The Scottish Government, Strategic Development Planning Authorities and A+DS have jointly commissioned a study to explore how strategic planning can be better expressed visually in a manner that is easily understood by the range of plan users, including the wider public, and which can reduce the size and complexity of plans.  In conjunction with Matrix Partnership, Urban Graphics have been appointed as consultants to the project, which runs to the end of June.

Drawing from a rich and varied portfolio of successful works from within the regeneration industry  Urban Graphics will be involved  in a series of innovative workshops that set out to influence strategic planning processes, along with vital input to a final report setting out a toolbox of essential techniques which will be available in the autumn.

A series of 3D visualisations, fly-bys and an illustrative masterplan were just some of the elements incorporated into the three minute promotional video that sells the vision of the park. The video illustrates how three exciting play areas aimed at different age groups could be formed into one big themed playground.

The Greater London Authority have launched the consultation draft of the Upper Lee Valley, Opportunity Area Planning Framework.
This document will be the basis for directing public sector investment in rebuilding and regenerating local communities and investing in the areas industrial base, prioritising high standards of design, sustainability and environmental quality.

Urban Graphics helped plan and structure the Upper Lee Valley Opportunity Area Planning Framework document, setting out the graphic design along with the production of intricate maps which are a key part of this report.

Urban Graphics have won a competitive tender to produce the Area Action Plan for Fish Island in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, adding to their increasing list of Local Development Framework (LDF) documents.

Urban Graphics are delighted to be working with Tower Hamlets once again and are looking forward to producing an outstanding document for the Fish Island proposals.

Urban Graphics has designed and delivered a comprehensive suite of marketing and promotional materials for a proposed new city in Kenya. Lead consultant Pell Frischmann and the international consultant team turned to Urban Graphics to convey this dynamic vision to a worldwide audience. The 2,000 hectare Konza Technology City is located between Nairobi and Mombasa. The new City aims to be one of the most successful cities in Africa, competing economically and culturally with the best cities in the world. It is designed to be a beacon of excellence, not only for Kenya but all of Africa. It represents an ambitious vision of a modern, inclusive and sustainable Kenya. It will be home to an array of technology businesses, financial services firms and other enterprises centred on a state of the art business and science park; showcasing Kenya’s new dynamism and prosperity. www.konzacity.co.ke

I am fascinated by computer generated models and the competition to create the best looking virtual city or landscape. CGI (computer generated images) artists are continually pushing the boundaries and the quality these days is outstanding. However, I saw a physical model the other day which made me realise that CGI models are not a substitute for models but a virtual impression of them. The physical model engages you in different ways and both the experience and education is still as powerful as it ever was. Long live the physical model.

When looking to pull together a very quick visualization of an existing development or proposed site and you are short on time, a highly useful resource is SketchUps 3D Warehouse. There are thousands of items located here that you can load directly into your scenes and as place-holder structures/items until you have your own finalized designs that you are ready to publish.

When creating realistic materials from scratch within a scene, it is important to take into account reflection values. You can have the most detailed map assigned to an object, but if the wrong reflectance values are applied your perfect craggy rock can end up looking like a giant shiny diamond!

Before and after photomontages are a great way of comparing existing/proposed developments. Not only can it help in the design stage, but also be very useful when accessing future proposals. The level of detail can vary from artistic, right the way to photo-realistic.