentation. What do you want them to see first? What is the best way to make them understand your project? Does your layout achieve this?

You should also pay attention to the relationship between each board. Is there a logical progression from one board to the next? Does the sequence make sense? If you will not display the boards in a configuration that makes them all visible at once, make sure you number them, so your viewers follow the correct sequence.

Don’t feel the need to fill every square inch of your presentation board. Leave enough space so that it doesn’t look too busy or cluttered. On the other hand, don’t leave too much space either, or it will look like you didn’t finish the board, didn’t have enough material for the board, or that you didn’t work very hard.

05 – Visual Hierarchy

Some of your images need to garner more attention than others. Consider all of the graphics and text you will be using. Which images are central to your main idea?

The images that are essential for communicating your vision should take up more space in the grid. You should have an image that people can see from a distance and other images that they can see from up close. This creates a visual hierarchy.

What is the most important aspect of your project? Make that the element people can see from a distance. There are ways to accomplish this in addition to making it the largest element on the board. For example, you can use color to draw the viewer’s eye to a particular graphic, especially if the rest of the board is monochromatic.

06 – Background

The background of your presentation board should be simple. This allows the viewer to see all of the elements without the distraction of a busy background. You don’t want anything to detract from the critical details of the board. Your graphics and text should be the primary focus; don’t use bold colors or textures that will detract from that.

A white, or even light gray, background will make your graphics and text stand out. It will give your presentation a professional look that isn’t too busy. You can use other colors if they help convey your central concept; just make sure the background is plain enough that the viewer focuses on the design, not the background.

Be very selective when using a black background, as it may make the text harder to read, and your graphics may not stand out as much as you would like them to.

Whatever color you choose for your background, use it to your advantage.  Effective use of negative space can make your design look clean and professional.

07 – Color Scheme

Many professionals and students stick with black, white, and gray for presentation boards. While this can give your boards a professional look, don’t be afraid to add a pop of color. While sticking with greyscale may seem like a safe choice, there is a risk of blacks and greys making your design seem cold and lifeless.

Think about ways you can use color to bring life to your design. You may opt to add just one color, such as green for landscaping, to provide contrast to an otherwise monochromatic presentation. You could also bring in an additional color to represent a particular building material (brick, glass, wood, etc.).

You can also choose a brighter, more eye-catching color, such as yellow or orange, as a feature in your diagrams . Whatever you choose, use the same color across all of your boards to maintain a consistent flow.

If color is one of the main focuses of your project, or if there are details that you cannot adequately represent in greyscale, then you should feel free to delve deeper into the world of color. Don’t limit yourself to merely an accent color in this case, but don’t take it too far and make the mistake of overusing color to the point where it is a distraction.

08 – Font

All of the text throughout your project should be in one font. Don’t use font style as an avenue for creativity; it is more important to make sure the font style and size produce a readable, consistent product.

Sans serif fonts, such as Helvetica or Futura, will give your presentation a clean, minimalist look.

Avoid script or handwriting fonts, as they will not give your boards a clean, professional look. Keep the color of your font dark (black or dark grey work well) to provide contrast to a light background.

Whichever font you select, make sure the style and size are readable for your viewers before you finalize your boards. The best way to do this is to print out your text on an A3 paper, pin it up somewhere, and stand back to see how it will look when it is displayed.

A full breakdown, list, and description of the most popular fonts for architecture can be found here .

09 – Title

The most common placement for a title bar is the top left since your board will most likely follow a left-to-right and top-to-bottom progression. Many successful and professional-looking boards have titles at the top right, at the bottom, or somewhere in the middle.

Choose the position that makes the most sense for your project. As with other design decisions, make sure it does not distract the viewer from seeing the big picture.  

Make sure the title placement is consistent from board to board. This consistency will be both visually appealing and professional.

10 – Text

Keep your explanations concise. People are not going to spend much time reading lengthy descriptions, so only include relevant information and keep it short. Remember that your text boxes are part of your visual hierarchy, so utilize the size and alignment to complement your graphics. Consider the various ways you can align the text within the text box. What flows best? What is pleasing to the eye?

Aside from your title, do not use all capitals in your text. Your work will look more professional and be easier to read if you stick with the standard rules of capitalization.

Whenever possible, use a graphic or a sketch, rather than an explanation, to portray an idea. Since this is a graphic presentation, you want your graphics to tell the story, not your text. Include a concise statement that highlights the features of your design. This is basically your sales pitch; lengthy explanations will make you lose your audience.

11 – Image Selection

The selection of images is a critical part of putting your presentation board together. The graphics you choose can make or break your entire design presentation.

You want to select the images that best convey the important details of your project. If you use too many images, your presentation may appear cluttered and confusing. If you use too few images, it may look like you did not put much effort into your presentation.

Over the course of your project, you have generated countless sketches, renderings, models, and drawings. Resist the temptation to include everything just to show how hard you worked. Keep your big picture in mind and determine which images will directly show or best support that idea.

12 – Models

On occasion, a physical model, or even several models showing different aspects of your design, may be required for your presentation board. This is an additional means of communicating your vision to your viewers.

There are several materials you can choose for your model. Card and cardboard are inexpensive and come in various weights, finishes, and colors.

Foam board is also available in various widths and thicknesses. It is generally white, but it also comes in other colors. It is very lightweight and sturdy, making it an ideal material for your presentation board.

Balsawood is another good option. It is easy to work with and comes in varying weights. The material you choose will depend on the look you are trying to achieve as well as how much weight you can adhere to your presentation board.  

Your model pieces can be cut by hand with tools such as an X-Acto knife or a scalpel. If you have access to a laser cutter, it will save you some time and give you more precision.

13 – Time Constraints

Give yourself enough time to produce a well-thought-out, effective, visually appealing presentation. You spent a considerable amount of time on your design; it would be a shame to rush through your presentation boards. Give each part of the process enough attention so that your final product really showcases and highlights your talent and hard work. 

Time management is critical when working on a big project like this. It can seem overwhelming at first, so split the project into smaller sub-tasks to make it more manageable. Give yourself a deadline for each of those smaller tasks. Make a schedule that shows which tasks you will accomplish each day. Make sure you leave yourself a little wiggle room in case anything unexpected comes up.

What should be included in an architecture presentation board?

Unless you receive explicit instructions regarding what to include in your presentation boards, it is up to you which elements make the cut. When you are deciding what elements to incorporate into your project, reflect on what will best explain your design.

When someone completely unfamiliar with your project is looking at your boards, what do you want them to see?

When deciding what text to include in your project, make sure you include an introduction, your design brief, and any applicable precedents. In addition, you will want to include concise textual explanations as needed throughout your presentation.

For your graphic representations, you want to include the basics: elevations, floor plans, and sections. You can represent these with 3d drawings, perspectives, or renders.  You may also include some key features of your design that make it unique, and in addition to highlighting the finished product, select elements that show your concept and design development.

Some additional tips:

• When choosing a perspective view, select one that highlights the best aspects of your design. This graphic is usually the most prominent picture on the presentation board. The hero image!
• You will want to include at least two different elevation views so your viewers can get a sense of the bigger picture.
• Don’t be afraid to include sketches. If you include some sketches that show the progression from a simple idea to the final product, you can communicate your vision as well as your process.

When you are adding all of these elements to your presentation board, make sure each graphic representation of the plan has the same orientation. If one picture has north pointed in one direction and another picture has north pointed in a different direction, it can be disorienting for the viewer.

Likewise, each graphic should use the same scale unless there is one picture that is bigger than the others for the purpose of visual hierarchy.

There is one obvious detail that you may inadvertently overlook. Make sure your name is on your presentation board. If you have more than one board, put your name on each one. The name is in the bottom right-hand corner, but it can also appear in the title bar.

Types of Architectural Presentation Boards

Organizing your architectural presentation sheets into specific categories can be a very effective way to present your projects. There are several types of architectural presentation boards, and the following tips can help you present your project at different stages:

C onceptual board

Concept sheets are a type of presentation board that showcase your initial ideas and approach to a project. They typically include information about the concept behind the project and how design decisions were made. It is important to submit concept sheets before presenting your architectural drawings and renderings.

When creating concept sheets, you may want to include conceptual collages and diagrams to help explain your ideas to the audience. These can be created using 3D modeling software or programs like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. The goal of concept sheets is to clearly and simply present the various stages of your project to the review panel.

Site a nalysis board

Before beginning a project, architects perform thorough analyses to determine the needs, conditions, and limitations of the site. This analysis serves as the foundation for the concept development. Site analysis boards may include site analysis, urban scale analysis, sociocultural analysis, analysis of physical conditions, and environmental analysis.

It is important to conduct extensive research and present your findings in a clear and organized way, as analysis boards can help reinforce the concepts presented in your architectural drawings.

It is also important to keep in mind that the jury members may have difficulty understanding analysis presented alongside the architectural drawings.

Technical / Detail Board

Technical drawings are a crucial aspect of architectural projects, as they help to depict the structural elements of a design and guide the construction process. It is important to present technical drawings in a clear and organized manner, particularly in application projects and student projects.

Technical drawing boards should typically include a master plan at a scale of 1/5000 or 1/1000, as well as site plans and floor plans at a scale of 1/500, and sections and elevations at a scale of 1/200. Detail drawings, including system sections and details at scales of 1/20, 1/10, and 1/5, should also be included on the technical drawing boards.

These drawings will help to provide a more complete understanding of the project to the review panel.

Professional Boards

While student projects and competition entries are evaluated by a panel of judges, in professional practice, the client serves as the “jury” for your work. Instead of preparing presentation boards in the same way you would for school or competition projects, it is important to create presentations that will appeal to clients.

The most important factor for most clients is the design of the living space, so it can be helpful to focus on renderings and plain plans rather than technical drawings. The visual appeal of your presentation boards, including the color scheme and atmosphere in the renderings, as well as your ability to effectively present and explain your ideas to the client, will also be important factors in their evaluation of your work.

Programs, Software, and Tools

There are several software applications you can use to build your presentation board. Choose one that you are already familiar with, so you aren’t trying to learn new software while you are doing your layout. That is an added stressor that you just don’t need!

InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are excellent programs, but if you need something a bit more simple, Microsoft Word, Pages, Powerpoint, or Keynote will also work. 

InDesign was designed for making presentations. AutoCAD was designed for constructing plans. Photoshop was designed for editing raster images. Illustrator was designed for creating vector art. While some people are able to make their whole presentation using Illustrator, Photoshop, or even PowerPoint, it makes more sense to use each piece of software in a way that takes advantage of its strengths.

You can import files from AutoCAD, Photoshop, and Illustrator into InDesign and take advantage of the strengths of each application.

Before you delve into your own presentation board, do some research. Look online for examples and make a note of the elements you like. Combine that inspiration with your creativity to produce a stunning presentation. 

Here are some websites you can use for inspiration:

The President’s Medals Winners

Pinterest – Architectural Presentation Boards

World Architecture Students Community – Presentation Boards

FAQ’s about architecture presentation boards

How do you present an architecture presentation.

Here are some general guidelines for presenting an architecture presentation:

• Define your objective : Clearly define the purpose of your presentation and the main ideas or arguments you want to convey.
• Organize your material : Gather and organize your material in a logical and coherent manner that supports your objectives. This may include drawings, images, models, diagrams, and text.
• Create a clear and visually appealing layout : Use a layout that is easy to follow and that effectively presents your material. Consider using contrast, hierarchy, and balance to guide the viewer’s eye.
• Practice your presentation : Practice your presentation to ensure that you are comfortable with your material and can deliver it in a clear and confident manner.
• Use visual aids effectively : Use visual aids such as slides, drawings, and models to supplement your presentation and help illustrate your points. Avoid overloading the viewer with too much information and focus on presenting the most important ideas.
• Engage your audience : Engage your audience by using a variety of presentation techniques, such as asking questions, using storytelling, and using interactive elements.
• Conclude with a summary : Recap the main points of your presentation and conclude with a clear and concise summary.

Why do architects use presentation boards?

As explained above, architecture presentation boards are commonly used by architects and designers to visually communicate their ideas and designs.

Presentation boards typically consist of a series of large format panels that can be mounted on a wall or a stand. These panels can be used to display a variety of materials, such as drawings, images, models, diagrams, and text.

