Technical Drawings in Interiors

TECHNICAL DRAWINGS IN INTERIORS 4(1+3)

Lesson 8:Lettering-Purposes,Styles and Rules

Rules for architectural lettering

1. Always use guidelines in lettering.
2. Choose one style of lettering and practice the formation of the letters of that style until you master it.
3. Make letters bold and distinctive. Avoid a delicate, fine touch.
4. Make each line quickly from the beginning to the end of the stroke. Do not attempt to draw letters as shown.
5. Practice with larger letters (about ¼ “) and gradually reduce the size until you can letter effectively at 1/16”
6. Practice spacing by lettering words and sentence not alphabets.
7. Form the habit of lettering whenever possible – as you take notes, address envelopes or write.
8. Practice only the capital alphabet. Lower case letters are rarely used in architectural work.
9. Do not try to develop speed at first.
10. If your lettering has a tendency to slant in one direction, practice making a series of vertical and horizontal lines.
11. If slant lettering is desired practice slanting the vertical strokes exactly X degrees.
12. Letter the drawing last to avoid smudges and overlapping with other areas of the drawing.
13. Use a soft pencil, preferably and H.B to get the glide.
14. In large drawings that are completely filled with details and lines and where no large area for lettering occurs.

E.g. floor plans, expand the spacing of the lettering to fit into the available area.

15. Numeral used in architectural drawing should be adapted to the style, fractions are 1 2/3 times the height of the whole numeral.
16. The size of the lettering should be related to the importance of labeling.