VDIS10006 Restoration Interiors 1 Lecture 7:

Sketch Drawings & Models    Ramona Solomon

Designers are accustomed to using a sketch as the quickest and simplest way of converting a mental image into a reality that can be viewed and shown to others. Beginning work on a furniture design project usually means many sketches in which the designer notes possible ideas on paper. The process of noting ideas tends to generate alternative ideas and certain directions emerge as being the most promising direction to follow. Pencil is the best medium as it can be easily erased. But felt tip pens are also used in the initial design stages. Any kind of paper can be used. Even the sketch on the back of an envelope or the doodles on the phone pad may be the first proposal for the initial design. Sketchbooks and drawing paper are useful but many designers seem more at ease with less formal materials such as loose sheets of paper. Graph paper offers the possibility of maintaining angles and establishing scale relationships. Tracing paper of good quality is helpful for developing layered revisions over previous sketches. Whatever the media used, sketches may be vague and conceptual or more specific, with the vague sketches often developing to the more specific sketches. At the proposal stage the sketches may be in perspective view or orthographic elevations. Sketches need not be to scale, but it is useful to introduce scale at an early stage to avoid discovering that drastic changes are required when the design is considered in real dimensions.

METHODS TO ASSIST THE DESIGN PROCESS

Furniture involves crucial three dimensional relationships hence it is important to sketch in three dimensional form at early stages in the design process. A sketch model or rough model, that is a prototype, that is made quickly of simple materials, without great care for a realistic appearance or finish will serve to provide an aid to visualising in three dimensions, critical aspects of the proposal. Such aspects may be moving parts, fitting and stacking which are hard to evaluate on a flat piece of paper. Sketch models are often done at very small scales from paper, cardboard, wire, soft woods and other miscellaneous materials. Paper clips, wire, tooth picks, bamboo skewers and similar odds and ends are also used. Acetate sheets, thin brass and aluminium, wood veneers and other various papers can simulate different surface finishes. Model making cements, quick setting glues and plastic adhesives are useful. Scissors, straight metal edge, cutting knife, wire cutters and pliers are helpful tools. Often it is helpful to move from paper sketch to sketch model and back to paper sketch as the design develops. Each sketching mode uncovers particular problems and enables them to be solved. The choice of scale is dependent somewhat on the piece being designed. Consideration should also be given to the materials likely to be used in the model.

Sketch Models

The use of scale ensures that the conversion of ideas, from Ideas to realistic form, flows more readily. Models at the scale of 1:10 are ideal for the early stages of the design process. However, full sized models are very helpful in evaluating the relationships to the human form and testing the ergonomics of an item. Most sketch models, either scaled or full size, tend to be fragile and are considered expendable. Photographs should be taken for records and for reference in ongoing development. Finished Models A finished model is different from a sketch model in that it attempts to simulate the final product in every way. It is an ideal way to show the appearance of the design. Photographs of the model can be used for visual purposes in the design process. It may be scaled at 1:10 or less as the finished size determines. However, fully detailed scale models can be as costly to produce as a prototype. They do not play a very important role in the professional furniture design process. They are most useful when a large group of designs are under consideration or a very complex system is being developed and making full size prototypes would be inconvenient.

Sketch Models

Two other types of model, the “mock-up” and the “prototype” are close and overlap the use of the finished model to some extent. Mock-ups A mock-up is a full sized model that reproduces certain aspects of the design in full and realistic detail, but omits other aspects of realism in the interests of easy construction which results in economy of time and cost. A mock-up chair for instance, might present seat and back surfaces at full size and intended angles with the finally planned seating construction, but be made of rough materials with no effort to simulate the final appearance. This would enable the study of seating comfort without the effort of making all the finished parts that a prototype would involve. A mock-up storage unit might be roughly built to check the appropriateness of the storage spaces. Mock-ups are usually made of materials with assembly detail that encourages easy Revision.

Prototypes A prototype, like a mock-up, a full sized model but is made as accurately and perfectly as possible. It is produced with all the materials and finishes that will be in the finished product. A prototype is often called a sample and is a “one off” single example of the production. Where the furniture is to be made by hand, as in craft production, or with simple machinery, it may simply be the first unit made. It will then be critically evaluated and any required adjustments will be made to future items produced. When more complex and costly industrially advanced production techniques are involved as in metal and plastic goods prototypes can be difficult to produce. But it is still a useful device to assess an item before large sums of money are invested in new machinery and the development of a production line.