Presentation boards are an effective way to present a comprehensive overview of a project or design concept, and they can be used to showcase the key features and characteristics of a project.

They are often used in design reviews, presentations, exhibitions, and competitions , and can be a useful tool for architects and designers to communicate their ideas to a variety of audiences, including clients, stakeholders, and reviewers.

Presentation boards can be customized to suit the specific needs of the project and can be designed to effectively convey the key ideas and concepts of the design, enabling architects and designers to effectively present and showcase their work in a clear and visually appealing manner.

To Sum Up…

Even the most exceptional design concept can appear uninspired if you do not present it well.

You have spent weeks, maybe even months, on your design. Don’t sell yourself short by not communicating your vision well. The professional, creative, and aesthetic quality of your presentation will affect how your work is received.

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10 Tips for Creating Stunning Architecture Project Presentation

Architectural design projects are the life and soul of architecture school . As a student, you are always working on one, and somehow it becomes what your life is revolving around.

You would give it every possible effort and believe you have done your best, but on jury day, when you see everyone else’s project you could lose a bit of your confidence, not because your project is any less, but because your presentation is lacking.

The architecture project presentation might not be the core of the project, but it surely influences the viewer. It can also be considered an indicator of your artistic skills and sense as a designer.

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While you shouldn’t be completely dependable on positive results from a merely eye-catching architecture project presentation, you still need to give an adequate amount of time to properly plan it in a way that communicates your idea best. Your architecture professor might credit you for a creative design regardless of the presentation, but your future client might only see the presentation, so make it a habit, to involve your design skills in all aspects of your project, starting now.

Besides the essential tips and tutorials for photoshop architectural rendering that will definitely improve your board, here, we will give you some basic tips on how to create a Stunning Architecture Project Presentation . So, let’s get started.

Architecture Project Presentation Board Tips

1) size and orientation.

Most of the time your professors restrict you to specific board sizes and the number of boards. If that is the case then you need to confirm if your boards should be presented in Landscape or Portrait orientation. You, also, need to decide if you will be presenting your board side by side as one big board, one poster of equivalent size, or as separate boards that come in sequence.

Now, that you have a base to work on you need to start planning the layout of your boards or poster:

• If you are presenting hand drawings then you can do prior planning on one or more A4 paper sheets for example. Try to make an accurate estimation of the space needed per each drawing and the buffering space you would like to leave around each.

• If you will be presenting CAD drawings, then this might be easier. You can experiment with the actual drawings on CAD Layout or Photoshop if you will be rendering your project digitally.
• You can use a grid system to organize your drawings. Decide on a unit width, for example, 6cm, then use its multiples to create unit areas to contain your drawings, like for instance, 12cm for outer frame buffering, 36cm for main drawings and so.

Do This Or that! Here is an example!

3) placement and zoning.

Think of the way you would like the viewers to circulate through your presentation, what you would like them to see first, how they would best understand your project. For example, you may start by brief site analysis, then move to the concept statement and its illustrative sketches if needed.

• If your concept is form-based you may need to show the form first, before the plan, then move to the plan to reveal how the form has functionally worked out.
• If your concept is in the plan itself, then you may move directly to the plan and conclude with the rendered exterior form as usual.

Drawing and Rendering Tips

4) background.

Dark Background

It is called “background” for a reason. It should be a platform to feature your drawings as the main focus, clear of any distractions. Some students use faded renderings of their own projects as background, but this can be seriously diverting. White backgrounds are best, as they show the true colors of your project.

Some opt to use a black background to stand out, however, that doesn’t usually turn out so well. It may cause halation and strain for sensitive eyes.

Black and white presentation

There are many ways you can render your projects, choose the one you excel at and shows your project best.

• There is the Black & White or Greyscale presentation where you only show lines with various thicknesses, in addition to shade and shadow.
• There is the greyscale presentation with an element of color where you would choose one bright color, for example, green for landscape and greenery, to contrast with the, generally, achromatic drawings.
• One color might become two colors revealing different materials like wood or bricks and glass for example.

Presentation with a Color Scheme on Greyscale

All, these previous techniques would work out fine if colors are not the main focus in your project, however, if there is an idea behind your color scheme or the used materials, or there are many details that will go lost in greyscale, then there is no way out.

You need to fully color or at least broaden the color palette for your presentation.

Colored Presentation

The manual achromatic presentation can be via graphic pencils and ink, and the colored elements can be executed using watercolor, markers, brush pens, or pastels. For digital presentations, you can use Adobe Photoshop as the most commonly used tool. You can even mimic the aesthetic of the manual presentation in Photoshop using downloadable brushes and a mix of effects.

6) Visual Hierarchy

Black and White Contrast Color

What is your strongest point, the highlight of your project? Grab the attention from far away with that. There are many ways to grab the attention of a specific drawing, using color or size. For example, if the main idea is in your cross-section, you can present it on large scale with full-hue colors, against black and white plan drawings. That is mixing between two of the color presentation techniques mentioned in the previous point to get emphasis by contrast.

General Tips

7) Minimize text on your presentation board. Write a short and concise concept statement and add a very brief explanation, if needed. Don’t waste your time composing elongated descriptive text because no one will read it.

8) Replace words, whenever possible, with simple illustrative sketches and figures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. You may use colors and keys to further clarify your illustrations.

9) Use a suitable font for your title and text and, preferably, don’t use more than one font type per project. You can vary between the title, the concept statement, and the labeling by size. Sans Serif fonts like Century Gothic and Helvetica may be good for headlines; their slick minimalism befits modern high-tech designs.

10) Finally, don’t overdo it.

• Don’t pack your boards with drawings and text at every corner. Leave some breathing space but not too much, that it would look like a) you couldn’t finish your work, b) you didn’t well plan your boards or c) you haven’t worked hard enough.
• Don’t overuse colors to the extent that they would become a distraction but also don’t make your presentation too light and faded, or it might exhaust the eyes of the viewer and give an impression of weak effort.

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Best Architecture Presentation Board Ideas 

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Posted by: Cinthya Soto

If you’re an architect, you know that one of the most impactful methods for expressing your ideas is creating architecture presentation boards. These boards serve as more than just showcasing your project; they effectively portray your concepts and narrate the story of your design. 

However, creating your architecture presentation board can prove challenging. It’s crucial to establish a well-designed layout that maintains a cohesive and engaging narrative. This will enable you to effectively communicate your ideas and elevate the impact of your architecture proposal .  

In this blog, we’ll explore ten architecture presentation board concepts, encompassing vital elements necessary for crafting a polished and visually captivating presentation. These ideas include various aspects such as layout, structure, visual hierarchy, color, and more, all contributing to the creation of a professional and visually engaging presentation. 

By the end of this blog, you’ll possess the knowledge and confidence necessary to produce a creative and impactful architecture presentation board. This will allow you to showcase your architecture projects accurately and secure new projects.

What Is an Architecture Presentation Board? 

Applying all of this information to your architecture presentation board may seem challenging, but with the help of a well-designed layout, you can effortlessly tackle this task. 

An architecture presentation board is a visually appealing graphic that effectively summarizes all the ideas of your project. It provides a condensed and clear representation of your design. Architects use architecture presentation boards to showcase their projects and work. 

The purpose of a presentation board is to construct a narrative that effectively conveys the essential information of your project in a self-explanatory manner. This enables readers to comprehend each of the proposed solutions with ease. 

An architecture presentation board fulfills multiple objectives, including:

• Serving as a tool for presenting designs to clients, superiors, or colleagues 
• Assisting in attracting clients and securing commissions 
• Contributing to the advancement of your career and elevating your architectural projects to new heights 

Architecture presentation boards serve various purposes, being used by both students and professionals. During your time as a student, these presentations are crafted for juries and submissions, allowing you to present your work to professors and peers. In your professional life as an architect, these boards are used to present designs to clients, committees, shareholders, and exhibitions. 

In many ways, an architecture presentation board resembles a sales pitch, as you are essentially promoting your design, ideas, and concept to win clients over.

10 Architecture Presentation Board Ideas 

While the architecture presentation board may not be the only aspect of the project itself, it certainly has an impact on the audience. Additionally, it can showcase your artistic abilities and design skills. 

The structure of an architecture presentation board serves as the platform for combining the key ideas of your project, presenting only the essential elements required for a clear understanding of the proposed concept. Remember, there is no need to incorporate every single detail into the presentation board. It is equally important to be careful with the amount of text used and to maintain focus on the central idea of the project. 

To help you get started, let’s take a look at some of the essential concepts (with examples) that must be considered when creating your architecture presentation board. This will help you create a flawless presentation board for clients.

1. Size and Orientation 

When designing your architecture presentation board, you will have to determine whether you will be presenting them in landscape or portrait orientation. You can explore different formats to enhance the presentation of your proposal. 

However, it’s not certain you’ll get to choose the size or orientation of your presentation boards. You’ll most likely encounter limitations that restrict you to a particular board size and a specific number of boards. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to choose the size and orientation of your presentation boards. However, more often than not, these decisions will be decided by your director, client, or professor. It’s important to ensure that you are aware of the parameters beforehand to avoid any inconsistencies. 

If you’re a student, it is common for professors to impose restrictions regarding board sizes and the number of boards. In such cases, you should verify whether your boards should be presented in landscape or portrait orientation. 

However, if you have been allowed to decide for yourself, take some time to think about it. Consider which orientation will make your graphics stand out the most and which one will best tell the story of your project. 

Apart from deciding whether your board will be in the landscape or portrait orientation, you will have to decide which way you will present your board. Some options include: 

• Side by side as a single large board 
• As one equivalent-sized poster
• As separate boards arranged in a sequence 

Keep in mind, the orientation and size of your boards can also have an impact on the structure and layout of your presentation.

2. Layout 

When arranging your architecture presentation board, think about the main ideas you want to express. Then, decide on the images and graphics that will best showcase those concepts. Collect all the required information and take note of the graphics and text that will best convey your concepts effectively. 

Before starting the actual layout of your boards, take time to sketch out different versions to identify the most suitable arrangement. Create small-scale sketches to capture the basic flow of each board, enabling you to experiment with different element placements before finalizing your design on the boards themselves. This process allows for flexibility and adjustments to ensure you achieve a complete overview of your ideal layout. 

Once you have decided on the layout you want, think about how much space each element will require on the page. Make sure each graphic is big enough to make an impact and consider the amount of space you want to leave between each graphic. Leave enough space so that it doesn’t look crowded or messy, but, avoid leaving too much space as well, as it may give the wrong impression. 

3. Structure 

Using a grid structure is the most common layout method used among architects because it simplifies the organization of visual elements in your presentation. Several compositions can be used when using a grid structure, such as square or rectangular grids, mixing texts, and images, or even adopting an organic structure. 

The grid serves as the fundamental framework for diagramming. Diagramming an architectural presentation board involves the organization and arrangement of graphic and textual elements that deliver comprehensive information about your project. This process ensures a well-structured and cohesive representation of your proposal, providing viewers with an accurate representation of your architectural vision. 

Keep in mind, you are essentially narrating a story, therefore you must carefully consider the flow of the narrative as you organize your presentation board. To help you get started, follow these steps: 

• Consider the perspective of the individual observing your presentation 
• Prioritize what you want them to see first 
• Strategize the most effective approach to displaying your project’s story to them 
• Evaluate if your structure and layout successfully achieve this objective 

Remember, normally, we read presentations from left to right and from top to bottom, so consider the story of your project and how it will be read. 

You should also consider how each board in your presentation relates to each other. Assess whether there is a logical progression from one board to the next, ensuring that the sequence flows seamlessly. In case you will not display all the boards simultaneously, consider numbering them to guide your viewers and ensure they follow the correct sequence. 

4. Background 

The background of your architecture presentation board should not be complex or cause difficulty. We want the viewer to easily see all the elements without any distractions from a busy background. It’s important to avoid anything that may draw attention away from the crucial details of the board. Let your graphics and text take center stage, refraining from using bold colors or textures that may take away the focus from them. 

With that being said, be very careful when choosing a black background. It may diminish the readability of text and potentially reduce the impact of your graphics. Moreover, background images, if chosen, can often be distracting. A black background could also set a cold and boring tone. Therefore, if you opt for this approach, make sure that all the information remains easily comprehensible. 

