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How do you differentiate between 'design' and 'drafting'?


jackson6612

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AutoCAD is a CAD (Computer Aided Design or Computer Aided Drafting) software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting. [Wikipedia]Hi

 

How do you differentiate between 'design' and 'drafting'? Once one has drafted something on a paper, one would get the design. Isn't 'drafting' quite close in meaning to 'drawing' in this sense? CAD software applications are used to draft (or, draw?) drawings.Please help me. As I'm sure you have already noticed that I'm also an English learner so getting to know the exact meaning is equally important for me.

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You're correct ... it does cause some confusion. But CAD can usually be used for both purposes ... it depends on what you're doing. Many a time the design process is fine-tuned using CAD (or similar) to get stuff like sizing, proportion, etc. correct. A hand sketch is easy to fudge, but using CAD makes it more accurate (e.g. you can design the size of rooms in a building to be decent sizes, but a simple hand sketch can have rooms of either way too large / small - without the designer noticing easily). Drafting (or also called drawing) is usually taken as the more technical aspect - i.e. producing the construction documentation, which is usually done in totality in CAD.

 

There are other programs which specialize more in the design phase, and a lot in the in-between-stage of presentation. And most are like AutoCAD which does a little of all but leaning more to technical, and others specialize in only specific types of design/drafting (e.g. Mechanical, Architectural, Structural, etc.).

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Drafting is the technique of creating technical drawings. While design, in my opinion, is to conceive or invent.

 

I think that is why, in the past, a distinction was made between being a "draftsman" and being a "designer". If I recall correctly weren't early CAD programs referred to as CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design)?

 

I think there is a difference between being a draftsman and a designer. A draftsman can be said to transfer the ideas of an engineer for instance from a hand sketch to a finished drawing while a designer conceives an idea and follows through with the actual design keeping in mind form and function. The designer imparts knowledge and understanding to the process.

 

Oh what the heck...it's just all word play.

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Designers usually wear more fashionable clothes and drive sexier cars.:lol:

 

No, seriously... Remark said it. Design is the 'art' of figuring out how something will look. Engineering is the 'science' of figuring out how the design has to be fixed in order to function, and drafting is the 'black magic' of figuring out how the thing has to be built in the real world.

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When I started out as a draftsman we were considered nothing more than glorified tracers. When it stopped becoming just "lines and circles" and we started to think about how the various pieces should fit together and work properly then we suddenly became designers.

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In my world, the designers are the "idea" people. An architect might produce drawings of a beautiful building, and it will be more or less the right size and shape. It will have floor plans and elevations and will convey the intent...this bit is concrete, this is marble, these cabinets are walnut...etc. It then goes to the drafter to produce drawings with sufficient detail that builders and other tradesman can use to actually build the building. There is nothing that says you can't do all of it. You can be the designer and the drafter and any thing else down the line, but there is so much work involved that to get it done efficiently, you really need help, at least on large projects. Its really hard to design your next project if you are bogged down in drafting the previous one. By the same token, if you are at the site swinging a hammer on this project, you can't draft the next one.

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ReMark pretty much said it.

 

I'm an architect (doing all custom houses) and rarely come up with the concept for the house using a computer. It's a pencil on a sketch pad or bumwad. I often develop that concept using the computer as a tool (sketchup's the program) but even then all the creativity is still coming from my head. The program's not saying "Gee, maybe make this space two feet taller". It's me thinking "Hmm, it might proportion out a little better if we had more height in here" and then I can raise the ceiling in the 3D model.

 

In my response to the clients inquiry of "Why don't you use the computer for all of the design process?" I say "You can give me the fanciest word processing program out there with all the bells and whistles and that's not going to make me J. K Rowling. The creativity comes from my head". They understand then.

 

Drafting is just developing a set of instructions to tell the workman how to build the house. Very little creativity there.

 

Doug

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Drafting is just developing a set of instructions to tell the workman how to build the house. Very little creativity there.

 

Hey, I left out Architects on purpose.:lol:

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ReMark pretty much said it.

 

 

Drafting is just developing a set of instructions to tell the workman how to build the house. Very little creativity there.

 

Doug

 

Except for when we have to try to figure out how to make marvelous glass rooms stand in mid-air with no supporting structure, or magically levitate a 50 ft tall curtain wall without touching the building anywhere except at the top and bottom...or or how to put a door in a wall that leans out 15°. Yes, I've had all these issues and more. More creativity required than you think there bud.

