SKYCITY

PRESENTS:
HOW TO WIN
SKYCITY
CHALLENGE
(or any other competition)
this document is divided in two sections: think and do.
In the first section we will give you hints to keep in
mind while you design your proposal. In the second
section we will give you hints on how to present it.
THINK
the software
how to think the
project

DO
the hardware
how to present the
project
THINK:
THE STRATEGY
1. UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGE TITLE

When you’re facing the white page before start drawing think about
what’s the name of the challenge. Keep that on mind: what are they
asking me to do? What will be my proposal to answer their
question?
2. PICK YOUR OWN BATTLE
We are not Superman, that’s why you need to know your best
strength and your weakness. Are you good on structures? Are you
good with sustainability knowledge? Identify what’s your best battle
and potentialize it in the boards and text.
3. KNOW THE JURY
Welcome to the era of information. Research about the jury of your
challenge/contest. See what they like, what they focus their work,
their life motto, interviews, etc. They are the ones who at the end of
the day will give you the award, so don’t be afraid of research them.
4. READ THE FAQ, ACTIVATE NOTIFICATIONS ON
SOCIAL MEDIA
All the challenges has a section on their website or social media
about frequently asked questions: keep looking evert week to see if
they already answered new ones. Maybe you have doubts but
maybe someone ask the same thing days before. So check on every
single platform what they are saying.
5. SHOW YOUR STRATEGY
Most of the winners of design challenges won not only because they
presented a good design, but also, explained the proposed strategy.
DO:
ARGUMENT
AND BOARDS
CORE PRINCIPLES
1. CONSISTENCY: All related material (images,
maps, text, diagrams) need to keep its similar
qualities throughout.


2. HIERARCHY: organize the content to more

important to least important using size,
locations, color and contrast.


3. ORDER AND SEQUENCE: organize the poster

in the way you want the to be read and all the
content related to each other.


4. IMAGE QUALITY: all images and maps to be

of high quality and properly edited, tested and
printed before


5. TEXT BALANCE: quantity and quality of text

needs to be review, including spell check,
redaction, punctuation and clarity.

A poster needs to talk to its
audience and tell the story on its
own because you won’t be there.
Where you need to convey a
message, provoke an emotion,
and stay faithful to your brand. A
great example: movie posters.
STRUCTURING THE ARGUMENT
Every design, graphic, & presentation needs an argument to answer
these questions in the right order.

WHO The audience.

WHAT The medium.(Presentation, poster,

email, flyer, rendering)

HOW The mechanism (design,
architecture, marketing, site visit)


WHY Mission and vision.

STRUCTURING THE ARGUMENT

When you organize the page, you organize the argument. How you
set up the logic of the competition, you set up the logic of the
narrative that you are presenting.
Hollywood, Last House in Moonland. ECLIPSE.
LUCA POZZI     DANIELE MARCHETTI    
GABRIELE FILIPPI     FRANCO SANTUCCI.
ROME, ITALY
 Use the first board of the
competition as an image
research. You can explain
the project, put the “money
shot”, schemes, texts,
titles. This board addresses
the context that your
project is addressing.

International Wildlife Center (IWC).

Honorable mention
Mediterranean Sea Club Ibiza
Simon Barret y Hugo Ramos-Guerrero.
Paris, France
Inspiration HOTEL Ideas Competition
Jorge Antonio Ruiz Boluda, José
Asensio, Agustín Durá Herrero, Paul
Dieterlen Escoto. Spain.
 Use the second board to
explain a sequence. Take
this opportunity to
showcase a process. Set
up the presentation as a
strategy: how is
dismantled, pieces,
exploited axonometrics,
etc..

Tum Hill
Alberto Mendoza
Casa Patrimonial-Rehabilitación
Guadalajara,Jalisco,México
 IMAGE DENSITY

The board is balanced with larger

images, medium density images and
smaller diagrams.

COLOR PALLETE

Dear Lord, harmony. Board imagery

becomes cohesive thought a color
palette, similar colors help the
saturated renderings visually relate to
the light lifework of the plans, sections
and diagrams.

DUMB CITY ILARIA LU

ALESSANDRA MERCANTI
LORENZO GAVEGLIO TURIN,
ITALY
 GRID STRUCURE

See how the information of this board

is organized on a page to graphically
relate to one another. This helps to
frame the argument, prioritizing
images to promote ideas.

DUMB CITY ILARIA LU

ALESSANDRA MERCANTI
LORENZO GAVEGLIO TURIN,
ITALY
SCALES OF INFORMATION
 SCALED TEXT

The project title is given prominence

at the top of the board but is scaled
as a contextualizing reminder.

INFORMATION TITLE

Text can clearly lay out the argument,

given context to the drawings that
demonstrate the proposal.

LINES SEPARATED

Light graphics lines helps to separates

arguments and keep images
grounded to the page.

