Compositionally, the slide brings together sign combinations relating to different project requirements onto one schematic. Slide salience (visual effectiveness) is achieved by designers through judicious use of colours and a compositional layout that engages viewer attention. The modality of the slide remains low (the representation still lacks “realness”) although the inclusion of flow lines and M&E details does begin to add functionality and authenticity to the design. Overall, the schematic is a multimodal ensemble that presents a further conceptual view of departmental requirements but pushes the design forward through the inclusion of more sign constructs. As noted, these signs can trigger necessary educational initiatives from both the client and designer side, also creating meaning across several project stakeholder groupings concurrently (e.g. facilities managers; nurses, etc.). The need to inform the client of design progress is assisted by the Vertical Flows schematic: the visual representation bringing forward adjacency requirements onto a more construction focused design resource. Hospital departments continue to appear in subsequent design resources generated by designers but are no longer an explicit focus of attention. Having obtained client approval of departmental configurations, design work effectively proceeds to other issues. Discussion The paper has detailed how clinical adjacency requirements are represented and transformed using a variety of semiotic resources in briefing work. By taking forward the assertion of Fleming (1996) that briefing may be clarified through a close examination of rhetorical “local events” (p. 140-142), the semiotic analysis of specific resources highlighted the significance of different communicative resources for client requirement representation.
Compositionally, the slide brings together sign combinations relating to different project requirements onto one schematic. Slide salience (visual effectiveness) is achieved by designers through judicious use of colours and a compositional layout that engages viewer attention. The modality of the slide remains low (the representation still lacks “realness”) although the inclusion of flow lines and M&E details does begin to add functionality and authenticity to the design. Overall, the schematic is a multimodal ensemble that presents a further conceptual view of departmental requirements but pushes the design forward through the inclusion of more sign constructs. As noted, these signs can trigger necessary educational initiatives from both the client and designer side, also creating meaning across several project stakeholder groupings concurrently (e.g. facilities managers; nurses, etc.). The need to inform the client of design progress is assisted by the Vertical Flows schematic: the visual representation bringing forward adjacency requirements onto a more construction focused design resource. Hospital departments continue to appear in subsequent design resources generated by designers but are no longer an explicit focus of attention. Having obtained client approval of departmental configurations, design work effectively proceeds to other issues. Discussion The paper has detailed how clinical adjacency requirements are represented and transformed using a variety of semiotic resources in briefing work. By taking forward the assertion of Fleming (1996) that briefing may be clarified through a close examination of “local rhetorical events” (p. 140-142), the semiotic analysis of specific resources highlighted the significance of different communicative resources for client requirement representation.