Another week: Keeping with drafting techniques for the beginner. Again, another post about keeping to the basics, keeping it simple, and keeping it accurate. I hope that even these ideas can be used in what ever job you may go into, whether it is design, pet sitting, auto mechanics...
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| "Just a simple notebook is enough" |
Learning anything new requires your time and attention. When you are taking the jump from your high school, trade school or Architecture/Engineering program to head into the commercial world of drafting and design, it is going to be very important to be prepared and ready to learn. Even if you have worked for a Designer before and you are going to another office, you have a daunting task of either re-learning a good portion of your trade, or a new way to go about it. Each office will have their own standards and requirements for their drawings. There are some basic fundamentals to help you get acclimated quickly to your new surroundings. Aside from the basics I've already covered in previous posts like: show up, be on time, be in good spirit. You will want to take notes. Notes, take a lot of notes. You have been educated, that's why you have a job, though certainly you know how to take notes by now. You have enough knowledge that someone has decided to put their trust in you to help them make their life easier. So get a notebook and dedicate it to JUST that designer's system. Purchase a good notebook and a pen. You are a professional, this is part of your job. Practice good handwriting skills and keep your notes in order. Hopefully you will actually be able to use them later.
There will be a lot of things you have either already learned or will learn that works across the board. For instance, Layers are in all CAD systems; Autocad, Powercadd and Microstation (just to name three). Things you will not find across the board is individual drawing styles between designers. Some may use a "profile line" layer, some may use an intricate title block and so on. Regardless of what the topic is about during your training or meetings about your project, take notes of what the Designer (or co-workers) you work for explain. During meetings, when reviewing your drawings or just another set of prints you will have ample opportunity to take notes. This notebook will be your drafting "bible" while you work there. Look for opportunities to fill your notebook. It may be drafting styles, it may be standard practices. Consider having a section in your notebook to differentiate between the myriad of different topics for optimal organization.
Practice makes perfect, once you get into the rhythm of drafting for one Designer, you will learn the system and hopefully become very versed in production & design work that suits your environment. While you are with one designer, one way you can meet their expectations is to use their past jobs as reference. If you're on a CAD system, you can have other jobs similar to the one your working on available on the screen. It's easy to jump back and forth between the two separate jobs. Alternately, print out a ledger size drawing for reference or use a full size printed version of another job available to reference while you are drafting on your project. Make it easy to jump back and forth between the two drawings, the goal is to mimic what has been done before, so make it easy on yourself. The more you draft for one designer, the more you will understand their system and style. Ask lots of questions. Think about your questions, write them all down and at the opportune time, ask the Designer to look them over and give you feedback. A good reason to write down your questions is that you will not bombard the designer (or trainer if you're just learning CADD) with a million small nit-pick questions. Obviously, they want you to know the answers to your questions, but make it easy on them and thusly yourself. Think if you were in their shoes. How would you want to be treated and approached? There really is no such thing as a dumb question, sometimes it's just how you go about it.
Happy Trails!
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