Drawing a design so someone else can build it
Use labelled front, side and top views, dimensions with units, a stated scale, and details about materials and joins to communicate how an object should be made.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Draw an object from front, side and above and label which view is which
- Put dimensions on a drawing with units, and state the scale used
- Say what an exploded view shows that a single outside view cannot
- Look at someone else's drawing and name the one thing missing that would stop you building it
1 · Read
A design drawing gives a maker information for building an object. Use your design brief to decide what to show. Include shape, dimensions, materials and joining details. Ask about information that is missing or unclear.
Label views as front, side and top. For a rectangular box, the front shows width and height. The side shows depth and height. The top shows width and depth. The height must agree in the front and side views.
Dimensions give real sizes with units. They stay unchanged when a print is resized. State the scale instead of guessing from the picture. Scale compares drawn and real lengths. At 1 cm drawn = 5 cm real, 3 drawn cm means three groups of 5. Multiply to add them: 3 x 5 = 5 + 5 + 5 = 15 real cm. Divide to count groups: 25 / 5 = 5 drawn cm, since five groups of 5 make 25.
An exploded view shows parts separated while keeping their relative positions clear. It helps explain how they fit together. Add material and joining notes where needed. To find the thickness of pieces stacked without gaps, add their thicknesses. Two pieces each 3 mm thick make 3 + 3 = 6 mm.
A rectangular frame is 5 m long and 2 m wide. Its border follows all four sides. Add 5 + 2 + 5 + 2 = 14 m. This total is the perimeter. Use the real dimensions rather than measuring the picture.
Sizes alone do not tell a maker whether to use card or wood. Separate-part pictures may still need joining notes. If a print is enlarged or reduced, update its stated scale. Clarify missing information before making the object.
Label views, give real dimensions with units, state the scale, and include materials and joins. Clarify missing information before making.
Lesson and assessment material written for this dataset.
Readings and extra questions written for this dataset.
More to read
Pass on a model-making plan
Eli designs a card organiser for a desk. A classmate will make it, so Eli includes front, side and top views. The front and side views share the same height. The top view gives the width and depth.
Eli labels real dimensions in centimetres. A separate note names the card and explains which tabs join the pieces. Dimensions alone would not explain those choices.
The classmate notices that a divider has no position marked. Eli adds its position before any card is used. Reading someone else's plan can reveal information its designer overlooked.
Printed size and real size
A drawing uses 1 cm on paper for every 4 cm on an object. A drawn length of 6 cm therefore represents 6 x 4 = 24 cm in the real object.
A written dimension marked 24 cm states that intended real length. Shrinking the print does not change it. However, the old scale statement no longer describes the smaller picture. Update that statement before someone measures from it.
To work from real length to drawn length at the original scale, divide by 4. A real length of 36 cm needs 36 / 4 = 9 cm on paper.
Check units, dimensions and scale together. If they conflict, ask for clarification before making the part.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
13 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.