Re: Pre-Design Survey

At 10:24 AM 9/29/2002, Joe Seals wrote:
All:
I've had several people request that I make the results of my Pre-Design Processes survey "public". I do intend to do so.
But so far, only a very few have responded to my request/survey.
I know there's plenty of designers out there among this group and I hope I can get their input into this (for my sake as well as for other landscape designer/wannabe's). That's not to say that what I've received isn't quality stuff; it's great. I would just like to see what the variety of thinking is.
Again, what I'm looking for is what others do as part of the process that leads to an actual design on paper (or verbal). The PRE-DESIGN PROCESSES.
Jump in you landscape architects/designers.
Thanks,
Joe
Hi Joe -

Seeing that you wish more input on this, I thought I'd add my own - I hope it is valuable.

My own 'pre-design' process consists of a client interview. This, for me, is the most important part of the process since the rest follows very naturally and quickly. I find it most useful NOT to view the site beforehand, which can sometimes lead to some design thought before I've talked with the client - I do not want these to prejudice me during the process. I hold the interview in their home so I can get a sense of their personal taste, lifestyle, etc. We discuss what they see as their challenges, needs, desires, and so on. I bring many books with a variety of pictures to help us discuss ideas that appeal to them, plant textures they are drawn to. I have a 'color book' which is a binder of sheet protector pages with pictures of plants/flowers, arranged in broad color concepts I find to me relevant to gardens (different from the color theory I learned in art school, which does not really apply to a palette of plants!) - pages such as cool yellows vs. warm yellows, pure white, cool white, warm white, dirty white, and most importantly, the foliage background - mid-greens, drab greens, chartreuse greens, etc. These allow the client to remove them and 'play' with combinations the suit their eye and interest. Ultimately, I create a page for their project with this 'color palette' represented, helping in the plant selection later.

I find it very important to flush out all of the clients pre-conceived notions of their landscape challenges, as well as their desired end result. I've worked over the years to 'test' their statements to help me understand their assumptions (instead of making my own assumptions about what they are saying) - similar to the way a therapist helps their client fully expose the issues at hand. ;-)

Elements required in the garden are also part of this process (a vegie garden, a new place for the garbage cans, a more natural path from point A to B, a place for the dog to take a nap, etc.).

The budget of the project is also very important, as well as the scope of maintenance that will be available (hiring a gardener, or maintained by the owner).

During the interview I try to uncover all the criterion to consider that I can, following up on points casually mentioned in our conversation.

I usually take a brief break, have some water or a bite of whatever they might be offering me to eat, indulge in some 'lighter' conversation, before we go out into the garden to consider how to implement all that was discussed. Because I generally only do a on-site consult, hopefully the client has been able to produce a simple schematic plan of the site on which we can note our findings (I have produced plans myself, but this adds a significant expense, so I encourage clients to create their own measured drawings if none is available to copy).

The rest, as I said, follows easily and naturally after the pre-design interview.

Regards,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.

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