Let’s Bake a Master Plan! On-Demand Course (CM | 1.5)
Updated: Apr 29, 2022

The APA-IL appreciates your patience as we carefully concocted a tantalizing blend of learning and fun with a side of CM credits. We are excited to release the Let's Bake a Master Plan webinar as a free on-demand course worth 1.5 CM!
Making a master plan can be just like baking a cake! You need a great framework (recipe), great plan elements (ingredients), and the right drawing/design tools (utensils). You need to practice (and practice more) until you find your own way to draw and design. Most importantly, you have to love the process of making, and the joy of watching others enjoy places you helped create.
During this interactive free online course organized in collaboration with ASLA Illinois, experts Ferhat Zerin, FAICP, Pericles Georgopoulos, and Sarah White, AICP, ASLA, LEED, will help you improve your hand drawing skills and show you how you can draw a great (and delicious) master plan. This master plan cooking class is open to everyone -
First time bakers: If you have no hand drawing skills – come and learn the basics of drawing a plan.
Food Critics: If you are a municipal planner – see how a quick hand drawing can fix a plan you are reviewing.
Julia Child Proteges: If you are an experienced designer – join us for a fun drawing workout!

Just like with baking, the best way to learn is through hands-on experience. Experts will teach attendees the basics of hand drawing using three activities. These activities include tracing a master plan, improving an existing plan, and using your new skills to create a master plan. In order to participate, attendees must print out the workshop handout(s) available on the course webpage.
This On-Demand webinar originally aired December 15, 2021 and received received rave reviews! Here's what just a few attendees had to say:
"Excellent presentation. Before the presentation I assessed my drawing skills as minimal. They may still be, but I have confidence I can continue to improve those skills."
"This session was fantastic and what I'd hoped to learn in planning school. More! More! I'll sign up!!"
"This was so good and useful, keep up the great work."
"The concepts were really simple but powerful. Thank you!"
"I truly enjoyed this webinar and would LOVE more in this series! Understanding and knowing how to draw is such a critical skill for planners in practice. Thank you so much!"
Location: available via Thinkific (APA-IL's 3rd party online course provider)
Credits: 1.5 AICP CM Credits upon completion of the course
Cost: Free!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE COURSE
Please note, you will need to create a free Thinkific account in order to register. Bon Appétit!
Speakers: (Cooks in the kitchen)
Ferhat Zerin, FAICP, is the principal and founder of Ginkgo Planning & Design. Zerin has been an avid champion on making design an essential skill in planning education and practice. She brings over a decade of teaching the capstone graduate urban design studio at UIC. Zerin will share her tips and easy techniques on how to draw a master plan that is as delicious as her Red Velvet Cake.
Pericles Georgopoulos is the Senior Associate at Ginkgo. Perry likes to remind everyone he meets that our streets are more than just things that move traffic, they are the public framework of our cities and towns and are the places where vibrant urban life happens. Perry can design and draw beautiful multimodal street cross sections in his sleep! He will share his tips on drawing great streets that are as memorable as his Chocolate Ganache Cake.
Sarah White, AICP, ASLA, LEED, is the Lakefront Planning Coordinator at the Chicago Park District, and president elect for IL-ASLA. As a child of a gifted artist, Sarah has always considered her drawing skills a demonstrable regression toward the mean. But that doesn’t stop her! By day, Sarah produces clunky sketches for the Chicago Park District Department of Planning and Construction. For recreation, she enjoys spending time with her husband, toddler son, and a geriatric Pomeranian.
Header graphic by Pericles Georgopoulos