This is specifically aimed at the smaller sized firms, but others are welcome to respond. I'm curious as to how other firms are structured and how they work on a typical project.
This is how the office I work at runs:
- Two partners, one also teaches and isn't in the office as much.
- Two interns who are "Project Leaders" on the individual projects. Being a Project Leader means organizing all the paperwork, coming up with design ideas, and drawing everything on CAD.
- Crit sessions are held to select design ideas and create direction.
- All final decisions are made by one of the partners. Which creates a design bottleneck when we have 3 or 4 projects going and the partner gets behind on reviewing the drawings. Projects get stalled and deadlines are missed often.
This process often frustrates me and I'm curious how other firms do things (as the two previous firms I worked for had a completely different philosophy and makes it hard to compare - they were interested in creating cheap buildings that met developers needs. No eye for design, little interest in longevity).
17 employees:
2 principals - couldn't be more different in their design skills and attitudes. Both are victims of their own network of lies and misdealings.
2 partners - one who does about 75% of the design work for the firm, even sharpens his own colored pencils because he doesn't think anyone else is capable of doing it properly.
one associate, who is the chosen spec writer and sometimes PM.
marketing department of one - way overworked, and only permitted to go after very local clients whose asses the principals have already licked about clean.
then, there's the rest of us. Just trying to get through another week at a time.
- President (works mostly with marketing to get work and little on the actual projects.)
- Partners (project leader/managers, what have you. Approve designs, sign drawings, paperwork, management, etc.)
- Principals (Work with design stages through CA work always closely involved with the actual projects)
- Proj. Architects (From what I've gatered, just a principal without a nice office or paycheck.)
- Job Captains (Major coordination of CD's.)
- Arch. Tech (Interns, CAD monkeys, etc.)
On the actual design the proj. architec/principal do most of the design work and always show it to their managing partner although there is no formal approval process. Interns often work closely with principals and often do design as a team. Job captains and techs do all the CAD grunt work while meetings and most anything involving client interaction is left for the architects/principals. The parners carry the big insurance for signing the drawings and are mostly just overpaid fat at the top but are the one who "put out the fires" when things go bad. Partners are also very much involved in office management.
Thankfully we are large enough to have separate CA staff, marketing, ID, LA, engineering, specs, etc. Principals and Partners do involve themselves in the CA work somewhat.
One thing I've noticed that I like about the large firm is that nobody is much of a control freak. No big approval mess. Go with what you will.
Ddot: I sharpen my own pencils too. This isn't because I doubt my interns' sharpening skills but because I can't bring myself to ask someone to sharpen pencils for me!
3 partners (one just bought some shares of the company, before that he was a patner without portfolio) they do all of the masterplanning and have their say in all te design being produced
4 associates: one is too young for the job, and cannot take a decision to save her life, the other is the it manager but has no real architectural responsability. they are mainly PA, but have no real involvement with the initial design stages
1 secretary, good old polish woman of steel
1 part time pr person
9 of us...3 architects,dooing PA, specs and detail work
1 part 2,doing detail work,
4 australian architects without riba accreditation doing detail like there is no tomorrow,
and the part 1 being me, doing design, and a little bit of detail, plus all the other things no one can be bothered to do.
too high number of managing staff, crippled decision making process, frustrated staff being toyed around by people with half their skills...lovely!
Ormolu - I swear, we must have about 700 prismacolor markers, and a thousand colored pencils. No one is allowed to touch any of them unless this partner is directly consulted for the proper color scheme to use on any given project.
There are much better things for this person to be doing, in my opinion. Like finding more and better work. Our organization is top heavy - no room for growth, really. And lots of meddling on every project by the principals/partners, which is very rarely profitable in such a situation.
We still do, though more often for diagramming purposes early in schematic design - rarely for any presentation materials.
I don't insist on sharpening all pencils myself, but my pencil peeve is when people sharpen them in electric sharpeners. The vibrations crack the waxy leads into pieces all the way down into the pencil, which is what causes that annoying thing where parts of the lead keep falling out while you draw.