On the other hand, going for a white or light gray background will enhance the visibility of your graphics and text, allowing them to stand out effectively. This choice gives your presentation a professional appearance without overwhelming the viewer. While you can incorporate other colors that align with your central concept, ensure that the background remains plain enough for the viewer’s attention to be primarily directed towards the design rather than the background itself. 

Regardless of the color you select for your background, use it strategically to your benefit. Embrace the concept of negative space and leverage its power. Include only essential information in your presentation, resisting the temptation to fill empty spaces with irrelevant details. The skillful use of negative space enhances the impact of your design, creating a clean and professional feel. 

5. Colors 

While we discussed the use of the typical black, white, and gray colors in an architecture presentation board, don’t hesitate to include some colors. ​​However, be mindful of your color choices to strike the right balance, ensuring that your board doesn’t appear dull or overwhelming. Introducing hints of color can bring life to your presentation boards and draw attention to the elements you want to highlight. This will help guide your viewers’ focus to the key aspects of your presentation board.

How you can use colors to make your design more lively? One example is you can add a contrasting color like green for landscaping to a mostly single-color presentation. You can also use a different color to represent specific building materials, such as brick, glass, or wood. These color choices bring visual appeal and improve the overall look of your design. 

You can also consider opting for a bold and attention-grabbing color, such as pink or red, to serve as a prominent feature in your diagrams. If you aren’t feeling inspired, there are many pre-made color palettes available online for you to work with. 

The choice is yours and whichever color you decide to continue with, make sure to always ensure consistency by using the same color across all of your boards. This approach will help maintain a cohesive and seamless flow throughout your presentation.

6. Visual Hierarchy 

When creating your architecture presentation board, leverage visual hierarchy to highlight specific images on your presentation boards. This means you should select which image deserves the most visual attention within the hierarchy. Identify your project’s strongest point that you want to highlight, and make it the main focus that catches the viewer’s eye from far away. You should also incorporate other images that reveal their details when viewed up close. 

So, how can you do this effectively? There are various techniques to draw attention to a specific drawing, such as playing with color or size. Don’t be afraid to use up the space you need to display the images that are crucial for your vision. For example, you can make the image you wish to highlight the largest, ensuring it can be viewed clearly from a distance of 6ft. This effectively communicates the visual hierarchy and emphasizes the importance of the highlighted image. 

Another method is to use color to direct the viewer’s attention to a specific graphic. By using color in a targeted manner, you can effectively guide the viewer’s eye toward the main idea on the board. 

You also have the option to center the image you want to highlight and arrange the surrounding content to complement it. This technique is particularly effective when the image contains elements that serve as the background of the architecture presentation board, such as a large sky or landscape. 

For the best outcome, focus on keeping the overall vision of your project in mind and selecting images that directly display and strongly support that idea.

7. Image Selection 

Choosing the right images is an important aspect of creating your architecture presentation board. The graphics you select can either make or break your entire presentation board. Throughout the architectural design process, you will generate various sketches, models, renderings, and drawings. Make sure to carefully select the images that effectively communicate the important details of your project. 

Keep in mind, using an excessive number of images in your presentation can lead to a cluttered and confusing visual experience for the viewer. However, using enough images may give the impression that you needed to invest more effort into your presentation. Strive for a balanced representation that showcases your project effectively. 

8. Content 

Not only should your architecture presentation board be easy to understand but it should also demonstrate your full commitment and dedication to your project. 

When it comes to planning out the content for your presentation board, consider the following elements to ensure a clear understanding:

• Internal and external images 
• Isometric views and exploded views 
• Perspective cut 
• Diagrams 
• Volumetry studies 
• Descriptive memorial 
• Technical drawings (plans, cuts, and details) 

It’s important to note that not all the mentioned items need to be included in every project, as this depends on the specific requirements and nature of each project. However, these elements are valuable resources that can enhance the understanding of your architecture proposal whenever applicable. 

9. Text 

It’s important to keep text at a minimum on your architecture presentation board. You should write a concise and focused concept statement, avoiding wasting time on lengthy descriptive text that is unlikely to be read. Shoot for a clear and short message that effectively communicates your concept. 

Some questions to consider when organizing the text sections in your architecture presentation board include: 

• What is easier to read? 
• What flows best? 
• What is pleasing to the eye?

Moreover, when creating the text for your architecture presentation board, consider the alignment of your text within its designated text box. Think about which alignment is easier to read and pay attention to text spacing and hyphenation to ensure they appear visually pleasing on your presentation board. Don’t forget that the size and alignment of your text boxes should complement your graphics. They are important elements of the visual hierarchy in your presentation. 

Some tips to consider when creating the text for your architecture presentation board: 

• Do not use all capitals in your text, unless it’s for the title 
• Follow the standard rules of capitalization for a professional and easy-to-read presentation board 
• When possible, replace text with simple illustrative sketches and figures

Remember, your presentation serves as your sales pitch. Therefore, avoid lengthy explanations that would cause you to lose your audience’s attention and keep your message concise and engaging to effectively capture and maintain their interest.

10. Font 

Select an appropriate font for your title and text, using only one font type per project whenever possible. However, you can create variations by adjusting the font size for the title, concept statement, and labeling. Consider using Sans Serif fonts such as Futura or Helvetica, as their sleek and minimalistic style complements modern high-tech designs. 

When choosing a font for your architecture presentation board, consider the following: 

• Avoid script or handwriting fonts to achieve a clean and professional look 
• Keep the color of your font dark (ex. black or dark gray) to provide contrast to a light background 
• Choose a font and size that will be easy to read 
• Make sure the title font and placement are consistent from board to board 
• Use font sizes to create a hierarchy (e.g. a large font for titles, a slightly smaller font for subtitles, and a standard size for the rest of the content.) 

The font you choose for your architecture presentation board can significantly impact its success or failure and greatly influence its level of engagement, which is why it’s important to make sure you find the best architecture font . 

Choosing the Right Elements 

Unless specific instructions are provided to you when creating your architecture presentation board, the choice of elements to include will be up to you. When making these important and creative decisions, consider what elements will effectively express and explain your design most compellingly. Remember to prioritize clarity and coherence to create a successful architectural presentation. 

Next Steps 

We hope this guide on the best architecture presentation board ideas was helpful. As you begin creating your architecture presentation board, remember that there are several solutions out there to help you make better presentation boards and win more business. When it comes to asset management for AEC and real estate professionals, OpenAsset provides a high-quality software solution. 

At OpenAsset, the only Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution designed specifically for firms in the built world, we make it easy to find the digital assets you need. With OpenAsset, you can easily find assets by project or person using keywords or file type. Our secure platform also helps you protect your digital assets by keeping them safe from unauthorized access and accidental deletion. You can also easily share files with team members, clients, and partners using controlled access to files. 

To ensure consistency and manage your ever-growing number of digital assets, request a demo with us and learn how OpenAsset can help you manage your digital assets today.

Get OpenAsset DAM Insights

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How to create successful architecture presentation boards

In architectural design, the ability to communicate your vision effectively is as crucial as the design itself. 

Architecture presentation boards are essential for this type of communication. These boards provide a visual and textual representation of your architectural solutions that is easy for your clients to understand.

Want some ideas for creating more effective architecture presentation boards? 

In this 7-minute read, we’ll delve into the art of crafting presentation boards that not only convey your design intent but do so in a manner that captivates and convinces your audience. 

So whether you’re a seasoned architect or a new contractor working on your first project, the tips in this article will help elevate your presentation skills and land you more clients. 

Let’s start with a quick look at the basics.

What is an Architecture Presentation Board?

An architecture presentation board is a visual tool used by architects and designers to convey the concepts, details and essence of their architectural projects. It combines images, drawings, text, and sometimes physical materials, to provide a coherent and appealing overview of a project. 

These boards are pivotal in architectural competitions and client presentations since they serve as a bridge between the architect’s vision and the client’s understanding.

But presentation boards should be more than just a random collection of visuals. 

• Use your board to tell a story and guide the viewer through the project’s inception, development, and final design. 
• Effective boards balance aesthetics with information by employing a strategic layout to highlight key elements and facilitate easy comprehension. 
• Presentation boards can vary in format from digital displays to large printed panels.

Check out the next section to see the 8 steps to creating your presentation board.

How to Develop Architectural Presentation Boards

Developing architectural presentation boards that stand out requires a blend of creativity, strategic planning, and technical skills. Here’s a step-by-step guide to crafting boards that showcase your project and impress potential clients.

1. Size & Orientation

The size and orientation of your presentation board are foundational decisions that set the stage for the rest of the board’s design.

Size: Consider the amount of content and the level of detail you wish to present. Larger boards can accommodate more information and are suitable for complex projects but require careful organization to avoid overwhelming the viewer. Standard sizes often range from A3 for smaller projects to A0 for more detailed presentations.

Orientation: The choice between landscape and portrait orientation can influence the flow of your presentation. Landscape is preferred for its width which facilitates a natural, left-to-right reading flow. It’s ideal for showcasing panoramic site views or extensive floor plans.

PRO TIP : 

• Always tailor the size and orientation to the context of your presentation. For intimate settings, a smaller board might be more practical since it allows for closer viewing and discussion.

The layout of your board is critical in guiding the viewer’s eye through your presentation. This ensures they focus on key elements without missing important details.

Balance and Flow: Create a layout that balances visual elements, text, and white space. Start with the most impactful images or drawings positioned centrally or towards the top, where they attract immediate attention. Use text sparingly to complement the visuals rather than overwhelm them.

Hierarchy: Establish a visual hierarchy that leads the viewer through your board logically, from the project overview to specific details. Use different sizes and styles of text and images to denote importance.

• Use grids to align elements. This creates a professional appearance and makes your board more readable.
• Consider color blocks or frames to delineate different sections without cluttering the board with too many lines.

DON’T FORGET:

• Keep a consistent margin around the edge of the board. This ‘frame’ ensures that none of your content is lost if the board is mounted or encased.

3. Structure

The structure of your presentation board is about more than just where things are placed. It’s about creating a coherent flow that guides the viewer through your design.

Organizational Strategy : Start with a clear organizational structure, such as chronological, thematic or by the project phase. This helps in making your presentation logical and digestible.

Connectivity: Ensure there is a clear connection between different elements on your board. Use lines, arrows or even a numbered path to indicate the order in which the content should be viewed.

PRO TIP:  

• Incorporate an “Introduction” and “Conclusion” section on your board. An introduction at the top left can set the stage for your presentation. Then, a conclusion at the bottom right summarizes the project outcomes or next steps.

DON’T FORGET:  

• The viewer’s eye naturally moves from left to right and top to bottom. Place your most important information (like the project title or key visuals) where viewers will likely see it first.

4. Background

The background of your architecture presentation board plays a crucial role in setting the tone and making your content stand out.

Simplicity is Key: Opt for a simple, non-distracting background that enhances the readability of your content. A subtle gradient or a light texture can add depth without overpowering the visuals and text.

Contrast: Ensure there is enough contrast between the background and the content to make everything easily readable. Light backgrounds with dark text and visuals usually work best.

PRO TIP: 

• Experiment with soft, architectural textures as backgrounds to add a thematic touch to your board without overwhelming the main content.

DON’T FORGET: 

• Always preview your board in its final form before printing or presenting. What looks good on a computer screen may not translate well to a large format print or display.

Colors can evoke emotions, highlight important information, and organize your board visually.

Color Scheme: Choose a color scheme that complements your project. Use your project’s primary colors, or select a palette that reflects the project’s mood and context. Consistency in color usage across the board ties the presentation together.

Accent Colors: Use accent colors sparingly to draw attention to key areas or important details. This can be an effective way to guide the viewer’s eye through the board.

• A limited color palette (2-3 main colors) can help in maintaining visual coherence and professionalism.
• Consider the psychological impact of colors. For example, blue can convey trust and stability, while green might be used to emphasize sustainability or environmental aspects.

6. Visual Ranking

Visual ranking on your presentation board ensures that key elements capture immediate attention and then guide the viewer through your design story.

Prioritize Content: Decide what elements of your design are most important and deserve the prime real estate on your board. Typically, this includes your main concept image, and key plans or sections.

Size Matters: Larger images attract more attention. Use size strategically to emphasize the most critical aspects of your project. Smaller images can show less important, but still relevant, information.

