Page Layouts:

Hierarchy of information

When I got into millwork drafting, there wasn't much clarity or guidance out there on page layouts, work flow management, and other tips and tricks of the trade. I learned quite a few things through hard knocks after having a installers calling me yelling about not having what they need on the drawing, consistent interruptions from the shop, and balancing the requests from project managers, designers, architects, etc. It's a steady balance to show enough information, but not too much that your work becomes muddy with too many details.

The way you present your drawings can significantly impact the quality of your days ahead. Even if you're just making drawings for yourself to work off of, or if you're in a larger company with many stake holders, following some simple guidelines will curate a story for the stakeholders of the project that is clear and concise.

Page Layouts:

One of the biggest challenge for drafting is laying out pages. Everyone has an opinion on how they should be laid out from architects and interior designers, to the shop, to the field, etc., each area of specialty has separate needs and expectations from the drawings that they are viewing. As draftsmen, it is our job to meet these needs as effectively as possible with a single set of drawings. Today we will discuss hierarchy of information.

Hierarchy of information

Creating a hierarchy of information comes with multiple benefits;

1. Clarity and Organization: A hierarchical structure ensures that information is logically organized, making it easier for users to navigate and understand the content. When information is arranged from general to specific, it follows a natural flow that mirrors how people process information.

2. User Experience: Clear hierarchies improve the user experience by helping stakeholders quickly find the information they're looking for. By prioritizing and categorizing content, stakeholders can easily identify the most relevant sections and navigate through the blueprints easily.

3. Visual Hierarchy: Establishing a hierarchy also guides the visual presentation of content. By assigning different levels of importance to various elements such as casework views, elevations, sections and details, drafters can use visual cues like size, color, and placement to emphasize key points and create a visually appealing layout.

4. Scannability: When information is organized hierarchically and labeled from general to specific, it enhances the scannability of the page. Users can quickly scan views and pages to determine the relevance of the content without having to analyze every detail, which is particularly important for the fast paced environment of the shop and in the field.

   1. When considering scannability of pages on blueprints its important to place the most generalized views on the right side of the page. That way when someone is scanning through a package, they are able to quickly glean what is on the pages they are flipping through by seeing the most general view first.

Generally in the millwork drafting, floor plans will be the most general views that provide quick information to all parties about the layout of the millwork. Important things to annotate on these views include but are not limited to:

• Easements, locations of equipment, locations of cabinets, items that are by others, dimensions that help with placement of millwork.

Consider what will be installed first, the installer will need quick and easy access to these dimensions when laying out the project in the field, ensure they have enough information to layout the millwork, but not too much that they miss important dimensions for spacing, easements, etc.

The next level of detail are elevations. Elevations show how the millwork will fit in with the rest of the room, the heights of pieces typically above the finished floor. Ways to spruce up elevation views include line weights, transparency, and different shades of grey to show depth. Darker colors and thicker line weights tend to make an piece feel closer to the viewer, while lighter colors and thinner line weights tend to tell the viewer what is further away.

Following elevations, casework views are more detailed and provide information such as openings, depth, width, framing, coordination with other trades, etc. Often times it is a good practice to place these views in line and above the elevation views, which creates what I like to call a simultaneous view. These simultaneous views helps builders and designers to grasp two perspectives at once without having to flip between pages, assisting in comprehension and speed of information delivery.

Sometimes elevations and casework views will need to be blown up and shown in greater detail off of the main elevation, for example a 40ft run may only fit on a page at 1/4" - 1'-0" scale. It's a necessary view, but it's not very useful for builders to build off of. When this happens, we will need to break this out into multiple views on the following pages.

Then we have sections. Sections tend to have a lot of information regarding heights, clearances, hardware, lighting, electrical, plumbing, depths, construction methods, etc. Ideally section views will be placed on the same page with a casework and elevation view. Consolidating information to a single page or two pages can help considerably when it comes to information management. However, there are times when this isn't a feasible option, in these instances it's important to have elevations, casework plans and when applicable RCP's within a couple pages of the sections.

The most specific views are detail views. These are the views that impart a lot of information about a small space. These views are most important for the shop and the installers. So placing these views in logical locations for people to access easily is important. Generally, these will be placed on the left side of the page with corresponding sections, elevations, and casework plans nearby.

Overall creating a system for hierarchy of information on millwork packages is incredibly important and will help impart information to all stakeholders in a clear and concise manner, thus increasing your value as a draftsman, and helping with the overall accuracy and efficiency of work for all other stakeholders who must use your drawings.

If you haven't already, start incorporating some of these guidelines into your drawings, and watch as the enhanced clarity of your drawings becomes better everyday. Increasing your value as a draftsman to your teams.

Happy drafting!

Dominic