The ubiquity of animated GIFs on the Internet is sure to be familiar to anyone who spends a lot of time on the web, and while the image format lends itself perfectly to quick hits of animals doing funny things or people paying an often times humorous price after making a questionable decision, GIFs can also be very useful tools.
News outlet websites have been using them for years to trim the fat and show only the most important information. Did an athlete do something unbelievable? Use a GIF to show the exact moment it happened. Was there a police chase that ended in a spectacular crash through a store window? Put the window crash in a GIF and bring the reader right back to reading the story.
A GIF has the ability show a lot of information quickly and in a simple format, which is the exact reason why, as ArchDaily reports, they can make such useful tools to improve an architect’s project presentation. In fact, ArchDaily has come up with seven different ways animated GIFs can be applied to and improve upon a presentation.
In the same way a GIF can be used to show the exact moment the athlete hit that milestone homerun or precisely when the car crashed through the window, architects can also use GIFs to eliminate all the extra data and focus attention on the main asset, ArchDaily’s Danae Santibañez explains.
As a presentation tool, animated GIFs can be used to exhibit:
- Context
- Design concept
- Spatial relationship between levels
- Detail
- Program
- Construction and structure
- General project view
For example, to show the context in which a building will exist (meaning the specific surrounding environmental characteristics) in one drawing can quickly lead to something more closely resembling a page out of a Where’s Waldo book than architectural plans. An animated GIF, however, can clean up and simplify the presentation while still showing the crucial information:
GIF courtesy GRND82 via ArchDaily
While GIFs may have a bit of a never-ending duck season/rabbit season debate going on with how to pronounce the word (is it a hard <g> or a soft <g>?) that even the creator of the format was unable to completely settle, their usefulness as a presentation tool to aid in clean, simple project presentations is not quite as contentious.
Read the full list of ways to use animated GIFs in presentations here.
Related Stories
| Aug 22, 2014
Spireworks app lets users control a piece of the New York skyline
Mark Domino, the son-in-law of developer Douglas Durst, has developed an app, called Spireworks, that allows anyone with a smartphone to change the color of a building's lights.
Sponsored | | Aug 21, 2014
Defining the measure of success when implementing new technologies
Sasha Reed and Chad Dorgan, McCarthy Building Cos.’s Vice President of Quality and Sustainability, discuss the keys to managing innovation within a large construction firm. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Aug 14, 2014
8 do's and don'ts for completing an HVAC life cycle cost assessment
There are many hurdles to overcome when completing a life cycle cost assessment. RMF Engineering’s Seth Spangler offers some words of advice regarding LCCAs.
| Aug 14, 2014
Life cycle cost analysis using energy modeling
A life cycle cost analysis helps a school district decide which HVAC system to use in $198 million worth of future building projects.
Sponsored | | Aug 8, 2014
Setting guidelines for construction PDF documents across the AEC industry
Sasha Reed interviews two members of the coalition responsible for creating new Guidelines for Construction PDF Documents. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Aug 4, 2014
BIM Giants: Firms enhance BIM/VDC with advanced collaboration tools [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Cloud-based data sharing, rapid iterative design, and cross-discipline collaboration are among the emerging trends in the BIM/VDC field, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 4, 2014
7 habits of highly effective digital enterprises
Transforming your firm into a “digital business” is particularly challenging because digital touches every function while also demanding the rapid development of new skills and investments. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Aug 4, 2014
What AEC executives can do to position their firms for success
Most AEC leadership teams are fastidious about tracking their hit rate–the number of proposals submitted minus the number of proposals won. Here are three alternatives for increasing that percentage. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Jul 30, 2014
How one small architecture firm improved cash flow using ArchiOffice
Foreman Seeley Fountain Architecture not only managed to survive the Great Recession, it has positioned itself to thrive in the economy’s recovery.
| Jul 16, 2014
Learning design fundamentals in the digital age – How to balance learning and technology
My colleague and I were once asked an insightful question by a Civil Engineering Professor that sparked an interesting conversation. He’d been told about our software by some of his students who had used it during their summer internship. SPONSORED CONTENT