• Use visual contrast through varied textures or color highlights to elevate important content further. A high-contrast backdrop for your most crucial images or diagrams can make them stand out.

7. Image Selection

The images you choose to display on your architecture presentation board can make or break your presentation. 

Quality Over Quantity: Select high-resolution images that clearly communicate your design. Blurry or pixelated images can detract from your professionalism.

Relevance is Key: Every image should serve a purpose, whether it’s to showcase design details, illustrate spatial relationships or convey the atmosphere of your proposed project.

PRO TIP:   If you plan to use 3D-generated images, make sure they are high-quality. Poor-quality, unrealistic images can detract from your design presentation. That’s why more and more housing professionals are switching to easy-to-use 3D design software like Cedreo . Cedreo makes it easy for anyone to generate photorealistic 3D project images for architecture presentation boards.

8. Text & Font

The text and font choices on your presentation board are vital for communicating your design intent clearly and effectively.

Legibility is Crucial: Choose fonts that are easy to read at various sizes. Sans-serif fonts are often preferred for their clean lines and readability in both digital and print formats.

Hierarchy Through Typography: Use different font sizes and weights to create a visual hierarchy in your text. It should be easy for viewers to distinguish between titles, headings and body text.

• Limit your presentation to two fonts to maintain visual coherence—one for headings and one for body text. This simplifies the design and enhances readability.

Types of Architecture Presentation Boards

Understanding the different architecture presentation board templates and layouts is essential for selecting the most effective way to communicate your project’s vision. Each type serves a unique purpose and audience, from conceptual designs to detailed technical drawings.

Here are a few architecture presentation board examples.

Conceptual Board

Conceptual boards are the storytellers of architectural design. They focus on the vision, ideas, and themes behind a project. They are less about detail and more about conveying the concept and atmosphere of the design.

• Use compelling visuals that evoke the intended feel of the project, such as mood boards, abstract diagrams, and 3D floor plans .
• Include brief text descriptions or quotes that capture the essence of your design philosophy and the main concept behind the project.

Advice: Conceptual boards are your chance to connect emotionally with your audience, so choose images and words that resonate deeply with the project’s core idea. Remember: The goal is to intrigue and inspire while making viewers curious and excited about the potential of your design.

Technical Drawings Board

Technical drawing boards detail the specificities of the design through precise drawings and specifications.

• Incorporate a range of technical drawings, including floor plans , elevations , sections , and detailed construction drawings , to provide a comprehensive overview of the project.
• Use annotations, dimensions, and notes to clarify the technical aspects and innovative solutions within your design.

Advice: Make sure your technical boards are meticulously organized and labeled to ensure clarity and ease of understanding. Remember: While technical accuracy is important, consider the layout and visual appeal of your board to ensure it remains engaging and not overly dense.

Professional Board

Professional boards are tailored for client presentations, competitions, or public exhibitions. They blend both conceptual and technical elements to present a complete story.

• Combine striking visuals, key technical drawings, and succinct, persuasive text to showcase your project’s strengths and feasibility.
• Balance the layout to highlight the most compelling aspects of your design while ensuring a logical flow that guides the viewer through the narrative.

Advice : Professional boards are your portfolio’s highlight reel. Focus on quality over quantity and make sure to select only the most impactful images and information that demonstrates your vision.

Remember : Take the time to get it right. A well-executed professional board is a powerful tool for winning bids, gaining approval, and impressing stakeholders.

Get Designing with Cedreo Today!

Crafting an architecture presentation board that effectively communicates your vision and details can be a daunting task. 

Whether you’re creating a simple conceptual board for a small project or a detailed technical board for a custom home, Cedreo empowers you to make the best boards as fast as possible. 

• Rapid Visualization: Cedreo lets you quickly transform your ideas into visual concepts, with easy-to-use features that save you loads of time and effort.
• One-Stop Solution: From initial sketches to final presentation boards, Cedreo offers a comprehensive platform for all your design needs.
• High-Quality Outputs : Produce professional, high-resolution 3D presentation board images that impress clients and showcase your projects in the best light.

Get started with Cedreo now (there’s a FREE version !) and take your architectural presentations to the next level.

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Guide to Creating Effective Architectural Presentations

• by Elif Ayse Fidanci
• 14 April 2023

As an architect, presenting your work is an essential part of your profession. A well-crafted architectural presentation can help you communicate your design ideas and concepts to clients, colleagues, and stakeholders effectively. It can also help you showcase your creativity, problem-solving skills, and attention to detail. In this guide, we will outline some tips and best practices for creating effective architectural presentations.

-Define your objective:

Before starting your presentation, you need to define your objective. What message do you want to convey? Who is your audience? What do you want them to take away from your presentation? These are essential questions that you need to answer to ensure your presentation is effective.

-Know your audience:

Knowing your audience is crucial to creating an effective architectural presentation. Different stakeholders may have different levels of knowledge, interest, and expertise in architecture. You need to tailor your presentation to their needs and expectations.

For example, if you are presenting to a non-technical audience, you may need to explain technical terms and concepts in simpler terms. Conversely, if you are presenting to a technical audience, you may need to provide more detailed information and use more technical terms.

-Create a clear structure:

A well-structured presentation can help your audience follow your ideas and understand your concepts better. Start with an introduction that outlines your objective and sets the context for your presentation. Follow with the main body, where you can present your ideas and concepts in a logical sequence. Finally, end with a conclusion that summarizes your main points and highlights the key takeaways.

-Use visual aids:

Visual aids such as images, diagrams, sketches, and videos can help you illustrate your ideas and make them more engaging for your audience. You can use them to show your design process, highlight key features, and explain technical details.

Ensure your visual aids are of high quality and relevant to your presentation. Use a consistent style and format to make your presentation look professional and cohesive.

-Practice and rehearse:

Practice and rehearse your presentation before the actual event. This will help you identify any issues with your structure, flow, or timing. It will also help you build confidence and deliver your presentation more smoothly.

-Use storytelling:

Storytelling can be a powerful tool for creating an emotional connection with your audience. You can use storytelling to describe your design process, explain your design choices, and highlight the benefits of your design for the end-users.

-Be confident and engaging:

Finally, be confident and engaging during your presentation. Speak clearly and loudly, maintain eye contact with your audience, and use body language to emphasize your points. Engage your audience by asking questions, encouraging discussion, and providing examples.

In conclusion, creating an effective architectural presentation requires careful planning, attention to detail, and effective communication skills. By following these tips and best practices, you can create a presentation that engages your audience, communicates your ideas effectively, and showcases your design expertise.

Visual Aids for Architectural Presentations

Visual aids can be a powerful tool to help communicate complex design concepts and ideas. Here are some options to consider when selecting visual aids for your presentation:

Photographs, renderings, and other visual representations of your design can help your audience better understand your ideas. Make sure the images you use are high quality and visually appealing. You can also use images to illustrate the context of your design, such as the site location or surrounding environment.

Sketches and Drawings

Hand-drawn sketches and drawings can add a personal touch to your presentation and convey a sense of authenticity. You can use sketches and drawings to illustrate your design process or to highlight specific design elements.

Diagrams can help simplify complex concepts and make them more accessible to your audience. Use diagrams to illustrate the relationship between different elements of your design or to show how your design addresses specific design challenges.

3D Models and Virtual Reality

3D models and virtual reality can help your audience visualize your design in a more immersive way. This can be particularly helpful for complex designs or designs with unique spatial qualities.

Videos and Animations

Videos and animations can help bring your design to life and show how it functions in real-time. You can use videos and animations to illustrate design features, such as lighting or circulation, or to show how your design responds to different environmental conditions.

When selecting visual aids, it’s important to consider what will be most effective for your specific presentation and audience. To be original, consider creating custom visual aids that reflect your design style and approach. For example, you could create hand-drawn illustrations that showcase your unique design process, or use creative techniques like collage or mixed media to illustrate your ideas in a visually engaging way. Whatever you choose, make sure your visual aids are relevant, high quality, and effectively communicate your design concepts.

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Elif Ayse Fidanci

architect, writer

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Being an architect, you understand that showcasing your project effectively to the stakeholders is very essential. The architecture presentation board examples helps make that right impact in the first go. These architecture presentation board drawings ensure that your idea is beautifully expressed and is conceived the same way as you have thought.

But creating and designing the architectural presentation is a challenging task as a slight mismatch or mistake can completely ruin your architectural project. It’s very important to design the presentation board in such a way that it can communicate your ideas cohesively and engagingly.

Best Architecture Presentation Board Ideas

Let’s have a look at 8 critical elements of architectural presentation boards design that’ll help you craft a polished and visually captivating presentation. Just go through these tips and enhance your ability to showcase your architecture projects impactfully and impressively.

What do you mean by an architecture presentation board? How it is helpful?

An architecture presentation board is a visual summary of a project, used by architects to showcase their designs to clients, superiors, or colleagues. It serves as a tool for presenting ideas, attracting clients, and advancing careers. The purpose of an architectural presentation model is to convey essential project information in a self-explanatory manner.

Key elements of an effective architecture presentation board layout include:

• A well-designed layout that organizes and presents information in a logical and visually appealing way.
• Clear and concise text that explains the project’s concept, goals, and solutions.
• High-quality visuals, such as drawings, renderings, and photographs, that illustrate the project’s design and features.
• A consistent visual style that creates a unified and professional look.

Architecture presentation drawings are used by both students and professionals. Students use them to present their work to professors and peers, while professionals use them to present designs to clients, committees, shareholders, and exhibitions.

Top 8 Architecture Presentation Board Tips and Techniques

To help you get started, Renderspoint has exclusively curated some of the best architectural presentation board techniques and tips that must be considered when creating your architecture presentation board. So, let’s get started in our journey to create flawless architecture presentation board tips for clients.

1. Size and Orientation of the Architecture Presentation Board

When creating an architecture presentation model, consider the size and orientation that will best showcase your project. You may have limited options due to restrictions imposed by your director, client, or professor. If you have the freedom to choose, think about which orientation will make your graphics stand out and tell the story of your project most effectively.

Presentation Options:

• Single Large Board : Present your boards side by side as a single large board. You may choose horizontal or vertical architectural presentation boards depending on the requirements of the project.
• Equivalent-Sized Poster : Present your boards as one poster of equal size.
• Separate Boards : Arrange your boards in a sequence, with each board presenting a different aspect of your project.

The orientation and size of your architecture presentation board can influence the structure and layout of your presentation. Choose the option that best suits your project and allows you to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively.

2. Choosing the Right Layout for your Architectural Presentation Board Drawings

It all starts with brainstorming for the right layout. Brainstorm and jot down the main ideas you want to express. Also, work on the images and graphics that will best showcase those concepts. Now start creating small-scale sketches to capture the basic flow of each architecture presentation board. Before finalizing your design, keep experimenting with different element placements until you get the perfect one. You may explore some architectural presentation board layout examples online for some cool and best ideas.

Be very diligent regarding the space allocation. Determine how much space each element will require on the page. Ensure each graphic is impactful and consider the amount of space between elements. Avoid overcrowding or excessive space. By carefully planning the layout of your architecture presentation board, you can ensure that your ideas are communicated clearly and effectively.

Also, work on the size of images. Too small an image will fail to make that impact. Try to go for big and visually appealing images/graphics. You can even approach a 3D architectural rendering firm as 3D renders give a more photorealistic option to impress the stakeholders. Remember, the goal is to create a visually appealing and informative presentation that effectively conveys your project’s message.

3. Structure and Flow for a cohesive Architecture Presentation Board Style

The structure and flow of your architecture presentation board are crucial for effectively communicating your project’s vision. Using a grid structure can simplify the organization of visual elements, while diagramming helps deliver comprehensive information. Consider the narrative flow of your project, ensuring a logical progression from one architecture presentation board to the next. Number your boards if they won’t be displayed simultaneously.

Remember, viewers typically read presentations from left to right and top to bottom. Use visual cues to guide their eyes through your architectural presentation models. Maintain consistency in font, colour, and style throughout your architectural presentation boards. Leave sufficient white space to avoid overcrowding. Finally, proofread your text carefully for errors. By carefully following these professional architectural presentation board techniques, you can create a visually appealing and informative presentation that effectively conveys your architectural vision to your audience.