A detail drawing is a close-up view of part of an object to show it in much finer detail, they show a small portion of an object at a large scale. Scale for details might be 1:1, 1:5 or 1:10. Details often show a partial section of a piece of furniture or construction component blown up to an appropriate scale so as to communicate the interaction between several components. However detail drawings are not always drawn up in section and may include an enlarged drawing of the floor plan or elevation. Section details provide information on the location and construction of different parts, the relationships of these parts to the surroundings, and the juncture of materials. Details are referenced form plan, elevation, and section drawings.

Detail drawings

Drawing set A drawing set is a series of drawings that form a package of information for a particular project. For a small interior design project such as a kitchen renovation, a drawing set might include the following: floor plan, elevations, section or sections, electrical plan and one or two pages of cabinetry or joinery details.

Planning a drawing set In the early stages of any project, the designer or architect in charge will have to plan the drawing set required to complete all of the building work. This allows them to estimate the time required to complete the drawing work and provide an estimate for the design fees based on the amount of work involved. It also allows the designer to produce a logical series of numbers for each drawing so that all of the information can be managed efficiently. The designer generally makes a sketch layout of each page, to scale, to make sure that all of the drawings and information is included and is clearly communicated. An initial draft of the drawing set is produced in the form of a schedule, with a list of all the drawing names and numbers. Once drafted, this schedule or drawing list allows the designer or designers to evaluate the proposed number and type of drawings to be produced.  

Building a 3D model of a room Using SketchUp to build a model of your designs at the concept stage has several advantages, including: • design flaws can be quickly identified, for example you have not allowed enough space for furniture pieces • you can easily create several views for concept presentation • you can export the geometry to other app l i c at i o n s (e . g . A u toCA D) fo r d r a w i n g documentation. One of the most common operations that you will perform as an interior designer is to create a room or a space for your design.

3D Modelling in SketchUp

If you follow these basic steps in the following order, you will be able to build a room with very few problems. Step 1 Start by opening a new SketchUp file. You can delete the default human figure. Save As... using a new name for your drawing in an appropriate folder. Step 2 Create the two-dimensional geometry on the x.y plane to represent the walls. Ignore the doors and windows at this stage. Make sure that the geometry is closed, so that a face appears in the wall cavities, Step 3 Extrude the face using the Push/Pull tool to the desired height using the Value Control Box. Step 4 Make the openings for the windows and doors using the Measure Tape tool to create guides for the openings and the Push/Pull tool to create the voids. Step 5 Make a component of the walls and call the component Walls. Create a layer called Walls and add the walls to the Walls layer.

Operation steps for building a room

Step 5 Make a component of the walls and call the component Walls. Create a layer called Walls and add the walls to the Walls layer. Step 6 Import the doors and window objects eitherfrom 3D warehouse or from your own collection. If they are not components, make a component of each window and door. Insert them into the openings in your model by using the Move tool. Scale the windows and doors to fit using the Scale tool. Create a layer called Windoors and add the windows and doors to the Windoors layer. Step 7 Add the architectural detail of the room. Use the Follow Me tool to create cornices, skirting boards, sills, etc. Step 8 Add the furniture. You can now add some furniture to the spaceby accessing 3D warehouse once again. Alternately you can go to the Window menu and click on Components. Choose Architecture from the drop-down list as shown and scroll down to find Furniture. You may also add furniture by importing a model you have saved in a folder. Make a new layer for these items so that you can hide them later.

Step 9 Add the decorating accessories. Explore 3D warehouse to find accessories for your room. This could include artwork, shelves, wall lights, ornaments or other items. Make a new layer for these items so that you can hide them later. Step 10 Add people images to give your model a sense of scale. There are both graphic style and photo images of people in 3D warehouse. Two-dimensional images of people are usually set to face the viewer and look more realistic than the three dimensional people you find in the warehouse. Create a layer called People and place the images on this so that you can hide them later when you don’t need them to be visible. Step 11 Set up various views and save them as scenes