Best Design Assets for Architecture & Landscape Architecture Competition Boards

A strong architecture or landscape architecture competition submission is not only about creating a good design. It is also about communicating the design clearly.

For landscape architecture awards and design competitions, including programs such as the ASLA Professional and Student Awards, designers may need to communicate site context, ecological systems, planting strategies, materials, circulation, sections, spatial experience, and design impact within a limited number of images or presentation boards.

Photoshop brushes, trees, plants, people, textures, vectors, PNG cutouts, Procreate brushes, mapping elements, and 3D models can significantly speed up this process while helping the entire submission maintain one consistent visual language.

In this guide, we look at the most useful design assets for architecture and landscape architecture competitions, and how different assets can support different graphic styles.

What Design Assets Are Useful for Architecture Competitions?

Architecture and landscape architecture design assets are reusable digital elements that help designers create plans, sections, diagrams, mappings, renderings, axonometric drawings, and presentation boards.

Some of the most useful resources include Photoshop brushes, Procreate brushes, plan trees, section vegetation, cutout PNG trees, people, ground textures, paving, water textures, vector plants, diagram elements, mapping resources, and 3D landscape models.

The goal is not to fill a competition board with graphics. Good assets should improve hierarchy, scale, atmosphere, legibility, and consistency while allowing the design itself to remain the focus.

1. Photoshop Brushes for Landscape Architecture Plans

Photoshop brushes are among the most flexible tools for landscape architecture presentation. They allow designers to quickly add trees, shrubs, grasses, planting textures, paving, groundcover, people, and other landscape elements without placing each object individually.

For competition plans, minimalist tree brushes can be particularly effective because they maintain the precision of CAD linework while introducing enough detail to communicate landscape character.

2. Watercolor Brushes for Soft Landscape Architecture Graphics

A competition submission does not always need to look photorealistic. For parks, gardens, planting projects, community landscapes, ecological landscapes, and conceptual masterplans, watercolor graphics can communicate a softer and more atmospheric character.

Watercolor brushes are useful because they can introduce variation and texture without making the landscape plan feel overly digital.

They can be combined with precise CAD linework so that the geometry remains clear while planting and surface materials feel more natural.

3. Procreate Brushes for Hand-Drawn Competition Graphics

Procreate is especially useful during concept development and for designers who prefer to work directly on an iPad.

Tree and shrub brushes can help transform simple linework into a more expressive landscape plan while maintaining the speed and flexibility of digital drawing.

Procreate works particularly well for competition boards that combine hand-drawn diagrams, conceptual sketches, planting drawings, and soft landscape plans.

4. Landscape Textures for Competition Masterplans

Material textures help differentiate different parts of a landscape plan and can make CAD-based drawings easier to understand.

Useful landscape textures include grass, meadow, soil, paving, stone, concrete, water, timber, metal, and other ground surfaces.

The important thing is restraint. Strong photographic textures on every surface can make a plan difficult to read. A competition masterplan usually benefits from subtle textures, controlled saturation, and a clear material hierarchy.

5. Vector Trees for Sections, Elevations & Analytical Drawings

Vector assets are ideal when a competition board requires a more precise, technical, or editorial visual language.

Unlike raster images, vectors remain sharp at different scales, which makes them particularly useful for large-format boards, sectional drawings, axonometric diagrams, and Illustrator-based workflows.

Tree elevations, shrubs, roots, soils, people, environmental elements, and landscape symbols can help build detailed sections without making the drawing feel photorealistic.

6. High-Resolution PNG Trees for Realistic Renderings

For architecture and landscape architecture competitions that rely on realistic perspectives, sections, collages, or visualizations, high-resolution cutout trees can be more suitable than illustrated vegetation.

Transparent PNG trees can be placed directly into Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, SketchUp exports, Rhino views, and other visualization workflows.

For the best result, choose vegetation with realistic proportions and make sure lighting, perspective, scale, and seasonal character remain consistent throughout the image.

