Roles of a graphic designer?

Hello, :relaxed:
I really need to hear what others think about it.

I am new and I am the only graphic artist in my company.
I am making flyers, leaflets, ads and web design graphics etc. for them but one day, they gave me the floorplan of the office and asked me to make an estimation of how much seats would fit in a 600sq meter. This is for a new office and they asked me and come up with another floorplan together with my estimation. I don’t know how to do it lol.

And then recently, they gave me a floorplan of their store and asked me to make a perspective of how would the store will look like inside and outside of the store basing my reference from the floorplan. It was really new to me and I cannot understand anything just by looking at the floorplan.

I was really wondering if this should be my role as a graphic designer? I am working for couple of years now and I only encountered it on this company. I was wondering if this was really taught in school and my school didn’t teach me this? I really wanna know what you guys think because I am confused.

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No. What you are being asked to do is not graphic design.

They either don’t know what a graphic designer does, or they’re asking you to do it because they assume it is easy or interesting to you. They need to hire an interior designer or architect.

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Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate that you replied.

That was what I’m thinking too but I am not sure because there are no fellow designers I could ask within the company as I am the only one.

The recent floorplans they gave me are becoming more and more incomprehensible that I can’t make anything out of it.

Now my only problem is how could I refuse this task without getting fired.lol
Thank you so much.

I would tell them my expertise as a graphic designer is in getting people to interact with two dimensional media. I would emphasize what I could do for them, which is prep window displays, in-store signage, ads, catalogs, flyers, mailers, etc.

But designing a physical space is a separate form of communication with its own distinct language. They would be better served by an interior designer that specializes in retail environments. At bare minimum, they need a professional that understands how to arrange spaces so they are compliant with local fire codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are interior designers who can provide 3d renderings and virtual fly-throughs based on Autocad files.

For a small office floorplan, you could tinker with https://www.homestyler.com.

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Hire a designer/firm near you from the SEGD.
They are trained to do that stuff.

As a graphic designer working for a retailer though, it might seriously be worth your effort to learn to read a floor plan. And a tape measure (not saying you can’t already but it baffles me the number of designers I meet that can’t.) At some point you may want to do interior branding in this space, or a new space, or someone else’s space, and knowing how to interface your art to the dimensions that actually exist in the space is a good thing to know how to do.

A for instance might be your company going to a trade show or Chamber of Commerce event. Creating a booth design means you have to know a little about floor plans and volumetric space. The better paying jobs in graphic design don’t deal with “flat paper” all the time.

Thank you so much.

I already talked to my boss about it but he insisted i should do it.
I asked an architect and she told me I might get sued if I get the perspective wrong and my boss insists that I should do it. Still so…

This is by no means a complete list and should not be taken as a legally sound way to do this.
Any liability issues are on you.

Whatever you do at your skill level, it will be half-baked. The real question here is what does your boss intend to do with these once you are done? Because inexperience can lead to all kinds of issues, most importantly with insurance and fire safety.

It may just be he wants a pretty picture, not a practical working model. A lot of graphic install work is done from nothing more than a floor plan and wall elevation maps.

First get a copy of your local fire code. Your state/county should have that online.
You need to know what the walking aisle clearance needs to be. That should pretty much cover ADA requirements too.

You need to know if there is a door clearance requirement (ie no solid or moving structures like doors or gates within so many feet from any entry/egress door.

You need to locate and map all of your fire extinguisher and fire alarm pull locations, any safety stations, light switches and utility access panels and boxes (electrical/HVAC/water, etc.) Don’t block them with desks or cubicle walls

That’s just a start.

Find out the dimensions of the “seats”
Are these desks? cubicles?
If just desks, do a quick search of cubicles to see how much floor square footage = 1 cubicle space and use that sized box to space your seats.

Did they give you the floor plan as a .dxf file or a piece of paper?
You can import .dxf to Illustrator but you have a limited artboard so bring it in at a scale you can work with. 1:10 (or 10%) works really well as you only have to move the decimal point. For example, 235cm becomes 23.5cm, 144” becomes 14.4” etc.

Have a look at CADTools for Illustrator. (HotDoor.com)
You can do simple isometrics with that and it will build walls etc.
You can export from Illustrator to .DXF in a simplified way. (no fills, just lines, best way is to remove all stroke and fill colors so the file looks blank and export that.

If the simple isometric isn’t going to be enough you can possibly have the .dxf rendered in some way, but short of purchasing one of the CAD or 3d programs that includes a render module (extra $$$$,) you aren’t going to be doing that in house.

Your exterior look will not be dimensionally accurate unless you actually go out there and do a survey.

You could cheat and go out, take photos of the facades and map them into illustrator for the exterior.

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Sued?!? Not realistic.
Your employer is confusing space planning with graphic arts. The two are presented hand-in-hand to many clients but are two different professions. Kind of like comparing apples to gravel.
I do know of successful architectural firms that employ professional space planners, graphic artists, model makers along with designers and architects. They are all different professions that work well together. A great mix of talents.
Your employer seems to be looking for a cheap path without consulting the proper professionals or just doesn’t understand the differences. They need to be educated and I know this does not help your plight.
Do the best you can BUT do not specify any seating quantities, seats, etc. Use the words “approxomately” and “possibly” with “might” and “could”. Such as, “The resulting seating arrangement could maximize the area with the approximate number of chairs.” I know… sounds like a lot of B.S. and it is BUT remember, you are stepping outside of your professional training.