October 26, 2016

The Colour Palette (FREE Photoshop Template)

October 26, 2016/ Sonia Nicolson

Your Projects Colour Palette

Selecting, planning and presenting a project’s colour palette can be key within interior design and architectural projects - it works for branding and often graphics too. Often we stick to the rule of 3's; 3 colours, 3 fonts and 3 main materials. When planning out your presentation boards for a client, make sure to show clear visuals so they understand the concept, design and layout but also the atmosphere, colours and materials proposed.

Get Your Free Download

In order to help with presenting this, I have created a FREE downloadable Photoshop file for you to use in your projects. All you have to do is join the Library by signing up (it's completely free) and you will have access to files, templates and printables to use on your projects.

How to use it:

Once you have downloaded the Colour Palette file, open it in Photoshop and change the colour of each square to suit your project. Feel free to delete or add as you like, you might want to add in some text or change colour to material or effect. Play around with the layout of colours and save for the next project. Get started today - give me FREE access now!!

Download the Photoshop template

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5 Reasons to Pursue a Career in Design: Insights from an Architect and Interior Designer

April 26, 2016/ Sonia Nicolson

5 reasons to become a designer

If you’re considering a career in design, whether it’s in architecture, interior design, or related fields, you’ve come to the right place. As an architect and interior designer with years of experience, I’m thrilled to share with you the top five reasons why embracing a career in design can be immensely rewarding and fulfilling.

Design is more than just aesthetics—it’s about problem-solving, creativity, and shaping environments that improve lives. I have always had an interest in design and the arts - drawing and making things so naturally, I took Art & Design at school, and my path to becoming a designer started.

Here are five compelling reasons why diving into the world of design might be your perfect fit:

1/ Do what you love

I love design, it’s that simple. It’s who I am, it’s what I think about. I see, analyze and critic it all the time. I surrounded myself with things that inspire me, and I find new ideas and projects everywhere.

2/ Think outside the box

I get to express my creativity in my work and what I do. I work with other like-minded, creative people. We collaborate, we problem solve, we encourage and push each other, but most importantly, we think outside the box.

3/ Never stop learning

I am constantly learning. I design, redesign, test, redesign…It’s not easy, and it’s never 9-5 but I design things that are made, or built, and will hopefully be there for a very long time.

4/ Designing for the world around us, the spaces we live and work in

My job involves a lot of critical thinking and understanding of phycology. I design for the end-user so it’s not about colour or fluffy decor but I design out spaces; homes and workplaces. It directly affects people’s daily lives.

5/ Give back with a passion for Design

I’m an Architect but I teach too so I get to give back. I’m truly passionate about what I do and love working with students and young designers in their studies and projects.

Watch the video

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Do you want to become a Designer, if so, why?

Interior Architecture: Recommended Magazines and Journals

October 05, 2015/ Sonia Nicolson

Interior Architecture: Recommended Magazines + Journals

Working as an academic, I wrote courses, project briefs, helped lead tutorial groups, and supported final year students in their dissertation and final major projects. In order to do this, I had to be up to date on the current trends, technologies, building projects, and research. I spent a lot of time online and in the library reading up and watching documentaries, skimming journals, and following competitions.

As a student, this is also important and is a good habit to get into. Over the next few posts, I will be giving you a list of my go-to books, magazines, and journals for you to find, buy and subscribe to. Today we start gently with my best picks for Interior Architecture Magazines and Journals.

Magazines & Journals

Stay current with design news and get into the right frame of mind at the beginning of a project. There are loads of journals out there, plus it's always interesting to pick up an international one when you're traveling too. I recommend starting with Frame, Wallpaper, ELLE Décor (and looking into possibly taking up a subscription).

Online Journals & Websites

Aside from this, you can always have a look online at dezeen.com, inhabitat.com, and bdonline.com and there are loads of blogs to follow too.

Which Design journals do you read?

Interior and Architectural Ink rendered Hand Drawings

October 29, 2013/ Sonia Nicolson

Interior + Architectural Ink rendered Hand Drawings

Rendering, by hand, with Ink Marker Pens

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been producing some drawings to show my students as examples for a ‘Design Communications’ class I'm teaching this term. I always think it’s best to show examples of your own work - that way the students see I can actually do what I’m teaching and expecting of them, and not just pull images from google.