4. Visual Hierarchy of Architecture Presentation Board: Guiding the Viewer’s Eye

In architecture presentation board, visual hierarchy plays a crucial role in directing the viewer’s attention to specific images. This involves identifying the strongest point of your project and making it the primary focus that catches the eye from a distance. Other images should reveal their details upon closer examination.

Techniques to Create Visual Hierarchy:

• Size : Make the image you want to highlight the largest, ensuring it can be viewed clearly from a distance.
• Colour : Use colour strategically to guide the viewer’s eye toward the main idea on the board.
• Placement : Centre the image you want to highlight and arrange the surrounding content to complement it.

Additional Tips:

• Keep the overall vision of your project in mind when selecting images.
• Choose images that directly display and strongly support your project’s idea.
• Avoid using too many images that will make the board look cluttered and messy.
• Maintain consistency in the style and tone of your images.

By carefully considering visual hierarchy, you can create conversion-ready architectural presentation drawings that effectively communicate your architectural vision and guide the viewer’s eye to the most important elements of your project.

5. Choosing Perfect Colours: Bringing Life and Focus to Your Architecture Presentation Board

This is one of the most critical architectural presentation board techniques that you need to decide very wisely. While black, white, and grey are commonly used in architecture presentation boards, don’t shy away from incorporating colours. However, be mindful of your choices to strike the right balance and avoid overwhelming the viewer. Here’s how you can make strategic use of the colours in your presentation architecture style.

• Introduce hints of colour to bring life to your architecture presentation board.
• Use colour contrast as it helps to draw attention to elements you need to focus on.
• Represent different building materials with unique colours.
• Consider bold colours for diagrams to create a focal point.

Maintain consistency by using the same colour across all architectural presentation boards. This approach ensures a cohesive and seamless flow throughout your presentation. Also, you may explore pre-made colour palettes online for inspiration. Experiment with different colour combinations to find the best fit for your project.

6. Selecting Background Colour: Enhancing Clarity and Focus

The background of your architecture presentation board should be a supporting element, not a distraction. Avoid complex or busy backgrounds that may draw attention away from your graphics and text. Bold colours and textures should be used sparingly, if at all. Here are three key things that you need to keep in mind while selecting a background colour for your architectural presentation board.

• Black Background: Use with Caution

Black backgrounds can be challenging to work with. They can diminish text readability and reduce the impact of graphics. Additionally, black backgrounds can create a cold and boring tone. If you choose to use a black background, ensure that all information remains easily comprehensible.

• White or Light Gray: A Professional Choice

White or light grey backgrounds are typically the best choice for an architecture presentation board. They enhance the visibility of graphics and text, creating a professional and clean appearance. Other colours can be incorporated to align with your central concept but ensure that the background remains plain enough to direct the viewer’s attention to the design.

• Embrace Negative Space

Negative space is your friend. Resist the temptation to fill every space with information. The strategic use of negative space enhances the impact of your design, creating a clean and professional feel.

7. Image Selection: Striking the Right Balance

Choosing the right images is crucial for creating an effective architecture presentation board. Your graphics can either enhance or detract from your overall presentation.  Always go for high-quality images/CGI and ensure that they are relevant, engaging, and catchy.

As already stated just use enough images to effectively communicate your project. Avoid overcrowding your architecture presentation board with too many images. strive for a balanced representation that showcases your project’s key aspects.

You may include a variety of images, such as sketches, models, renderings, and drawings. This approach provides a comprehensive overview of your project.

8. Content, Text, and Font: The Impression Makers

An effective architecture presentation board should convey a clear understanding of the project and demonstrate the designer’s commitment and dedication. Key elements to include are internal and external images, isometric and exploded views, perspective cuts, diagrams, volumetry studies, descriptive memorials, and technical drawings. The specific elements used may vary depending on the project’s requirements and nature.

Make sure the text that you place on the architecture presentation board should complement the layout and try to keep it minimum. A crisp, concise, and focused concept statement will make your architecture presentation board more impressive and attention-grabbing.

Additional tips that will enhance your communication power using texts on the architecture presentation board.

• Consider readability, flow, and visual appeal.
• Align text within text boxes for easy reading.
• Complement graphics/images/CGI with text box size and alignment.
• Avoid all capitals except for titles and follow standard capitalization rules.
• Use simple sketches and figures instead of text when possible.

Select a single font type that complements your project’s style. Sans Serif fonts like Futura or Helvetica are popular choices for their clean and modern look. Avoid script or handwriting fonts for a professional appearance. Use dark hues for your font to ensure contrast against a light background. Choose a font and size that is easy to read and create a hierarchy using different font sizes for titles, subtitles, and body text.

Win More Clients with Perfect Architectural Presentation Boards

Hope you liked our tips and techniques to make your architecture presentation board impressive and converting. At, Renderspoint, we offer you the best 3D CGI that will ace up your architecture presentation board styles and help you communicate in a never-like-before way. Reach out to us for eye-catching and engaging 3D visualization such as 3D rendering, modelling, floor plans and more. Feel the magic that our 3D rendering studio experts cast on your images.

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12 Tips on Architecture Presentation (for Beginners)

In other words, improving your presentation skills will be an incredibly valuable skill, not just in school but in the professional field of architecture.

The design itself is important, and while there is nothing you will read here that will negate that, it is crucial to know that your work does not end when the drawings are complete.

1. Get a Grasp of Your Audience

Interest levels are going to vary between audiences based on the context of your presentation. If you are a practicing architect, your design is the keystone of the presentation.

In this scenario, your professional success depends not just on how good your designs are but how well you can sell them to clients.

So, focus on demonstrating your knowledge, dedication, and creativity. Prove that you worked hard on the presentation, and you will draw respect.

2. Plan and Structure Your Presentation

Have a series of steps that break down what you are going to present in which order. For example:

Add additional details that could help you more comfortably present your design in an informative and easy-to-follow manner.

3. Structure the Visuals as You Would Telling a Story

4. speak clearly and confidently.

It is so blatant it’s cliché. But don’t overlook it.

Practice if this is an area in which you struggle. Your design is great, so speak clearly and confidently to back it up.

It may be hard for you to get to this point, but once you do, you might find yourself looking forward to sharing your brilliant work rather than dreading it.

6. Rehearse

7. dress nice.

If you are a student, you may consider investing in high-quality garb for when you present your final project because, ultimately, putting effort into presenting yourself only aids the effort you put into presenting your project.

8. Be Concise

9. include humor, 10. be personable, 11. recognize imperfections, 12. include a chance for questions.

10 Ways to make your architectural presentation standout

Dissemination of architectural projects is in itself a significant part of the design process because without the dissemination methods there won’t be any clients. In this technological age, an architectural presentation has come a long way from simple blueprints. Every project has a different clientele and requires appropriate means of dissemination. An architectural exhibition can range from an image and text presentation, a video presentation, or just an image presentation. The most important objective is to communicate the story of the designer. Architectural presentations are the reflection of design as well as the designer and their ideologies. The following ten ways in which your architectural presentation will stand out.

1. Everyone has a story | A rchitectural Presentation

Every designer has their journey when they design a project, and conveying that story is the first and foremost part of an architectural presentation. When a client or a peer is exhibited with a well thought out story, it makes the design relatable and disseminates it to the audience in a more natural manner. The final design is the most important part but showing how the personal connection of the designer and their design ideologies led to that outcome is what makes your presentation stand out. Utilizing an ai presentation maker can streamline this storytelling process, allowing architects to convey their design journeys in a more visually compelling and time-efficient manner.

2. Visual Hierarchy

A hierarchy is an imperative element to include to highlight your strong point throughout the presentation; this may be the final drawing or a conceptual sketch that depicts that strong point of your design that binds the whole concept together. When you create these highlight points, it engages the audience and establishes a riveting point in your story.

3. Image Versus Text | Architectural Presentation

The biggest dilemma when creating a presentation is the proportion of image and text. One can argue that an image is more powerful because it engages and communicates more in the constricted time but, a carefully crafted sentence or even a few highlighted words mentioning the details of the project can elevate that image to a different level. The right balance of image and text is in the designer’s presentation style but, with feature images and detailed constrained words, you could find the winning combination. This debate can be further extended, now to videos or gifs that are now becoming a very imaginative way of explaining the working details of the design.

4. Textures and Materials

When mentioning textures in architectural presentation, it usually means materials and their depiction. It is important to include textures and highlight materials in your presentation to create a connection between the virtual image and the design that will be built. In my experience clients and peers always respond better to a presentation with clear specification of materials providing a sense of precision and dedication on the part of the designer.

5. Monochromatic Versus Color | Architectural Presentation

In the last few years, I have noticed that architects prefer to go more towards a monochromatic color scheme for the presentation. It’s always grey, grey, grey, to play safe. There is nothing wrong with the safe choice that works every time, but sometimes adding even one more color can enhance the level of presentation. I have been guilty of preferring the monochromatic color however, I always use a focus color for my highlight pieces. They create an automatic separation between different projects or phases and helps to focus on the details. 

6. The importance of iterations

The journey is never complete without the various measures that led to the final point. Every storyteller has their way of presenting the measures but including them and not just focusing on the outcome is most important. The various iterations that you might have developed in the process must be presented but not in detail but, a mention that takes the audience to the finale is how a great story is displayed.

7. Uniformity

An architectural presentation can be described as an illustrated story of your design and it needs to have a uniform language of expression to connect with the audience. A presentation is always more coherent when its uniformity is through the presentation style; it should be present in the text, color, and images. The uniformity also provides a clear sense of vision for the designer as well as design. 

8. Negative Spaces | Architectural Presentation

The negative space always makes architects nervous about their presentations, however, it is better than overcrowding the page. Sometimes a single image works better than a clutter of information that is hard to focus on. It is important to create a focus on every page rather than a distorted view. A centerpiece will engage more with the audience and help communicate more data than a hoard of data that is difficult to navigate. The presentation should be precise and informative. It is always quality over quantity.

9. Dissemination

The dissemination of a design is a crucial process. The exhibition depends on two main factors: relevance and accessibility. The project should be presented, in a manner that is understandable by both your peers and the clients . The presentation style is highly influenced by the relevant audience. If you create something entirely technical for a client then it renders the presentation moot because the client cannot connect with it, but if you just create something flashy with no actual technical detailing it again fails its function to provide appropriate information. The right balance between technical detailing and aesthetic images projects a relevant and accessible presentation.

10. Time Management | Architectural Presentation

The time management of a presentation has to be precise to present everything at a natural pace. In this time-constrained environment managing the time in which your presentation can be presented carefully or studied is crucial. If you make an enormous presentation that the client cannot go through in the time allotted or you cannot present without rushing through, it creates a massive problem and nobody can connect with the design. But on the other hand, if you make a very constrained presentation that does not provide important details it becomes useless. The way to create an architectural presentation is to follow your story and practice in advance the delivery time.

Taapsi Nayyar, a recent post graduate in Interior Architecture and Spatial Design from Edinburgh College of Art, United Kingdom. She is an avid reader and painter with a passion for art, culture and architecture. Furthermore, she is working on exploring the relationship betweeninterior design theories and their impact on the psychological behavior of users.

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Important architecture presentation board tips

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Top 8 Most Important Architecture Presentation Board Tips

Pexels The best design, drawings, and renders are not enough to land clients. You must successfully create architectural presentation boards that contain all the essential elements clients need to know about the project.

What are architecture presentation boards?

Architectural presentation boards are tools used by architects to showcase their work. They can communicate their work and present their artistic skills using a presentation board.

Types of Architectural Presentation Boards

1. architecture site analysis board.

Architects must undergo data analysis to determine the site’s current condition, needs, and limitations. The results of the analysis are the basis or foundation for your presentation board’s concept development.

2. Architecture Conceptual Board

You can emphasize your ideas by creating conceptual boards that contain collages and diagrams. Collages and diagrams can be made using modeling software like Adobe Photoshop.

3. Technical Drawings Board

4. professional boards.

Your presentation boards should be visually appealing to clients. Professional boards focus on renderings and plain plans, which are seen in the design of the living space.

Tips for a Stunning Architecture Project Presentation Board

1. structure and layout.

You must plan and organize what key features you have to include in your presentation board. You have to determine which technical drawings or images you want to present.

Using a grid can be a helpful tool in organizing the visual elements on your boards. The grid can have space for the page numbers, title bar, and other information.

