Floor it: A Floorplan Creation Tips

A good graphic designer is ready for anything. Since an artist has tools that involves creation of shapes, lines and colors, there is a possibility that you will create a floorplan, something an interior designer or an architect is proficient with.

What is a floorplan? a floorplan is the scaled down  layout of a venue with essential items plotted in their proper places. Remember when we were kids and making a treasure map, with those trees, boats and the huge star illustrated, its kind of like that.

Since I work mostly with clients and their constant pour of events, I constantly create floorplans and learned a lot of things from it. Here are some basic tips and ideas on how to create a floorplan.

1. Always ask the venue for the measurements of the area. Ask for the width, length and the floor to ceiling height.
2. If possible, ask the venue for a copy of the floor specifications. Better if it is well detailed.
3. Venue people usually give the measurements in meters and feet.
4. Once you start creating the floor,If the area is not big, you can use centimeters while creating the layout. Likewise if it is a big one, you can use millimeters. For example, if the width is 45 ft, use 45cm or 45mm on the vector program.
5. Start with the outer area, the wall area. It will be the basic guide for everything you will place inside the venue.
6. Ask the venue for the item sizes. A long table is usually 6 X 1 ft and a chair is 1X1 ft.  Ask the suppliers for other items like the screen size and its projection distance.
7. Just plot everything inside the venue. Make sure note the door placement and distance of each item. It is very important to make it not clutter and the items are clearly labeled..

Basically the main point is to scale down the real floor venue. Your creativity will be the main fuel to place the items correctly. Talk with your accounts person and even the venue representatives for more correct and consistent layout.

Who knows, maybe floorplan lay-outing is your new calling, an interior designer of some sort. Just make sure the client can easily understand on what is this and that on your floorplan.