6 Graphic Styles for Architecture & Landscape Architecture Competitions

There is no single correct visual style for a competition entry. The strongest graphic language depends on the project, site, scale, and story.

Style 01 — Minimal Editorial

Minimal editorial graphics work well for contemporary architecture, public-realm design, urban plazas, small landscape projects, and conceptual competitions.

Use thin linework, white backgrounds, limited colors, simplified vegetation, subtle textures, clean typography, and generous negative space.

Recommended assets: minimalist top-view brushes, vector trees, simple entourage, and restrained surface textures.

Style 02 — Ecological Landscape

This approach is particularly useful for landscape architecture award submissions involving resilience, wetlands, waterfronts, biodiversity, habitat restoration, climate adaptation, stormwater, and regional landscape systems.

Use vegetation communities, ecological sections, hydrology diagrams, topographic information, seasonal planting, soil profiles, and different water conditions to explain how the landscape functions.

In this type of project, plants and textures should communicate systems rather than simply decorate the board.

Style 03 — Soft Watercolor

Watercolor graphics are well suited to parks, gardens, community landscapes, planting design, residential projects, and projects where atmosphere is an important part of the design story.

Combine soft tree brushes, planting textures, muted colors, light surface washes, and restrained shadows.

Style 04 — Photorealistic

Photorealistic visualization works particularly well for built architecture, hospitality, public spaces, commercial projects, and competition perspectives where judges need to understand the intended spatial experience.

Use high-resolution trees, people, realistic material textures, atmospheric effects, and 3D vegetation.

Consistency is essential. Avoid mixing vegetation, people, shadows, and materials with completely different lighting conditions.

Style 05 — Collage

Collage is useful for conceptual, speculative, cultural, and experimental projects.

Designers can combine photography, cutout people, landscape elements, material textures, drawings, bold geometry, and typography to communicate ideas without presenting every image as a literal finished reality.

Style 06 — Technical & Analytical

Technical graphics are often effective for infrastructure, resilience, urban design, regional planning, climate adaptation, research, and large-scale landscape systems.

Use GIS mapping, vector graphics, thin CAD linework, ecological sections, diagrams, topography, hydrology, and a controlled color palette.

In this style, clarity is more important than atmosphere.

What Should an ASLA-Style Landscape Architecture Presentation Show?

Instead of treating an award submission as a collection of attractive images, think of it as a visual sequence.

Context → Problem → Analysis → Strategy → Masterplan → Systems → Sections → Experience → Detail → Impact

For example, a climate-resilient waterfront project might begin with regional flooding, sea-level rise, habitat, and site conditions.

The following diagrams could explain the landscape strategy. A masterplan then shows how those strategies become physical space. Sections explain water levels, topography, planting, habitat, infrastructure, and human occupation.

Eye-level perspectives can then show what those systems feel like for a visitor.

The role of design assets is to help connect these different scales into one coherent visual language.

How Do You Make a Landscape Architecture Competition Board Look Consistent?

One common mistake is creating every image in a completely different style.

The masterplan might be watercolor, the section photorealistic, the diagrams highly saturated, and the perspective filled with a completely different type of vegetation.

Each image may look good individually, but together the project can feel fragmented.

Instead, define a graphic system before completing the final competition boards.

• Choose one primary color palette.
• Use a consistent family of trees and planting graphics.
• Use the same visual style of people throughout the submission.
• Maintain consistent line weights.
• Use one typography system.
• Keep diagram colors connected to the masterplan.
• Repeat similar graphic treatments across plans and sections.

The result is not simply a group of drawings. It becomes a visual identity for the project.

Which Design Assets Should You Use for Each Drawing?

Landscape Masterplan

Use top-view trees, shrubs, grass, groundcover, paving, water, subtle shadows, people, and landscape material textures.

Landscape Section

Use elevation trees, shrubs, grasses, soil profiles, people, water, architectural materials, roots, and simplified background planting.

Perspective Rendering

Use high-resolution cutout vegetation, realistic people, material textures, atmospheric elements, and carefully controlled lighting.

