Why do we have them? How to get the best results?
Pin-Ups are part of the process of design and drawing for Architects. As students you will do most of them in your Design classes, yet any other drawing class (like Btech1) or class with a presentation could also use this method.
What are the Advantages for the student?
THERE ARE MANY ! ! !
- A break from drafting. See how your work reads from a greater distance.
- The opportunity to present your work to the larger class group.
- Pinning Up in school is practice for all the presentations you will make in your future career.
- Your audience is a group who has created the same drawings and can relate to your effort.
- The chance to get compliments, or constructive criticism from your peers and the Professor that you can learn from and make changes before submitting.
- Improving your work from comments or by seeing what others have done.
- A higher grade, letter or points. Learned skills to bring into your next courses.
Some tips when Pinning Up in class: (CLICK HERE To EXPAND)
- If you can, pin up blank white paper under your drawings. Most of your work will be on vellum or tracing paper, which is meant to be transparent (seen through). Every pin mark or smudge on the wall will show through your drawings. Blank white paper will take away the visual noise of the surface.
- Use the vertical edges of the pin up board to square up your drawings. Use an edge of the Homasote boards to align several of your drawings.
- Stack your drawings vertically from floor to ceiling. If your project reads well this way (most do) stacking them vertically allow you to stand in one place at the side of you work and not expect your audience to scan a wide area. This arrangement focuses your work so the viewer just has to raise and lower her head to understand your presentation.
- Place a model or two on a pedestal, stool, or stand. If there’s a ledge you can prop up a flatter model study, use it! Or some study models can be pinned directly to the wall.
- Consider displaying your sketch book, open to the best double page of drawings. You have the book, show off your hand or research studies. It will be a visual connection to your thought process, help to explain your work, and be visually different from any of your FINAL or required drawins.
- Begin by stating your name and introducing the drawings. This sounds strange since some know your name and all have the same drawings but starting with, “Hi, I’m Mary McBride and these are my final drawings for Module 3” sets a formal tone and tells what you are presenting. Helps to keep you on track too.
- Stress and spend more time showing the things you know you did well and minimize the parts that are not as good or missing.
- NEVER apologize for your work or “be sorry” for what you couldn’t finish. There’s no reason to dwell on negative comments that will bring you down in the minds of the audience. It’s also not necessary! Most projects are overly difficult and usually it’s not expected for everyone to complete every item. You may have actually OVER delivered the task even though something is missing from the list. Perhaps that item was not as relevant to YOUR solution?
- Smile and make direct eye contact with each and every person in the room. You just have to do this for a second, or a fraction of a second, 2 or 3 times during your talk. Eye to eye contact creates a strong bond between 2 people, and lets your viewers know you value their review of your work. Try it, and you’ll find you get more comments, that more people are paying attention and the room is quieter with more focus on you.
- Keep pinning up. Each one is more practice to improve, and you’ll get better and feel more comfortable.