One principal
an assistant architect
a technican/ maintenance officer
a clerk
two quantity surveyors
access to a bunch of engineers
I let um get on with it - assistant can design and manager her own stuff as do I, I usually just sign off on it. Make sure design is tight, she is on the ball all the time tho.
the firm i reccently worked for still uses colored pencils for presentations. with all the computer use and 3d modeling, many of us have forgotten that drawing by hand is what seperates us from those who put up the money. it is the mystery of our profession. i have also found that mnay clients do not like to see a computer rendering beause they then feel 'locked-in' to a desgn, while a hand drawing still leaves room for changing.
I must say coming from a fine arts background i was always disappointed by 3rd rendering - seem artificial and the ground planes were always wrong as well the perspective. As a student I would always do wire mesh and spend the time whiting-out the trace lines to copy and then render by hand - felt more personal and i correct the errors of the computer <- makes me sound like an ol' fart eh?
-- The owners are a married couple. One does most of the 3-D design/production/client acquisition etc., the other is in charge of accounting.
-- One employee who handles several of the biggest accounts and production thereof
-- Another who does a lot of client communication and paperwork that isn't financial-related, and is the go-between for us all
-- I'm the primary graphic designer.
-- Another graphic designer who is a long-term temp and is kind of my assistant but has her own projects (wouldn't be surprised if she turns into a permanent employee) that is more involved w. the factory stuff and production.
12 person firm
3 partners
4 'senior staff' (individuals who have managed to find a way to put up with the partners bs)
i can't really imagine a more dysfunctional set-up. two of the partners are design oriented and can't seem to communicate with one another except through e-mail or other staff. one of the two is a micro manager extraordinaire, the other couldn't be more laissez faire until the last minute.
the senior staff (pa/pm) are the workhorses, but seem to be handcuffed by the decision making bottleneck formed up top. they deal
with the client and run with the design ideas handed down from above, until the partners change their minds.
the rest are here on a 'temporary' basis (incredibly high turnover rate as either the result of attrition or displeasing the micromanager) and plug in to hit ever present deadlines.
1 presidente who goes after work, puts the smack down in the office when he has to. Very much oriented not necessarily to the design in all its aspects, but to the big picture... and getting paid. Mostly a businessmen rather than an architect.
3 project managers. 1 has tons of experience and can spec/detail/tell me what i have done wrong but teach me how to do it right with the best of them. 1 who does the job best she can, but doesn't seem like she will last much longer with the quickness of the project turnaround here. the other 1 is a young gun coming up who knows his stuff and works with me on a daily basis sketching up a storm so we can get some architecture out.
1 accountant who we see half the time. and has better things to do.
1 guy who we might see for an hour a week, that i really don't know what his role in everything is.
3 all purpose unlicensed out of school and ready to rock this mo fo laptop dueling cronies. we keep the documents flowing the images rendering, and the old gaurd entertained. since it is pretty much 1 cronie to a project manager most of the times, we stay busy with the current documents, renderings, and design while they maintain all the construction administration work for the projects that we have sent out already.
one who does about 75% of the design work for the firm, even sharpens his own colored pencils because he doesn't think anyone else is capable of doing it properly.
I hope he fabricates his own pencil sharpeners. One can never be too careful.
but my pencil peeve is when people sharpen them in electric sharpeners. The vibrations crack the waxy leads into pieces all the way down into the pencil, which is what causes that annoying thing where parts of the lead keep falling out while you draw
What brand sharpener? Brand(s) pencils?
-------
I use 4 or 5 col-erase for trace versions, variations, and notes.
I use minimal 'waxy' color pencil. I use for tiny details that need to show (people), stressing edges/outlines, or for additional texture.
The pencils rarely need sharpening so I use a little manual sharpener (those thimble-like ones).
Where I worked previously, the best sharpener was Japanese, probably bought at toys r us. The office also had the usual office-supply sharpeners, which wimped out (got hot, too) if you sharpened a small batch or if you sharpened those recycled plastic #2 school pencils. Avoid those recycled plastic pencils, because they also don't erase completely.
-------
I use chalk pastel for everywhere else. Unlike markers, chalk pastels:
Faster and easier blending than marker. Can be partially erased. Don't soak into the paper too dark. Acts similar on vellum as on bond. Don’t dry up on their own.
And no stink.
As a student I would always do wire mesh and spend the time whiting-out the trace lines to copy and then render by hand - felt more personal and i correct the errors of the computer <- makes me sound like an ol' fart eh?
