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What is design?

Drawing - the language of design

Non-perspective Drawings

In a non-perspective drawing there are no vanishing points therefore lines that disappear into the distance have to be treated in one of two ways - a) they don't exist (an orthographic or elevation) or b) they exist, but no perspective will be applied to them (oblique and isometric view). We create these orthographic drawings because you can take a designed part, draw it, dimension it and then give all the needed information to the manufacturer. In a 3D environment dimensions become burdensome.

All objects of course are 3 dimensional and when displaying them in a 2D fashion we must include features not visible from the 2D viewer's angle (straight on in the case of an orthographic drawing, or from an edge-view from the case of a oblique or isometric view). Therefore, hidden lines must added to show that these features DO exist.

Orthographic views

An orthographic view is simply an elevation view of an object with no perspective. Often called elevations in architecture here is a typical orthographic view of the front of a house (the front elevation).

Orthographic Projections

Technically an orthographic projection is simply the 3 elevations (orthographic views) combined into a page and spread so that the top, front and side views are positioned to easily convert them into an oblique or isometric view.

Isometric and Oblique views

If we want a 3 dimensional representation of our object, but don't want to mess about with perspective (or alternatively we want to keep our scale going into the Z axis) we can draw our object in what is known as an isometric or an oblique view. The difference between those two views is that :

In ISOMETRIC : the front and Z axis are both 30 degrees to the horizon.

In OBLIQUE: One face is flat, the angle of the Z axis is then 45 degrees off of this.

Perspective Drawing For The Technical Illustrator

Taken from Kevin Hulsey from his Tutorial Series

Perspective Basics

A thorough understanding of the principles of 1-Point and 2-Point Perspective is essential to creating an accurate, and visually appealing piece of work. A lay-person with no technical understanding of the principles of perspective drawing will nonetheless have an intuitive negative reaction to drawing in which something is amiss. Using the perspective techniques shown in the preceding tutorials, the mental impression they will make on a viewer will be so strong that once mastered, the illusion of 3-dimensional depth will remain, even when the visual trickery involved in the process has been revealed.

Any good technical illustration starts with well executed line art. If you are working from any type of reference other than a CAD output in the desired angle, you will need to have a strong fundamental understanding of the principles of perspective drawing. This page will cover the various types of perspective angles you will encounter. In the tutorial lessons that follow this page, you will be given the tools needed to map out a perspective grid for any s-dimensional situation. From this grid, you will be able to create realistic three dimensional drawings from flat or "Off Angle" reference.

The three photos below demonstrate the difference between 1-Point and 2-Point Perspective, as well as 3-Point Perspective. The first photograph (Fig. 1) is an example of one-point perspective. All of the major Vanishing Points for the buildings in the foreground of Fig. 1 converge at one central location on the horizon line. The angle of view or Point Of View (POV) in Fig. 1 is referred to as Normal View perspective. In Fig. 2 the vanishing points for the two opposing faces of the center foreground building project towards two different vanishing points on the horizon line. In Fig. 3 we see that the horizontal building elements project to the left and right horizon and the vertical building elements project to a central vanishing point in the sky. This upper vanishing point is called the Zenith. If one were looking down on the object from a Bird's Eye perspective, the vanishing point below the horizon and would be called the Nadir.

Deconstructing "Perspective" from Photography

In the next three diagrams, you will see the same three photographs with Vanishing Point trajectory lines (magenta) and Horizon Lines (blue) traced over the subject matter. Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 are both examples of Normal View perspective. A Normal View angle places the Horizon Line at a natural height as if the viewer was looking straight forward without tilting the head/camera up or down. In these two examples, you will notice that all of the vertical features of the buildings are straight up and down.

Fig. 6 is an example of a Worm's Eye perspective. In Fig. 6 the head/camera is tilted upward placing the Horizon below the picture. The perspective when the view is tilted in an upward direction, creates a third vanishing point at the Zenith. All of the vertical building features will converge at this upper vanishing point. If we were looking down on a subject, the viewing angle would be a Bird's Eye View and the vertical details would converge at the Nadir.

In design we use one and two point perspective drawings in order to sell ideas to clients. While as technical drawers we can understand an orthographic drawing (or a projection) - the average member of the public cannot.

Tips to Sketching

from: DesignSojourn.com

One of the greatly misunderstood concepts of design is that a good designer must be a good sketcher. Sketching can be self-taught and doesn't need to be perfected in order to succeed. There have been famous designers who have created terrible sketches but end up with great designs, and great sketchers that are hopeless designers.

Essentially you would only need to draw or sketch well enough to communicate your concept on paper without you having to explain what it is. You don’t have to win the beauty contest, but you WILL have to do well enough so that a fellow designer (or if you want it to be tougher on yourself, a non-designer) can understand what you are attempting to communicate. Notice the key word here? It’s not drawing, draw, design, or sketch, it’s communicate. A good sketch communicates an idea clearly and succinctly.

Sketching is also one part of the design process that makes up a successful design. Strong understanding in proportions, colors, and manufacturing processes are other important elements that can make or break a design. So don’t despair if your sketching ability, at this time, is not up to par, as you will have a chance to refine it in the downstream design process.

Before we go on lets take a look at the different kinds of sketches so as to not confuse yourself when you go crazy over somebody’s apparently great work.

However one if you look closely into such sketching style you would realize such sketches don’t actually communicate a lot of information. If you look at the example above, can you ask yourself how does the door open? Where is the door handle? The side mirrors?

Its because such sketches are meant to convey just the look or feel of a product and nothing more. It intentionally or unintentionally leaves out things like mechanical fixtures, part lines, or assembly information etc. The best emotional sketch designers are actually able to convert their sketches into great products, but unfortunately you be also surprised to know most cannot and remain in just form or concept development.

Information Sketch:

The information sketch is perhaps the level at which what most designers, whom are worried about their sketching ability, should aspire to. It’s the minimum type of sketch level that would allow other designers to understand what you are trying to draw.