Labeling / Figures in Architectural Drawings

Here’s a couple of things that I like to do when drawing details. The image on the left are my tectonic detail drawings for the Dubai Planetarium in Studio 402. Sometimes (and you have to judge for yourself on your own drawings) labeling with words directly on the drawings may become too much of a distraction or too cluttered. So instead, I label them with letters and then have a text column on the right side. Also, because it’s a tectonic drawing, a lot of it is self-explanatory, so excessive labeling may be unnecessary. Also notice that I tried to align vertically as much of the lettered circles as possible. It gives a more cleaner look. Finally, don’t just put in one or two figures for scale. Put a ton of them in there, especially if it’s a building designed to hold a lot of people! Ideally, the people’s positioning and gesturing will also make sense. For example, on the drawing to the right, there’s a man pointing outward over the railing.