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You asked for a variety of explanations, so here's one with a different slant.

 

To me there's a grey area between designing and drafting. Suppose my boss wants me to draw a parking lot. He can give me dimensions to every curb, the exact number of parking spaces, and so forth. In effect he's working out all the details of the drawing and leaving me to transcribe them into a digital form. He's done all the design, and I've done all the drafting.

 

At the other end of the scale, he may give me general boundaries for the parking lot and a desired number of spaces, then let me work out the details. I've done practically all of the design and all of the drafting.

 

What usually happens, though, is something in between. He has a rough idea of how he wants the lot to look, so he gives me a sketch, and I have to fit it into the available space. He's done some of the design, and I've done some of the design. This happens with grading as well--he'll set the elevations at either end of a slope and leave it to me to space the contours evenly.

 

The grey area depends on what you consider true designing. To me it means making decisions when there is room for making decisions (sometime there isn't). I could lay out parking spaces horizontally or vertically, I could add islands of various shapes, I could make the corners square or round. On the other hand, there may be regulations that limit my options, such as mandating islands with trees no more than 80 feet apart.

 

That's somewhat different from creativity. Fitting a finite number of features into a finite space can be a simple job, or it can be hideously complex (math types call it the Knapsack Problem, and you can prove that there is no best answer). Creativity is when you redefine the problem as something you can solve instead of hammering away at something you can't. In other words, if you've been trying to put a square peg in a round hole, ask yourself if it's better to make the peg round or the hole square.

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More creativity required than you think there bud.

 

Sounds to me like the problem lies further up the food chain from you. Worked in offices like yours bud, no thanks.

 

Doug

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Except for when we have to try to figure out how to make marvelous glass rooms stand in mid-air with no supporting structure' date=' or magically levitate a 50 ft tall curtain wall without touching the building anywhere except at the top and bottom...or or how to put a door in a wall that leans out 15°. Yes, I've had all these issues and more. More creativity required than you think there bud.[/quote']

 

Changing a roofline from a standard gable end to a hip configuration should be a simple task right? Well, suppose there's already a master bath against one of the gable ends and the "designer" can't seem to pick up on why he has to shrink the master bath by 8 feet in order to get the tub to fit under the new roof. Notice, I avoided using the term "Architect" once again.:lol:

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Changing a roofline from a standard gable end to a hip configuration should be a simple task right? Well, suppose there's already a master bath against one of the gable ends and the "designer" can't seem to pick up on why he has to shrink the master bath by 8 feet in order to get the tub to fit under the new roof. Notice, I avoided using the term "Architect" once again.:lol:

 

Some of these designers need to realize that if it weren't for the drafters, engineers, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, hvac folks, concrete guys, steel workers and all the rest of the people that bring these grand visions to life, they'd be little more than cartoonists. It takes them all, applying their unique brands of talent and creativity to make these things happen, from the "designer" all the way down to the guy shoveling up the saw dust. Without the design, there'd be nothing to build, but without everyone else, there'd be nothing built.

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Nice one Jack, I couldn't agree more. I've worked in practices where the designer had to do the lot, it was sometimes very hard work but in the end it worked well. OK we were only dealing with centre of the earth to floor slab, but a lot happens there and the other consultants we worked with were more than happy to share there expertise (for a fee, of course).

 

@ Dana, why do you keep avoiding using the term architect? In the beginning the architect did EVERYTHING, from surveying to structural to roofing. Does that mean todays architect is not in the same league as the original? That should cause a bit of unrest with the natives! (Me? I'm a surveyor and civil engineer and proud of it)

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Nice one Jack, I couldn't agree more. I've worked in practices where the designer had to do the lot, it was sometimes very hard work but in the end it worked well. OK we were only dealing with centre of the earth to floor slab, but a lot happens there and the other consultants we worked with were more than happy to share there expertise (for a fee, of course).

