Town Futures in Photoshop

8 March 2010 - 1:00pm

A picture's worth a thousand plans - at least when it's a "photo-realistic visualization." Designer Steve Price's detailed 3D flash animations show towns what empty streetscapes and drab buildings could look like with a little bit of planning.

Price's firm, Urban Architecture, uses Photoshop and other design tools to craft realistic images showing what proposed designs and plans would actually look like on the ground. From Miami to Virginia and all across the country, these visualizations have helped planning boards, city councils and everyday citizens understand what change could actually look like before it happens and make decisions that they'll be proud to live with.

No project comes out exactly as planned, or exactly as Price depicts it, but he stresses the importance of giving people new ways of envisioning their futures.

"Everybody kind of nods and agrees and knits their brows as they listen to statistics and information about economic development," Price said. "Then they see the pictures, and that’s when the smiles occur. And the 'oohs' and 'ahs.' There are two hemispheres of the brain, and it’s almost like two different people in everybody’s head, and they respond to the world in very different ways."

Full Story: Digital Designer Shows What Future Towns Could Look Like

Source: Grist.org, March 5, 2010