2. Visual Hierarchy

3. templates.

Using templates can make your presentation boards look uniform and visually appealing. To try using templates for your presentation board, check out Simple Slides’ infographics slide catalog to browse its entire slide collection.

4. Orientation and Size

5. background.

Take advantage of negative space. Only include information that is vital to your presentation, and don’t be tempted to fill out these spaces with useless information. The use of negative space helps make your design stand out.

6. Information to Be Included

7. color scheme.

Pay close attention to your choice of color so your presentation board doesn’t look too boring or overwhelming. You may add pops of color to your presentation boards to give them some life.

8. Image Selection

You have worked for months to make your design the best it can be. Your efforts will definitely be rewarded if you put extra effort into making your presentation boards.

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Architecture Presentation Templates

Effectively communicate design concepts and ideas to clients and stakeholders with visually-impressive architecture presentation templates, professionally built by Venngage and completely customizable for free.

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Architecture Presentation Design Templates

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• See All Templates

We are excited to present a selection of 14 Architecture Presentation Board Templates in Photoshop and Indesign that all have varying layouts and fonts. 

Sometimes trying to get the layout of your presentation board just right can prove to be quite difficult and time consuming – and at times you may not really know where to start. 

However you’re in luck! Our architecture presentation board templates are great to get you started. They are designed to help speed up your process, create a strong design identity, and save you a huge amount of time.

All you need to do is insert your images and text into the designated placeholders. The templates can easily be adapted to suit your own style, and altered according to your own projects. 

Architecture Presentation Board Templates Bundle

Let’s take a closer look at the architecture presentation board templates.

There are 14 templates in total , seven are in portrait and seven in landscape orientation. All of them come in A1 size , in Photoshop (.psd) and Indesign (.indd) formats. They can easily be sized down if needed. They include placeholders for your images and text.

7 Portrait Layouts

7 Landscape Layouts

Font suggestions

This bundle comes with our suggested ‘fonts for architects’ and ‘font combinations for architects’ to help you choose the best fonts for your presentation boards.

Textured Backgrounds 

We have also included a selection of sixteen textures that you can use as backgrounds for your templates or other projects. You can use these to visually enhance your presentation boards. 

There are eight original textures and eight inverted versions that you get to experiment with. So get creative and make them your own. All versions come in (.png) and TIFF file (.tiff or .tif) file format. 

Here are some colour examples of the textured backgrounds:

This is how the textured backgrounds look on our presentation board templates:

Instructions and Tutorials

There is a guidance document and video tutorials included within this download that provide more detailed instructions on how to use the templates.

However if you have any questions about the templates then please feel free to drop us an email, or get in touch via the contact page.

Hurry up and get this awesome bundle to start creating some amazing presentation boards!

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Free Project Boards Templates Pack | 20 Inspirations

Competitions.Archi in collaboration with winners of architecture competitions launched in previous years prepared Project Boards Template Pack . It is a set of 20 free panels templates of awarded projects in PhotoShop and InDesign formats. Here you can find 20 Inspirations for your presentation board, which are easy to transform and edit. They grabbed attention of the jury panels once, so they will do it again, for sure!

It is very important to have stand-out architecture boards during your final presentations at the universitiy as well as while submitting your competitions entries. Competitions.Archi realized that composing the representation boards is sometimes very demanding and is trying to help all students by offering free inspirations for their designs. Project Boards Template Pack is a wide range of presentation boards layouts, which look extraordinary and will help you to achieve the brilliant final result.

What is inside?

There are 20 layout examples inside the Project Boards Template Pack. They were prepared on the base of the best competitions entries and now available as editable   20 Photoshop and 20 InDesign files completely free. There are 10 landscape and 10 portrait layouts as well. Every template can be adjust to your design. Nevertheless, if you need inspiration, there is always an example how final presentation board may look like, which can be found in Tables of Contents. There are also short instructions how effectively use .psd and .indd files and videos showing how the templates can be transformed into a recognizable representation boards, by using drag-and-drop tools and smart objects . All files are prepared to be used very intuitive even for the beginners in graphics software.

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• Presentations

20+ Best Free Architecture PowerPoint Templates for 2024

Loopers - Free Architecture PowerPoint Template

• 12 PPT and PPTX files
• 30 unique slides
• 3 pre-made color variations
• necessary documents included

World Wide - Presentation Template for Architecture

• 5 presentation templates
• 150 total slides
• 30 unique slides for each presentation template
• 5 color variations

Exeter - Architecture Presentation Template

• 30 total slides
• 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
• all graphics are fully and easily editable
• free font links included in help file

Logam - Architectural Template Free Download

• 360 total slides
• 30 unique slides per template
• necessary documents and contact support included

Above, you got a taste of the premium architectural template free downloads from Envato Elements. So, you can get a sense of the high-quality features and design.

Below, you'll find even more free architecture templates for PowerPoint from around the web.

But first, let's explore a few powerful, premium PPT architectural templates from Envato Elements . Know that you can download these and thousands of other premium assets for one low monthly fee:

Kallot - Architecture PowerPoint Template

Kallot is a multipurpose architecture template that comes with:

• 35 total slides
• 16:9 HD widescreen aspect ratio
• drag-and-drop editing
• free fonts used

Era - Architecture PowerPoint Template

Era is perfect for building or architecture projects, and it features:

• 40 unique slides
• built on master slides for easy editing
• vector-based icons and handcrafted vector-shapes
• fully customizable

Building - PowerPoint for Architecture Presentations

The features here will convince you to use the Building PowerPoint Presentation template:

• 6 PPTX and PPT files
• 50 unique slides
• 300 total slides
• light and dark background versions

Prohomes - Architectural Presentation Template

This architecture PowerPoint template is perfect for anyone in the real estate, architecture, or property development industries thanks to its features:

• 45 PPTX slides
• 1920x1080 screen resolution
• resizable and customizable graphics
• easily editable content placeholders

Now for the most awaited section of the post: the best free architecture PowerPoint templates from around the web!

Before we dive into the free PowerPoint templates, remember that Envato Elements provides 12 different files every month. These include plugins, themes, videos, music, photos, and more. Download this month's premium free files  by creating a free account. 

Free PowerPoint for Architecture Presentations

This architectural PowerPoint presentation templates free download features an image of tall buildings in black and white. 

Free Presentation - Portfolio Architecture Template

Here's an architectural PowerPoint presentation template that comes with an image of a building and is in grey tones. 

Urban - Free Background Architectural Template

This PowerPoint template for architecture presentations comes with four slides. It uses a blueish structure as the main image. 

Free Concept PowerPoint Template for Architectural Presentations

The free architecture portfolio PowerPoint template has a geometric sketch of a house. The colors used are light grey, dark grey, and yellow.

Dark Free Architecture PowerPoint Template

As the name suggests, this is a dark template. It uses grey tones.

Tower - Architectural Template Free Download

This architectural PowerPoint presentation templates free download uses an illustration of a tower at night. 

Free Buildings and Sky Architecture Presentation Template

The architecture design PPT template is a bold and colorful illustration of a skyline. 

Berlin - Free Best PowerPoint Templates for Architectural Presentations

This is a simple architecture PowerPoint template with the blue skyline of Berlin. 

Free Big City Presentation Template for Architecture

This uses an illustration with skyscrapers. The primary color used is blue. 

Free Architectural Presentation Template

The design is available in a 16:9 ratio for a better look, and three extended slides are also included.

Big City Night Free Architecture PowerPoint Template

The illustration here is of the sun setting in a city with a purple sky. 

Weston Free Architecture Template for PowerPoint

Weston offers the skyline of a city. The best thing about it is that you can change the colors to represent the different hours of the day/night.

Elevator - Interactive Architectural Presentation Template

This template will have you going up and down on an elevator. Every slide is linked, so it's an interactive experience.

Engineering and Architectural Template Free Download

Blueprints are a key component in every architect office. Use them in your presentation to get your point across.

City of Business Free Architecture Template

With this template you'll get slides that depict a busy city, which is an architect's playground.

Free Real Estate Architecture Presentation Template

This architectural PowerPoint presentation templates free download comes with a master background and an internal slide. The main image is of a huge house.

City Building Scenery - Presentation Template for Architecture

This architecture template comes with thirty-three slides and uses blue as the primary color. 

City Building Skyline - Free Architectural Presentation Template

This has a colorful building silhouette design on a gray background. It uses light green as the primary color. 

House Renovation - Free Architecture PowerPoint Template

This features 48 colorful slides. The paint roller is the main element in every other slide. 

Statue of Liberty - Free PowerPoint Architecture Template

The architecture PowerPoint template uses iconic American architecture for a travel presentation.

Bond Free Presentation Template for Architecture

This one comes with a pencil drawing of famous city skylines. The font looks like handwriting.

Spelman Free PPT Architecture Presentation Template

This is an elegant template design, that features geometric shapes, black and gold colors, and a formal and professional look and feel.

Parker - Architecture Presentation Template

This template is a pretty straightforward example of an architecture PPT template. It features a low angle shot of buildings.

Medeley Free Presentation Template for Architecture

Lastly, Medeley is another good option to try. It comes with a background image of a bird's-eye view of a city.

Create your next presentation slides like a pro. Start by browsing through premium architectural presentation templates on Envato Elements . With a subscription you get unlimited access to all the digital assets. This includes all the PowerPoint templates. 

Is going premium out of the question for you? It's still a good idea to use a pre-built template, so you don't have to start from scratch. Try out any of the free architecture PowerPoint templates found in this article. 

Editorial Note: This article has been completely rewritten to make it more usable for the reader.

ARCHITECTURE PRESENTATION: 5 SECRETS TO MAKING IT A SUCCESS

Architecture presentation is where the magic of the project happens. If an Architect plays his cards right, it’s when his client clicks with the design and wants to see the results as soon as possible. The ideal outcome is when the only questions left at the end of the speech are “How much?” and “When do we start?”

But things don’t always go smoothly. Sometimes, they go likes this: during the presentation, the client sits with a blank face. He does not have a single question in the end and calls back a few days later to inform that he would like to explore other options and see what other firms have to offer. So much time wasted! The project was excellent, clients – initially forthcoming and nice, yet something happened during the meeting. As the Architect looks through the notes, he realizes that the trouble was in the way he had presented his brainchild.

Presentation is 50% of success. It requires thorough preparation, creativity, excellent visual material – like architecture animation videos , communication skills and a little bit of acting. However, most of these things are long to work on. Are there points for making the next presentation a success? There sure are a few simple rules to start applying right now. Let’s find them out!

#1. Use an Index to Prepare the Audience

The Architect can prepare an Index with a short presentation plan that outlines the most important checkpoints. It will be much easier for people to follow the presenter, mentally structure the mass of new information and perhaps even make notes on some of the points. Furthermore, the creation of printed materials will show the engagement and diligent preparation of the architect.

#2. Start Architecture Presentation with the End

There are many ways to build the structure of an architecture presentation, each having its advantages. Success depends on implementation. But beginning with results is a sure attention-catcher. Logically, one would put them in the end, first walking the audience through the technical assignment, process, and challenges of the project development, building up the intrigue. But doesn’t it make a better sense to give the audience what they want first? That would get them interested. They would better understand what’s going on and be more involved in discussing details, having seen the overall picture.

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#3. use high-end visual materials.

Visual materials of the architecture presentation should be top-notch – both informative and looking high-end. The whole project will be judged by them, so all visuals, including drawings and sketches should be impeccable. Instead of references, it’s wise to get a 3D architecture video . It helps to easily demonstrate a project at its best, show all the details and strength of the design, and make a strong impression. For who wouldn’t be impressed by a photorealistic tour around the property which hasn’t been built yet?

#4. Avoid Too Much Detail

It’s perfectly understandable that the Architect loves to talk about his art. So when asked a question at an architecture presentation, he feels in his element and can get carried away a little. Going into the details is time-consuming, not to mention the audience might not need or understand them. There is a simple way to avoid it: when asked a question, the Architect should give a brief answer and then ask if the audience wants a more elaborate one. If that’s the case, better to warn that a detailed explanation will take extra time.