I might use CAD to print something to trace over for perspectives or axos of complex tight 3d design (eg, psycho-Baroque or psycho-Islamic). But, otherwise free handing perspective 'conceptions' must be way faster.
Sep 27, 04 10:11 pm ·
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How does your office run?
This is specifically aimed at the smaller sized firms, but others are welcome to respond. I'm curious as to how other firms are structured and how they work on a typical project.
This is how the office I work at runs:
- Two partners, one also teaches and isn't in the office as much.
- Two interns who are "Project Leaders" on the individual projects. Being a Project Leader means organizing all the paperwork, coming up with design ideas, and drawing everything on CAD.
- Crit sessions are held to select design ideas and create direction.
- All final decisions are made by one of the partners. Which creates a design bottleneck when we have 3 or 4 projects going and the partner gets behind on reviewing the drawings. Projects get stalled and deadlines are missed often.
This process often frustrates me and I'm curious how other firms do things (as the two previous firms I worked for had a completely different philosophy and makes it hard to compare - they were interested in creating cheap buildings that met developers needs. No eye for design, little interest in longevity).
17 employees:
2 principals - couldn't be more different in their design skills and attitudes. Both are victims of their own network of lies and misdealings.
2 partners - one who does about 75% of the design work for the firm, even sharpens his own colored pencils because he doesn't think anyone else is capable of doing it properly.
one associate, who is the chosen spec writer and sometimes PM.
marketing department of one - way overworked, and only permitted to go after very local clients whose asses the principals have already licked about clean.
then, there's the rest of us. Just trying to get through another week at a time.
- President (works mostly with marketing to get work and little on the actual projects.)
- Partners (project leader/managers, what have you. Approve designs, sign drawings, paperwork, management, etc.)
- Principals (Work with design stages through CA work always closely involved with the actual projects)
- Proj. Architects (From what I've gatered, just a principal without a nice office or paycheck.)
- Job Captains (Major coordination of CD's.)
- Arch. Tech (Interns, CAD monkeys, etc.)
On the actual design the proj. architec/principal do most of the design work and always show it to their managing partner although there is no formal approval process. Interns often work closely with principals and often do design as a team. Job captains and techs do all the CAD grunt work while meetings and most anything involving client interaction is left for the architects/principals. The parners carry the big insurance for signing the drawings and are mostly just overpaid fat at the top but are the one who "put out the fires" when things go bad. Partners are also very much involved in office management.
Thankfully we are large enough to have separate CA staff, marketing, ID, LA, engineering, specs, etc. Principals and Partners do involve themselves in the CA work somewhat.
One thing I've noticed that I like about the large firm is that nobody is much of a control freak. No big approval mess. Go with what you will.
Ddot: I sharpen my own pencils too. This isn't because I doubt my interns' sharpening skills but because I can't bring myself to ask someone to sharpen pencils for me!
3 partners (one just bought some shares of the company, before that he was a patner without portfolio) they do all of the masterplanning and have their say in all te design being produced
4 associates: one is too young for the job, and cannot take a decision to save her life, the other is the it manager but has no real architectural responsability. they are mainly PA, but have no real involvement with the initial design stages
1 secretary, good old polish woman of steel
1 part time pr person
9 of us...3 architects,dooing PA, specs and detail work
1 part 2,doing detail work,
4 australian architects without riba accreditation doing detail like there is no tomorrow,
and the part 1 being me, doing design, and a little bit of detail, plus all the other things no one can be bothered to do.
too high number of managing staff, crippled decision making process, frustrated staff being toyed around by people with half their skills...lovely!
Ormolu - I swear, we must have about 700 prismacolor markers, and a thousand colored pencils. No one is allowed to touch any of them unless this partner is directly consulted for the proper color scheme to use on any given project.
There are much better things for this person to be doing, in my opinion. Like finding more and better work. Our organization is top heavy - no room for growth, really. And lots of meddling on every project by the principals/partners, which is very rarely profitable in such a situation.
who still uses color pencils anyway nowadays??
We still do, though more often for diagramming purposes early in schematic design - rarely for any presentation materials.
I don't insist on sharpening all pencils myself, but my pencil peeve is when people sharpen them in electric sharpeners. The vibrations crack the waxy leads into pieces all the way down into the pencil, which is what causes that annoying thing where parts of the lead keep falling out while you draw.