EUROPAN. María Lagarita

Sánchez, Víctor Navarro Ríos-
Barcelona, Spain
 BRAIN RHYTHM

Think about your poster as an article.

How you will read it? Manage the
information to create an order to be
read it. See how your eyes can flow in
the poster while you look at it.

Cities of tomorrow. Anna Otlik |

Karol Mądrecki | Artur Nitribitt
LAYERING INFORMATION

Compressing information can clarify your argument. Sometimes

more complex and layered information can be easier to follow than
singular, isolated pieces. Layered images can create different scales
of information. Is all about hierarchy. Information should be clear by
compressing ideas into maps and diagrams.

Let’s see this two examples:

BEFORE
AFTER
 RUN TO THE EDGES

Not every image has to expand to the

page edge, or be organized against
the edge of the page.

SEQUENCING IMAGES

Images should support the argument

you want to make, not necessarily the
sequence of when the images were
made. Order makes impact.

Mediterranean Sea Club Ibiza

Pepe Blanco y Andrea Briz Cristóbal
Escuela Técnica Superior de
Arquitectura de Madrid, España
TITLE, IMAGE, CAPTION

Not every image has to expand to the

Visually linking the project title with an
emblematic image helps the reader
enter the argument. Captions
reinforce the wider concepts.

LAYER IMAGES

Don’t hesitate to layer diagrams on

top of perspective renderings,
specially when they directly relate
each other.
ORGANIZING IMAGES

Competitions are exercises in communications with negotiate

design expectations of jury sensibilities. Ideas competitions demand
a high level of speculation and creativity, while a competition with
multiple phases requires growth and development if selected top
next stage.
FIGURE GROUND

Check how the section of this project

is placed uncharacteristically in the
board. Presenting this section at this
scale and position, divides the board
into two zones.
 LINE WEIGHT AND DETAIL

Complex figures benefit from black

and white line weight heavy images.
This representation technique helps to
understand better the object while
keeping the tone of intricacy and
detail. The board layout is clean and
simple, allowing the viewer a broad
overview.

Mediterranean Sea Club Ibiza

Telmo Pérez Gómez, Urbano R. Pérez
Fernández y Claudia Martín-Fernández
Mateos
Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (España)
MIXING DRAWING TYPES

Successful presentations boards layer different types of drawings.

Site photos, text, maps, perspectives, plans and diagrams are
organized thought a narrative. Emphasize project narrative rather
than types of drawings.
 SIMPLE PLANS

Plans stay within a range of detailed

minimalism.

II CIMC. Sizigia / Irene Campo

Sáez.
 TEXT AND DIAGRAMS

Explanatory text and diagrams are

held on a box. This helps to unify and
ground the information presence on
the board as well provide some visual
weight to lighter, smaller pieces of
information.

PABELLÓN DEL VERANO

INFINITO. CPSP1472 contest.
 COLOR AND LINE WEIGHT

Use a color to unify the board,. All

call-outs text and diagram highlights
use this same color. Line wight are
kept within a consistent range across
the entire presentation.

Propuesta Plaza Espaqña,

Madrid.
SKYCITY CHALLENGE 17
Yao Yidi / Huang Jie 
EXPLORE AESTETICS

Different aesthetics approximations to the board are also a valid

field. Consider what are the images can work to express the entire
argument of the project and go though a cleaning process to
achieve another aestethics, like minimalism, for example. Don’t be
afraid to explore an artistic side of you.
 LESS IS MORE

Don’t be afraid of using blocks of

colors. Even you can use those
colors to create the entire visual
design of the poster. Use the power
of a clean presentation to show the
concept of the project.

Eyes wants to carees.

Mathaim Almubarak
Bahrein
 BALANCE LANGUAGES

Use the power of a photorealistic

render as a background for the
minimal graphics. Be aware of the
amount of material that you’ll need to
show the project. One view from
outside and one from inside could be
enough.

Canyon View Accommodation

Iñaki Josu Martínez de Zuazo
Valero, NAVARRA, ESPAÑA
HIGH CONTRAST

Black and white could be enough to

express a project, even when this is
complex to understand in colors or
you don’t have a final approximation
of the materials that you’ll use. You
can use black and white even as
languages to express two different
assets on the design.
all the information presented here is only a guide to
help you to improve your proposal for SkyCity
Challenge.
THE HARDWARE AND
THE SOFTWARE
BECAME ONE.
硬件和软件合成⼀一体
THE HARDWARE AND
THE SOFTWARE
BECAME ONE.
硬件和软件合成⼀一体
AND YOU CAN
WIN THIS.
TRUST ME ;)
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THANKS:
Francisco Brown
Master in Design Studies Candidate
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
New York Correspondent - Arquine Magazine

Graphic Design for Architects

Manual for visual communication
Karen Lewis

How to win SkyCity Challenge

Version 1.0
August 20, 2019
SkyCity, 2019.