#5. Forget about Professional Slang

Professional slang is great for communication with colleagues. It perfectly conveys the technical aspects and is quick and emotional when necessary. It is also a sign of expertise: so much so that when 3D artists in a 3D animation studio speak it, only those who work in the sphere can understand them. And that is exactly the reason to avoid professional slang at an architecture presentation: the audience won’t understand a thing. The speech should be listener-oriented so that communication be effective. So whenever there is a need for using professional terminology, it’s better to explain every word and notion.

Preparing a successful architecture presentation is a journey rather than a goal. An Architect needs to take care of every aspect: language, structure, intonation, handout materials, and of course, get prime quality visuals. Want to take your clients on a tour through your amazing project? Then click the button below and contact CGI Flythrough architecture animation company . We will create a CG video showing the project with accuracy and Hollywood impact!

To impress your clients with a show-stopping 3D animation

Irma Prus Content Writer, Copywriter

Irma writes articles and white papers about CGI services. Outside of work, her passions include watching Alfred Hitchcock movies, eating mint chocolate and reading CGI news.

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Informative article, thank you! And incredibly well-illustrated

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InfoQ Homepage Presentations LIquid: A Large-Scale Relational Graph Database

LIquid: A Large-Scale Relational Graph Database

Scott Meyer discusses LIquid, the graph database built to host LinkedIn, serving a ~15Tb graph at ~2M QPS.

Scott Meyer has 40 years of adventures in software: computer graphics, networking, GUI application development, object-oriented databases, a Java language implementation and now he has settled on graph databases. He led the storage team at Metaweb. In 2014 he moved to LinkedIn to start a next-generation relational graph database project called LIquid.

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Meyer: Peter Boncz is one of the preeminent database researchers on the planet. He basically gave the modern shared nothing column store its form. This is him being somewhat critical of graph database systems. I'm a graph database implementer, so a little bit nervous making. This is a great talk if you're a database person. However, it's quite technical, so I thought I would unpack it a little bit for you guys. How many people out here have teenage children? A graph database is like teenage sex. They're all talking about it. Some of them are doing it. The ones who are doing it are not doing a very good job. I'm here as your own graph database teenager.

I'm going to talk about LIquid. LIquid is a relational graph database that we built at LinkedIn, runs about 2 million QPS. It's a pretty standard, large-scale Silicon Valley database system. As is usual with these things, I didn't build this by myself. I have a wonderful and talented team of probably 40 people now who make this thing a reality. I'm shamelessly going to claim credit for their work.

Browsing a Large Graph

First question is, why did LinkedIn build a graph database? The recruiter who brought me to LinkedIn, explained LinkedIn to me. He said, the magic of LinkedIn is in the second degree. Your first degree, all your connections, you already know who they are, like you have your Rolodex and your email. It's not very valuable. Your second degree is all of the connections that you could have, but maybe don't yet. Maybe your next job is in your first degree, maybe you'll go work with a friend, but probably your next job is in your second degree. What we're doing fundamentally, when we're looking at LinkedIn is we're browsing a large graph, and we're figuring out what about that graph is interesting to us. Here's some of the stuff that comes out of the graph database. You notice, these are all second degree connections. What about a graph is interesting to me? It's some sort of second degree connection, like maybe we worked at the same employer, maybe we went to the same school, maybe we know some of the same people.

Graph Workloads

This is just one of three graph workloads. What we're doing is graph serving. Database people would call this as complex OLTP. What we're doing is we're browsing a graph, this is the predominant application workload. Even things like PowerPoint or Word, what they're doing is they're browsing a graph of stuff almost all the time. You do a little bit of editing. The important thing about serving is we need to work in human real time, like about a quarter of a second. Let it be half a second, but it's got to be like that fast. You can also do graph analytics. Database people would just say complex OLAP, or maybe just OLAP. Where you have an analyst typing in a query, and they're happy to wait for a few minutes, or maybe they're running a dashboard, and it runs once an hour and comes up with a graph for somebody to look at. There, we're looking at something that scans a whole bunch of the graph and summarizes it. It's going to take minutes probably. Then there's a third workload, which is graph computation, things like Page Rank, Bellman-Ford, where I want to run an algorithm over the whole graph. These things typically take minutes or even hours, depending on the size of the graph and the algorithm. What we're doing is just graph serving.

Handy rule of thumb in software development, never invent something that's in a textbook. All of the background for this talk and this product is basically textbook computer science, literally. Specifically, the relational model and datalog. This is actually the real textbook that we use as a reference on the team.

Relational Graph Data

Relational graph data, I'm going to throw some SQL at you. I'll speak it slowly. Basically, relational graph data is two tables. I have a table of vertices. This is just mapping strings to integers, that's all it's doing. A vertex is represented by a string. Inside the database we'd like to represent it with a fixed length integer. That's what this does. Now the exciting part, I have a table of edges. An edge is just three vertices. This is a compound primary key. The edge, you specify it by value, and it either exists or it doesn't exist. Very simple. Pause right here, this is like 90% of the content of this talk right here. It just so happens, like a lot of things in software, that the remaining 10% of the talk will take the other 90% of the time. Let's look at some graph data. What we're talking about is basically just three columns of integers like this. I've shown these guys, if this was a normal SQL database, they'd be sorted like this because of the primary key constraint. Let's think a bit about what it's going to be like to work with this. Suppose you start with a bunch of things, and you want to transform them, you want to navigate through an edge, one edge for each thing, or multiple edges for each thing. You notice the things are all sorted, and the subjects are all sorted, so this is great. We do a merge join. What we get in the output is no longer sorted, it's not even a set. If we were doing a complex query, where we do multiple hops through a path, we would have to resort this thing in order to keep on going, or do random access. There's another aspect to this. This is really small, but any real database, the edge does not contain a lot of information, so you're going to have a lot of edges, think a trillion edges. I said our workload is browsing, so I have to produce a screen full of data for someone to look at. I have to do this in about a quarter of a second. What I can tell you then, is, if I only have a quarter of a second, and I'm looking at a trillion things, I can't actually scan very many things. Maybe I can scan a few hundred thousand, maybe a million things, a million edges. We're very limited in the amount of data that we can have as an intermediate result, just by the nature of the domain. Now think about it like, so I have an intermediate result, it's just going to be a bunch of edges. Everything is edges. I have some intermediate result. It's got like 100,000 things in it. I'm doing a lookup into a table of a trillion things. It's just incredibly improbable that a page that I read for one thing would contain the answer for the next thing. Just by the law of large numbers, what you're doing when you work with graph data is random access. The key insight here is we're doing random access at scale. There's absolutely no way around this. The index structures that we're using are hash tables. The performance domain that we're working in, we're going to be counting L3 cache misses, because we're doing random access into memory. The entire graph is held in hash tables in memory.

Why only 3 things? Why not 2, why not 4? Seems like an arbitrary choice. The first reason, it's tractable to index everything, like 3 factorial a 6, 6x is a reasonable write amplification if you're careful. We can just index everything and say, edges are fast, there's no create index. They're just uniformly fast, they deliver random access. That's a guarantee that we can make. That's super handy. Second of all, as subject, predicate, object would lead you to believe, this is how people encode knowledge. We are building database machinery that deals with knowledge the way people like to encode it, which seems like it ought to be a good idea. There's a subset of people, computer programmers, and they like to use structs and pointers when they're building a model of the world in an application. Because the whole point of having a database is to build applications with it. Let's go look at that world a little bit. You have a triple, like Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick, just the fact. If you're an application programmer, you're probably going to model this as like, I have a struct author, and here's the one for Herman Melville. He wrote a book. He could have written many books so there's a vector right there. Then, one of the books that he wrote is Moby Dick. Similarly, the Moby Dick structure, it's a book. Books were written by an author, and there's the author. When you're programming with structs, and pointers, what you're really doing is you're working with a hand-built inverted index of the underlying relation.

Some good news, this is just a relational database, we can do this with SQL. We have a much better syntax. Interestingly, it's been sitting there in a textbook for 30 years, it's datalog. This datalog that you see on the screen is the same query that the SQL was doing. You see, it has a natural decomposition into rules. It's a basic social graph type of a thing. I'm looking for employers and skills of friends of friends, employers and skills in my second degree. These are datalog rules. In datalog, anything with a period is a statement of fact. In our datalog, the only thing you can assert is an edge at the bottom. Everything is assertions with edges. Here I'm saying, user 1, their name is Scott. Pretty straightforward. Anything with a question mark is a query. Underbar is a variable, which just means, I'm different from all other variables. Every underbar is different. All you're doing here is you're asking, what is the name of user 1? Pretty simple. I can define a rule, like, here's a rule called named. The rule just evaluates the right-hand side, same sort of thing. I can ask, who has this name? Or, what is the name of this thing? Just by supplying different variable bindings. A cool thing that you can do with datalog and edges is you can say, user 1, what's up with that? Like all the inbound edges on user 1. This is a very typical first step, when you're exploring a new database with a schema that you're not familiar with. You find something that you know, typically yourself, and then you go explore just by looking at the inbound edges. It's something that's very difficult to do in SQL.

Our two-table representation actually lost some valuable information. We need to add this information back. We're going to do this by formally defining predicates. Here's a rule called DefPred. You have to use DefPred to introduce the predicate. This is a predicate for title, like the title of a book, and what the definition says. Says, the subject side, a book only has one title, so it's cardinality 1. The type of a book, it's just a node. On the object side, there's a string, a UTF-8 string, so our type is a string. Of course, many books can have the same title, so 0 meaning unlimited cardinality. All you have to do to start using a new predicate is put this DefPred in, and then you can immediately start using it. For example, book 1 title is Moby Dick. The predicate itself is just a node in the graph like any other node, so you can add your own metadata to predicates. For example, here I'm saying there's a kind of a predicate that's like a name like thing. A title is like a name. Name is like a name. I'm going to identify these as being of type Known As, just writing edges in. Now I can ask queries like this. What we're saying is there's a thing, u:1, I don't know much else about it. It's referred to by an edge with some kind of a predicate. The kind of predicate is anything referred to by an edge with the type Known As. I'm able to define what a name like thing is, and I'm able to ask for it in a query. If you look at what an application does, very often this is exactly what they need. I have a little card, it has a name, it has a picture, and so forth. I use this to display anything. I don't care. As long as it has a name, and a picture, and maybe some descriptive text. That's predicates.

N-Ary Relationships

We're not quite done yet, because the predicate is a simple binary relationship. Most relationships in the real world are not simple binary relationships. Let me give you some examples. Grammar is more than subject, predicate, and object. Here are some real relationships that are not subject, predicate, and object. You work for a company, that's employer, employee, and a start date. If I don't have the start date, then I can't represent a common situation in the world where you work for a company, and then you quit and you go work for another company. Then you quit and you go back and work for the first company. That's actually a super important piece of data. LinkedIn calls this a boomerang. Similarly, a marriage, spouse, spouse, start date. You have people like Elizabeth Taylor, who are married a lot, sometimes to the same people. Again, if you want to model the data, you need more than a binary relationship. Another one, actor, role, and film, endorser, endorsee, skill. N-Ary relationships happen all over the place. We need support for these guys in a graph database. One more thing, a lot of relationships have attributes that describe them that are not part of the identity, like a super common one in our world is a score. This relationship exists, but how important is it? Herman Melville wrote a book, but what's his most important book? Which one should you show first? Other things might be like a stop date, or maybe a title, something like that.

The basic intuition here is like, if I have an edge, and my edge traversal is fast, then it's not really objectionable just to add an extra hop. If going across one edge is going to cost you two L3 cache misses, going across two is going to cost you four. That's not outrageous. Honestly represents the structure here. Your big question is, what do I use for the identity of this central node? If I just make one up, now this N-Ary relationship doesn't behave like an edge, you can get duplicates. If you have duplicates, then you might add interesting data to the wrong one. It's not really an effective way to work. We can actually solve this problem. We're just going to have a function which generates us a string, which is the identity of the central node. You can read the string and get how this works. Like, I'm going to take all pairs of object and predicate, and I'm going to sort them. That's the identity of this hub node. Once we figure out that, the way edges work, now N-Ary relationships work just like edges, so we get this for free. You can annotate. You can do anything you want with a central node. It's just a node, it's not going to bite anybody. You can put whatever data you want on there. The data is just edges, we don't need to come up with some fancy schema to talk about this stuff. LIquid does what we call compound predicates. This is just the syntax of that working.