One principal
an assistant architect
a technican/ maintenance officer
a clerk
two quantity surveyors
access to a bunch of engineers
I let um get on with it - assistant can design and manager her own stuff as do I, I usually just sign off on it. Make sure design is tight, she is on the ball all the time tho.
the firm i reccently worked for still uses colored pencils for presentations. with all the computer use and 3d modeling, many of us have forgotten that drawing by hand is what seperates us from those who put up the money. it is the mystery of our profession. i have also found that mnay clients do not like to see a computer rendering beause they then feel 'locked-in' to a desgn, while a hand drawing still leaves room for changing.
Oh Yeah...., our firm uses only ink washes
over quail feather pen line drawings.
Now That's Old School
Oh My God get a Computer you Smuck.
I must say coming from a fine arts background i was always disappointed by 3rd rendering - seem artificial and the ground planes were always wrong as well the perspective. As a student I would always do wire mesh and spend the time whiting-out the trace lines to copy and then render by hand - felt more personal and i correct the errors of the computer <- makes me sound like an ol' fart eh?
backwards!
6 people right now.
-- The owners are a married couple. One does most of the 3-D design/production/client acquisition etc., the other is in charge of accounting.
-- One employee who handles several of the biggest accounts and production thereof
-- Another who does a lot of client communication and paperwork that isn't financial-related, and is the go-between for us all
-- I'm the primary graphic designer.
-- Another graphic designer who is a long-term temp and is kind of my assistant but has her own projects (wouldn't be surprised if she turns into a permanent employee) that is more involved w. the factory stuff and production.
12 person firm
3 partners
4 'senior staff' (individuals who have managed to find a way to put up with the partners bs)
i can't really imagine a more dysfunctional set-up. two of the partners are design oriented and can't seem to communicate with one another except through e-mail or other staff. one of the two is a micro manager extraordinaire, the other couldn't be more laissez faire until the last minute.
the senior staff (pa/pm) are the workhorses, but seem to be handcuffed by the decision making bottleneck formed up top. they deal
with the client and run with the design ideas handed down from above, until the partners change their minds.
the rest are here on a 'temporary' basis (incredibly high turnover rate as either the result of attrition or displeasing the micromanager) and plug in to hit ever present deadlines.
9 people in all at mine
1 presidente who goes after work, puts the smack down in the office when he has to. Very much oriented not necessarily to the design in all its aspects, but to the big picture... and getting paid. Mostly a businessmen rather than an architect.
3 project managers. 1 has tons of experience and can spec/detail/tell me what i have done wrong but teach me how to do it right with the best of them. 1 who does the job best she can, but doesn't seem like she will last much longer with the quickness of the project turnaround here. the other 1 is a young gun coming up who knows his stuff and works with me on a daily basis sketching up a storm so we can get some architecture out.
1 accountant who we see half the time. and has better things to do.
1 guy who we might see for an hour a week, that i really don't know what his role in everything is.
3 all purpose unlicensed out of school and ready to rock this mo fo laptop dueling cronies. we keep the documents flowing the images rendering, and the old gaurd entertained. since it is pretty much 1 cronie to a project manager most of the times, we stay busy with the current documents, renderings, and design while they maintain all the construction administration work for the projects that we have sent out already.
I hope he fabricates his own pencil sharpeners. One can never be too careful.
What brand sharpener? Brand(s) pencils?
-------
I use 4 or 5 col-erase for trace versions, variations, and notes.
I use minimal 'waxy' color pencil. I use for tiny details that need to show (people), stressing edges/outlines, or for additional texture.
The pencils rarely need sharpening so I use a little manual sharpener (those thimble-like ones).
Where I worked previously, the best sharpener was Japanese, probably bought at toys r us. The office also had the usual office-supply sharpeners, which wimped out (got hot, too) if you sharpened a small batch or if you sharpened those recycled plastic #2 school pencils. Avoid those recycled plastic pencils, because they also don't erase completely.
-------
I use chalk pastel for everywhere else. Unlike markers, chalk pastels:
Faster and easier blending than marker. Can be partially erased. Don't soak into the paper too dark. Acts similar on vellum as on bond. Don’t dry up on their own.
And no stink.
I might use CAD to print something to trace over for perspectives or axos of complex tight 3d design (eg, psycho-Baroque or psycho-Islamic). But, otherwise free handing perspective 'conceptions' must be way faster.
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