Illustrating a vision on paper it is a big part of the
designer’s job. Illustrative drawings are typically called
Conceptual Plans and can also be refered to as Preliminary
Master Plans. These plans are drawn to scale and should clearly
identify the elements of the new landscape. They are usually
rendered in color to help clarify the over all intent of the
design for the client. It makes me sad that hand drawn
illustrative plans have given way to the sterile – dare I say
cheesy – machine made graphics that are so common these days.
The Concept or Master Plan is usually the first design drawing
(maybe the only one) that the client will see. It is from this
point in the design process that decisions about the final
product are made. Often the designer will provide more than one
option or alternative. Although the concept plan includes all
elements of the new landscape, it is still general. For example,
plant materials are usually drawn as generalized masses in a
concept plan. In the final working drawings, a pl