Getting started - Inspirations

Developing a theme and inspirations

How to get started

You have taken client brief and a site survey and perhaps researched the site and area. Now it is time to start working on your concept. One way we can get moving is to start working on a theme for the space.

Theme

Creating a theme for your site that you can come back to throughout the design process is an effective way of avoiding getting lost and off track

The two things that I recommend creating to capture your theme is an Inspiration Palette (mood board) and a Design Statement.

Inspiration Palette

Collecting ideas in photos, stories, videos, magazine clippings, pinterest boards and music are a great way to start forming a mood and aesthetic for your spaces. The most common way to do this is creating a mood board of images.

At this point your ideas are not that refined they are a direction to start moving. As you progress through the conceptual phase you may come back and make edits until you have a really clear direction. Start broad and then refine.

Inspiration Example

Yousuke Concept materials_5.jpg

Refining your Inspirations

By the time you finish your design statements and inspiration board you can tell you are finished if you can give it to another designer and they feel that they could go away and design the garden for you.

design statements

Writing a design statement that works with your image palettes to tell the story of your design is a good idea. It is extremely helpful as your concept progresses to come back and read your design statement to keep yourself on track. It helps reduce the chance of having an unclear narrative in the space.

A design statement could include many different elements. I like to cover the aesthetics feel, textures, colour, mood and theme of the space.

Example of a design statement

The front yard space has two clear functions, quiet reflection, and exploration. A refined clean delineation between zones will help to set the mood within each area. At times, the space will need to lend itself to meditation, yoga, and a quiet coffee, but still allow exploration play and utility on a classic lawn. The colour theme should be vibrant without providing too much contrast and a simple palette. The surfaces and plants should sweep rather than be straight and blend the zones. There should be a sense of enclosure created through vegetation around the perimeter but a visual openness between areas.

Session Outline

  • Getting started on your design

  • Themes

  • Inspirations

  • Examples