Once the dimensions have been determined, Larry Hoy, of Lawrence Hoy Studios recommends making a drawing or elevation of the space. “Even if it is a rudimentary drawing with rough dimensions, it is a helpful tool that can explain where you want to hang things.”[1] Also, creating a simple scale model of the space with cardboard can be fun to make, and it will be both useful during the visioning stages, and invaluable when describing larger installations to a committee. And, don’t overlook photography. Pictures taken with a camera or your phone can be uploaded into photo editing programs and, depending on your knowledge of the software, manipulated to virtually “try out” your ideas (see below). Finally, for brainstorming and planning purposes, a printed digital image of the space can’t be beat as a quick and accurate canvas for sketching ideas.

The large floating banners with sparkling globes shown in the above image  were “virtually” borrowed from the main worship space at the 2015 Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles, CA and “virtually” installed in the sanctuary of Ss Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Hoboken, NJ. Using layers in Photoshop, the size and location of the banners were adjusted to show with great accuracy how an installation such as this might look.

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[1] Larry Hoy (President at Renovata Studios Inc., at the time), in discussion with the author, April, 2014.