Site Analysis

Use vector graphics, arrows, mapping elements, icons, topography, diagrams, and restrained color coding. Site-analysis drawings should prioritize information rather than decoration.

Axonometric Diagram

Use simplified vector or 3D trees, people, clean material fills, arrows, labels, and subtle shadows. Analytical axonometric drawings generally do not need to become photorealistic.

How Many Graphic Styles Should One Competition Entry Use?

Usually fewer than you think.

A competition entry does not need many unrelated rendering styles to demonstrate graphic skill.

A stronger approach is to establish one main visual language and then create controlled variations of that language.

For example:

• Masterplan — soft colored plan.
• Analysis — simplified vector version of the same palette.
• Sections — matching plants and materials.
• Diagrams — reduced version of the palette.
• Renderings — realistic interpretation of the same landscape character.

This creates variety without losing consistency.

Build Your Own Architecture Competition Asset Library

Competition production becomes much faster when you stop searching for every tree, texture, person, or material from scratch.

Build a reusable library for:

• Photoshop brushes
• Plan trees
• Section trees
• Shrubs and grasses
• People
• Landscape textures
• Paving
• Water
• Vector vegetation
• Mapping assets
• Diagram assets
• Procreate brushes
• 3D models

You can then create smaller sub-libraries based on style: minimal, ecological, watercolor, realistic, technical, or collage.

This approach is especially useful for architecture and landscape architecture studios that need several team members to produce graphics with a consistent visual identity.

Architecture & Landscape Architecture Design Assets

Build a reusable visualization library for plans, sections, diagrams, renderings, competition boards, portfolios, and professional presentations.

Browse Design Assets Explore All-in-One Bundle

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best Photoshop brushes for landscape architecture?

Useful landscape architecture Photoshop brushes include trees, shrubs, grasses, groundcover, paving, people, textures, and planting elements. The best choice depends on whether your presentation style is minimal, watercolor, realistic, or illustrative.

What assets do I need for a landscape architecture competition?

A versatile competition library should include plan trees, elevation plants, Photoshop brushes, people, landscape textures, vector graphics, mapping assets, and selected realistic vegetation for perspective renderings.

What design assets are useful for ASLA Award submissions?

The most useful assets are those that help communicate the project clearly across multiple scales. Depending on the project, this may include vegetation for masterplans and sections, ecological textures, mapping graphics, people, vectors, diagrams, and realistic cutout trees for experiential renderings.

Should landscape architecture competition boards be realistic?

Not necessarily. Minimal vector graphics, watercolor plans, ecological diagrams, collage, technical drawings, and photorealistic visualization can all be appropriate. The visual style should support the design concept and information being communicated.

What assets are best for landscape architecture sections?

Tree elevations, shrubs, grasses, people, soil textures, roots, water, material textures, and background vegetation are particularly useful for landscape architecture sections.

What assets are best for landscape architecture plans?

Top-view trees, shrubs, planting brushes, paving, grass, water, people, vehicles, and subtle material textures are among the most useful resources for landscape plans and masterplans.

How can I make my architecture competition board look more professional?

Focus on hierarchy and consistency. Use a controlled color palette, consistent typography, coordinated vegetation and entourage, clear line weights, restrained textures, and sufficient white space so that the main design drawings remain easy to understand.

Better Assets, Clearer Design Communication

The purpose of an architecture or landscape architecture competition board is not to demonstrate how many Photoshop techniques you know.

It is to make the design understandable.

A carefully selected library of brushes, trees, plants, textures, people, vectors, and visualization assets can reduce repetitive production work while creating greater consistency between plans, sections, diagrams, and renderings.

For competition and award submissions, the strongest asset is ultimately a coherent visual language: choose a style that supports the project, build a family of compatible resources around it, and allow the design to remain the most important element on the board.

ASLA is referenced in this article as an example of a landscape architecture awards program. LandSpace Architecture Store is not affiliated with or endorsed by the American Society of Landscape Architects.