 

@ Dana, why do you keep avoiding using the term architect? In the beginning the architect did EVERYTHING, from surveying to structural to roofing. Does that mean todays architect is not in the same league as the original? That should cause a bit of unrest with the natives! (Me? I'm a surveyor and civil engineer and proud of it)

 

No fish in this pond tyke. :lol: I am just refering back jokingly to Runnerguy blatantly and unabashedly coming out of the Architect closet. I was trying to obviously pretend to not offend him, by obviously NOT throwing architects under the bus with the 'designer' we all seem to dread working for. :lol:

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Previously my title was Engineer, at that job I was responsible for pretty much all ideas, research, function, feasability, cost, availability, strength, etc. on the Engineer and Design functions, then I also did the drafting complete to the fabrication drawings. The only thing I didn't do was the PE stamp on structural etc. (even though I ran all the numbers etc.).

 

My current job is a Design Draftsman, basic difference so far has been on the idea function, though with my past experience with engineering, they have sought my opinion on ideas also. I basically look at the previous drawings and check for accuracy and update for as built conditions, I take all ideas from my boss and put them on CAD, check clearences, check part dimensions, etc.. and prepare them for fabrication.

 

Draftsman is basically just do the drawings and sketches, you basically do not need to know what you are drawing or its function to be considered a draftsman.

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Yeah I could draw just about anything but some of it would be "just lines and circles" to me. What good is that? I ask. Why are we doing it this way? Wouldn't it be better if...(fill in the blank)? How does this work? Can it be made better? How is it going to be constructed? Etc., etc., etc. When these types of questions start passing through your mind and out of your mouth you are making the transition from just a "plain old draftsman" to something more. And that's not to knock draftsmen. I have worked with a few draftsman who were damn near artists in the execution of their trade.

 

And now back to our regular programming.

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Drafting is just developing a set of instructions to tell the workman how to build the house. Very little creativity there.
Up to a point I'd say. It depends on which stage your project is on. E.g. if it's a feasibility study, you generally don't even touch the PC. When it's concept design, it's a lot more like you're explaining. But when you're getting on with Detail Design, you tend to "design" on the PC itself ... well most architects I know (there are some of the older crowd who still do hand-drawn details).

 

But you're exactly correct about the PC not being a designer as of itself. It would be the same as saying in the 70's anyone just needed a good set of pencils / pens / drawing board / rulers / etc. to become a great "designer". Those same tools would also "make" him into a knowledgeable "drafter" ... :lol: yeah right!!! CAD is just a tool, if you use it correctly it can produce something derived from your abilities and knowledge. If you don't have either ability or knowledge it won't matter how well you use the tool, you won't produce anything worthwhile. If you have the knowledge & ability to design, but don't have a clue how to use CAD - you better be very good with a pen and paper, so you can sketch your ideas for others to know what they have to put on the electronic drawing board for you.

 

From my experience, I've come across both types of designers. Those only doing sketches but avoiding CAD like the plague, and those designing direct in something like SketchUp / Revit. In general the presentations of the later comes out quicker, but those of the former usually looks more original. The best "designers" I've worked with does a little of both, putting their designs down on a quick sketch, and then building it up in a 3D modelling app ... which is usually a 2-way street, after drawing something in the app they notice some piece is not working as expected and do another quick sketch of that portion, then model it again. This back-and-forth could go on for a while depending on the complexity of the building. But when the designer isn't also doing CAD, this back-and-forth takes a hell of a lot more time: since the "drafter" then models it, notices a problem and then needs to try and "explain" to the "designer" where he made a mistake / didn't think of some aspect - usually making for bad-blood on both sides.

 

Only after the designer's finally accepted that his 5 min sketch isn't the Mona-Lisa, will they even start to modify it - but low and behold if the "drafter" tries to fix the problem on their own and presents a solution: If they quickly draw up an alternative and present it to the designer, I've never seen them say: "Oh yes, that might work." It's always: "No! Don't try and design! You don't know the first thing about it." .... but in EVERY SINGLE CASE where this has happened to me, I've found that they then go and "design" on purpose something different (which WILL NEVER work) only to go to my own suggestion some months later and try to pass it off (to me) as their own idea. Don't get me wrong, it's not all designers who does this (neither one of the 3 types of designers, sketchers, cadders, and combination designers), but those who do this are always the ones who "Don't Do CAD". The other 2 types always has the ability to quickly understand what you're on about, and is willing to accept some help in the design as well - not just the drafting.

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Hi, everyone,

 

This is just to let you know that I have read all the replied and found them helpful. You people are so nice and helpful. I wish you, all, all the best. Thanks a lot.

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