In my opinion, we are too quick to jump onto computers to render our work and there is a beauty in hand-drawn and hand-rendered work - an important skill to grasp before moving on to rendering in programs such as Photoshop, an office standard.

So, I'm sharing the examples with you, taking you through this process, and talking about what I use to render them, and how you can create your own hand-rendered drawings like these.

Ink Marker Pens for Interior Design Rendering

I have used a range of different ink markers in the past and have built up a little collection ranging from ProMarkers and Copic to Tria. I'm not biased to any brand as colour and ink flow are the most important feature so whatever I have to hand is usually good enough.

I started out with ProMarkers and then Tria before investing in a range of Copic markers.

I recommend investing in 3 to 4 pens to start with - a light and a darker grey, a brown for wood, and if your budget allows then a blender pen too. You can always render into the ink with coloured pencils.

Paper for Ink Rendering

Working with ink markers can be challenging and frustrating but it’s one of those skills that gets easier with practice so make many copies of your work before you ink the final drawing.

I often find that the paper I use can really make a difference in the final look of the image. Poor quality paper will have your ink flowing into each other and run. Standard sketchbook paper, if not thick enough, will do the same and can sometimes become a bit transparent with ink or bleed onto other pages so keep this in mind when working in your sketchbook.

There are ink marker pads on the market but they are pricey. Personally, I don't do enough of these drawings to make that investment so I’ve been using a thick card stock paper that has a watercolor-like absorption to it. Look for watercolour sketchbooks and see what the paper thickness and texture are like - a nice smooth finish is ideal.

Try it yourself

Hopefully, this has encouraged you. Give it a try, less is more with ink marker work so try to build up the layers of ink as you go. Render and then stand back, add into the material or shadow and stand back.

If you don’t have a drawing to work on, take an image from a design magazine, draw out that image using a black ink fine liner drawing pen, or just in pencil for now, and start to render it.

Begin with the lightest colours and build up from there, do it in layers like a wash of colour and add in other colours to create shadow and depth. The hardest thing is knowing when to stop.

See our Pinterest board for more examples

Product Review: Ink Rendering Pens

January 28, 2013/ Sonia Nicolson

I have been working with my rendering ink markers in preparation for teaching my students how to render their floor plans and perspectives with inks, watercolours, and pencils. With this in mind, and refreshing my own rendering skills, I thought I would jump on here and do a mini-review of the ink markers I have and what I think of them. I do not have a huge collection but one which has grown over the years. My collection is made up of what I feel are the major names in ink rendering; Letraset ProMarkers, Tria, and Copic (others are available).

1. Letraset ProMarkers (UK)

pro markers

Great pens and very easy to use, ink flows well and the colour is very vivid, although other colours are available from the image above. The pen has a twin tip (a nib on each end); an angled thick nib and a medium nib with a fine point. The pen case is easily opened and refilled once the ink has run out, the lid has a small lip so the pen does not roll too far. These ink markers are available in a huge variety of colours and have the colour number, along with a descriptive name, printed on the label of each pen with a strip of the colour making them easily identified for use.

2. Tria ink markers (UK)

tria markers

Probably the first pens I ever bought whilst studying Architecture (quite a few years ago now)...and they have lasted! Great pens to start out with, although they are pricey, and are often sold in sets for a particular use which makes it even easier for students to chose. The pen has three nibs; a medium nib with a fine point, an angled thick nib and a thin nib (inside the thick nibs lid). The pen case is easily opened and refilled once the ink has run out, however, the ink lasts a long time. These ink markers are available in a huge variety of colours, the main body of the pen is coloured accordingly, and the colour number is indicated on a sticker on the main body of the pen as well as on the lid so you can see this when they are stacked upright.

3. Copic ink markers (Japan)

Copic Markers

Saving the best to last, personally, I love these markers. They work really well, the ink flows and blends perfectly, they offer a great range of colours for Interior and Architectural drawings and, well, they look great! The square shape of the pen means they do not roll off the drawing board and the little diagram on the main body of the pen helps determine which end has which nib, making working with them slightly faster. In my experience, the ink does run out or dries up faster. Again, the pen has a twin tip (a nib on each end); an angled thick nib and a medium nib with a fine point. These ink markers are available in a huge variety of colours, and different types of pens (but I have not tried them yet) and have the name and number of each colour marked clearly on the lid, in colour, so you can see this clearly when they are stacked upright.