What is this thing that we built? This has been known to relational database types for a long time. I think in the '70s, Peter Chen came up with this notion of Entity-Relationship modeling. This thing that we've come up with is just a relationship table. It says, there's a compound primary key of actor, role, and film. Then you have some attribute columns, whatever you want. This thing that we invented is actually completely normal, well understood 40-year-old SQL. There's a nice bonus that you get out of this. Suppose we wanted to do a symmetric relationship, like a mutual friend. You'd start off in SQL. It's like, I have two friends, like friend1 and friend2. Now I have Bob and Jane, they're mutual friends. Is it Bob and Jane, or is it Jane and Bob? There are two different ways to represent that. Pretty quickly, you're going to reach for your PL/SQL hammer, and you're going to say, friend1 has got to be less than friend2. That's the way we know the identity of the mutual friendship. If we're in this N-Ary relationship world, what I'd observe is like, if you just had two friend edges, it's in fact structurally perfectly symmetrical. The structure expresses exactly what we want to express. Furthermore, our little algorithm for generating the primary key works exactly right. We sorted the predicates of the same Bob sorts ahead of Jane, so now we have a primary key. That's pretty cool. This is actually something SQL can't do. Here's a little bit of datalog. I'm showing you, I'm asserting the edge twice in both different orders. At the end, I ask for the inbound edge as Bob. You can see there's only one inbound edge. There's just a unique mutual friendship.

OODB/Ontologies

A question you might ask here is like, what about nodes? We've only talked about edges. That's on purpose. Nodes are just immutable strings, like they're primary keys. They represent entities. That's it. Sometimes they parse. You could have a node that's like 7, 7 has a meaning as like an integer. When we give that node a type like int, it just means I want something that parses as an integer. A question is like, why not more? Why don't we put a bunch more stuff inside our node? If you have something that has node properties, a question to ask is like, why even have edges? I can have a node be like an author and another node be like a book, and the book would have a little vector of author identities in there. Why not just do stuff like that? We tried this back in the '90s. I was I was involved with this, OODBs. They don't work very well. In this world, say, we have a person. That's a base class, people have a name or something like that. Then we have a person who's an author, that's a subclass. We're just working on structure extension here, subclassing. No one could object to that. What if I have a person who's an editor? I can solve it the same way. What if I have a person who's an editor and an author? Now I have a problem, because either I figure out some multiple inheritance thing, which never worked very well. Or, I have two different identities, two different structs, one for person as an author, and one for person as an editor. Equality doesn't work the way you think it ought to work. It gets worse. Like, you're making an ontological assumption that all authors are people. That's not actually the case. Back in my history, starting with graph databases, worked at Metaweb, kept discovering that the Beatles, a rock group, were getting typed as a person. We were trying to do an inheritance-based type system, we said, an author that's a subclass of a person. It turns out the Beatles authored a book, like there are books in the world. They have a title and a name, and the author's name says the Beatles. It's a fact. I'm not making this up. This is Amazon right now. The notion that you're going to have a single ontology that is going to support everything is really badly broken. There's another interesting problem with it, which is, the root of your hierarchy becomes a gigantic single point of failure. You do some clever editing up at the root, and suddenly two-thirds of your database just disappears. The nice thing about the graph structure is it doesn't care, like we're just recording facts. The triples don't need to have a particular order of structure fields, they just exist. They don't do anybody any harm. Authors, editors, astronauts, all can cluster around the same identity without any conflict at all. That's the data model.

Query Evaluation

I want to talk a little bit about query evaluation, just a couple details. The first problem is cross-products. The second problem is static planning. These are both endemic to SQL. Worst case, optimal joins. Super interesting, big line topic. You can go search for that on Google Scholar or something, and read about it. It's very relevant to a social graph, kind of a workload. Let's look at a cross-product. I'm going to use a predicate like knows, A knows B, B knows A, so there's an edge. Now I'm going to define a rule that's bidirectional. I just ask, knows x, y is either x knows y, or y knows x. I'm going to say, show me who knows who in the whole database? I get two results, A knows B, and B knows A. The simplest cross-product that I could come up with. If I look at the edges, there's this one edge. Why is this a big deal? We're doing complex queries. We're doing complex queries of many to many relationships. Every time you introduce a cross-product, you're multiplying the size of your result by some constant factor, 2, 3, 5, 10, something like that. It's really easy to get results that are 100 times the size of the actual edges, if you're doing a complex query. Why do we care? Inside the database, we do lots of clever stuff to avoid materializing cross-products, because it's really hard. If you have n times m things, you wind up doing n times m work, and that turns out to be slow. A key point here is like, the application has exactly the same problem. They don't want to do n times m work, either.

How does this play out? What we need is a subgraph return. Typically, in SQL, SQL only returns you a single table. A subgraph return, I just want to return multiple tables. You can think of this as, I want to return one row in every relationship table that matched. I can stitch this stuff together. It's a relational algebra tree, like what we have inside a SQL engine. Really, I only need two things in the tree. I need cross-products and I need outer joins. If you're processing this data as an application developer, you're building up a graph of people and skills and employers. You're going to have some sort of a loop where you say, person 23, do I have one for that? No. I'm going to make one. Skill 7, do I have one for those? I'm going to create one. The struct for 23 is going to point at the struct for 7 in the correct offset. That thing that you're doing with the hash table lookup to see if you have one, that's an outer join. That's all it is. It's nothing mysterious.

Dynamic planning. Let's look at a really simple query. This is graph distance is 3. It's very relevant to our workload. It's just three hops. A is connected to B is connected to C. That's all it is. I want to know if Alice is 3 hops from Bob. There are only four possible plans in a sequential world. I can go left, left, left from Alice. I can go left, left, right. I can go left, right, right, or I can go right, right, right. It's the only ways you can do this query. None of these plans are optimal for all data. We're doing self-joins, all of our statistics to our statistics, each edge constraint in this query looks identical. They're all the same. What makes them different is like what data is in the graph. An observation here is, unlike in a sorted storage world, in a hash table storage world, our set sizes are available in constant time. I can do a hash lookup, and I can know how big the set that I'm going to read is. If I'm storing stuff in a B-tree, like I B search to find the beginning of it, and then I have to B search to find the end, or I can just scan it. It's far more expensive to find out how big a set is.

What does this look like? We just hand coded the four plans. You can see them on the chart there. You can see there's this scallopy thing with four scallops. That's where each plan is optimal. The dynamic plan, you can see it's not quite as good as perfectly optimal, because it costs you a little bit to figure out how to use it. We're going to say, how big is the fanout from Bob? How big is the fanout from Alice? Pick the smaller one, expand that. Did that get super huge? We have to do some work to figure things out. We can do that work. It's tractable to do that work in this indexing domain. You get a query evaluation performance that is pretty close to optimal in all four domains.

What is a Graph Database?

What I want to leave you with is a formal definition for what a graph database is. Graph database is an implementation of the relational model with four properties. All relationships are equal, everything is an edge. If you think about like a typical SQL database, if you're a relationship that is in one table, you're first class. It's super nice, like I do a B search, I get the row, and I have this whole relationship right there basically for free. If you're a relationship that exists across tables, like I have to do a join, you're really second class. Joining is super slow, so second class that way. Semantically, SQL doesn't really keep track of what joins were intended by the user. SQL will happily say, yes, you're joining depth and fathoms to degree Celsius. Probably ok. In the graph database, everything is an edge, and the edge is exactly what the user intended. Those are the joins that the user intended. If everything is going to be an edge, you're going to have a lot of edges, it better be fast. If it's not constant time, and fast, and by that I mean three L3 cache misses, as your database gets bigger, your performance gets slower. Ultimately, it's not going to be worthwhile having a big graph. You want a smaller graph that performs better. That turns into harder to manage. Query results are a subgraph. If I'm going to have a big graph with a lot of edges, I want to ask complex queries of it. I need to return structured results that the application actually wants to consume. Lastly, schema change is constant time. If you think of it like a general model for a serving system, it's a materialized view. Like I did some fancy query. Then, when you ask something, I just look up a row, and give it back to you. What we're saying with this is, no, you can't heat. I need to be able to show up with a new predicate and just start using it at full speed. This can't turn into any kind of like ALTER TABLE fire drill underneath the surface in the implementation. That's my proposed definition for a graph database. Clearly, I disagree with a lot of the world. We'll see how that turns out.

Graph Database vs. SQL, RDF, and Property Graphs

I want to do a brief comparison walkthrough. First of all, versus SQL. There's no denormalization. A graph is perfectly normalized. It is in fifth normal form. You can't express denormalization. There are no nulls or trinary logic. Edges either exist or they don't. If you introduce an unbound variable, we're going to force you to give it a binding. If you have a default quantity, you get to decide, is it 0? Is it min int? Is it max int? Is it 1? Depends which is appropriate. Depends on what you're doing with it. We force you to make that decision explicitly, so now there's no trinary logic, which is a big pain. We can do constrain through the predicate. In SQL, a predicate is typically a column, roughly. You're welcome to use the catalog table, but it's hard to use the catalog table meaningfully in a query. Typically, to do something like this in SQL, you need to query the catalog, figure it out, and then you generate another SQL query. Constraining through the predicate is like, this predicate is a name like thing. You can explore all the incident edges on any entity. You have a ticker symbol, (MSFT) Microsoft, it's in the graph somewhere. You can go start exploring. You can do symmetric relationships. You have subgraph results.

RDF, the relational model, that's pretty cool. It's been 40 years, we've had 20 years of NoSQL. There really isn't much of a contender. We did not invent a query language. I highly recommend that. We have a much simpler edge. We have first class schema that is much simpler than OWL. You've seen all the moving pieces in the schema in this talk. We can do N-Ary relationships. We can do symmetric relationships. We have composable rules. Lastly, versus property graphs. Relational model. Didn't invent a query language. We have a first-class schema for everything. You can constrain through the predicate. There's no separate property schema. Everything is just edges. There's no OO node problems, so we just make the decision for you. You can't put any stuff in a node, just use edges. N-Ary relationships, again, super common. Composable rules.

Single-Query Applications

What's the future here? A lot of people think that the future of data is big graphs. If the future of data is big graphs, then I think the future of applications is big queries. You ought to be able to say, here's all the data that I want to put on a page, here's a description of it, go get it for me. Even if I need to do this, I'm doing thousands of joins in human real time.

Questions and Answers

Participant 1: There is a feature in [inaudible 00:45:25] where you can have a representation like, I am 80% good in Java, and we'll be doing JavaScript or something like that. How do you have that built in these edges?

Meyer: You would have a compound relationship with a skill, so you have that hop in the middle. Then you just add a score edge, whatever you want, a floating point, or an integer score.

Anand: Do you put any limits on fanout, either on the query edge part or in the representation?

Meyer: There are no limits on the fanout. Naturally in a social graph, you're going to experience skew. I don't have very many followers, a few hundred. Bill Gates has 20 million followers. That's not a normal distribution, it'd be a ZIP distribution. That's a benefit of the graph representation is you can represent stuff like that. The implication is, your query eval better be able to deal with skew. If you have a bunch of people, and you're looking at the fanout from followers, it might be 200, 700, 900, 200, 20 million. When you get to 20 million, probably time for a different query plan.

Participant 2: I want to understand, in what use cases will you manage to use graph database. We maybe have different options or approaches there, like GraphQL or big data, which also help us to search faster with [inaudible 00:47:33] of the data joins. Each may have its pros and cons, like for graph database basically we're looking for failing use cases that these could be the optimal approach.

Meyer: What are the use cases? What are the pros and cons? For the data model itself, for how to model data, I don't think there are pros and cons. I think the graph is just better. It's isomorphic to entity relationships. If you wanted to do normalized entity relationship data modeling in SQL, that's great. It turns right into a graph. For querying, obviously, it really just depends on the workload. The observation I'd make is serving is a new workload. People typically handle this with a cache in front of a conventional database. Really, the difference between a cache and an index is just the index is complete. It has some consistency properties that you can state, whereas the cache is just whatever the application put in there. If you have an Object Relational Mapper, it's running a cache of objects. I think that's pretty undesirable. I think indexing is much better. There's no warmup time. You know how much things are going to cost. It's immediately usable at full speed. The previous system at LinkedIn was a cache system. The current system, LIquid, is uncached. The SREs love that.

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Recorded at:

Jun 07, 2024

Scott Meyer

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