Layout out a sketch page in Photoshop/critique

Hey all,
First post on Core77, very exciting.
I’m trying to lay out a bunch of sketches in Photoshop, and I can’t figure out what’s not working here. I always struggle with this step. Feel free to download the image and scribble over it to tell me where I need to move things/how the eye should move around the page/etc.
Thanks!

good question. This is something a lot of young designers struggle with so don’t overly fret.

Ask yourself a few key questions when reviewing your own layouts:

  1. what is the story you are trying to tell? Is that apparent at a glance?
  2. is the hero image clearly defined?
  3. is their a clear hierarchy of imagery?

If I am to ask myself to answer these questions on this page:

  1. Not sure, walk in pods, sit in pods, adaptive furniture? What are they about? I can’t tell.
  2. I assume the walk in pod image is the key image, but its sketch level is the same and it is falling off the page away from the sketch. It also blends with the other background sketches.
  3. almost. The background sketches start to fight.

My other recommendation is to bench mark others. Find presentation boards you feel are successful and use the three questions above to break them down and synthesize what makes them work.

Thanks for the reply!

  1. Not sure, walk in pods, sit in pods, adaptive furniture? What are they about? I can’t tell.

I should’ve made it more clear–this is part of a bigger process book ( https://www.behance.net/gallery/26874835/Lotus ), so the context would’ve made the story a bit more clear.

  1. I assume the walk in pod image is the key image, but its sketch level is the same and it is falling off the page away from the sketch. It also blends with the other background sketches.

Yes, that’s the key sketch. What do you mean by “sketch level”? Level of refinement/overall quality of sketch? I thought about breaking this up into two pages in my book, where I first explore the three solutions (adaptive, sit-in, walk-in) then start exploring aesthetics of my chosen direction (walk-in). It’d give me more room to throw in a Sketchbook rendering.

  1. almost. The background sketches start to fight.

I agree and don’t know how to fix it. I think breaking it up into 2 pages would help.

Try knolling the faded sketches and get them as close to the same color value, or overlay a tertiary hued gradient layer. Then tell a story with your three main images. Prominently place which one best conveys the overall theme. Pay attention to vanishing points so the viewers eyes don’t crisscross. Try either the same font size for all, or one larger and one smaller.

Brian,

This is definitely a challenging task for all sketching compilations at an early level. Looks like you’re well on your way!

I would recommend cleaning up your blue pencil sketch which is obviously level one in your hierarchy. Move it up some so it isn’t off of the page. This is what every viewer will see first…make it awesome.

Next, I would recommend deleting some of the thumbnail sketches in the back…or at least redo and resize to make these visible. Despite being lower on the hierarchy, if you can’t see/understand what it is-delete it.

Finally, (and this should be step number 1) consider how this page fits with your overall grid structure in your book. How do the floating titles fit and what is guiding placement for everything on the page. Its great to have a free flow with sketches but text and prominent features should take this into heavy consideration.

Hope it helps!

Patrick