462 Interiors Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Digital drawings should use font styles that are in scale to the drawing, easy to read, and reflective of the docu- ment type. Interior design is a business. Avoid unusual fonts. They trivialize the business product you are developing. Clean, crisp fonts are generally best. If you are completing a historical drawing, use fonts appropri- ate to the period. Drafting Standards When developing a set of construction drawings, designers use specific drafting standards to enhance communication. These include appropriate line weights, abbreviations, and symbols that are uniformly accept- able in the building industry. Line Types Lines communicate information about objects, hidden conditions, and important relationships within the draw- ing. A line has both direction and weight. It can be continuous or dashed straight, curved, or diagonal. Continuous lines indicate objects and major architectural elements such as structural walls or columns. Dashed lines indicate objects hidden from view above the cutting plane of a floor plan such as wall cabinets or beams. Dashed lines can also indicate wheelchair-turning radius and ceiling height changes on a floor plan. Dimension lines indicate the physical distances of objects. Line Weights Designers use various line weights—intensity of black- ness and width of line—to indicate the hierarchy of objects. Interior projects generally use three line widths: thick (dark), medium, and thin (light). The blackest and boldest lines should be the first you notice when look- ing at the drawing. This signifies that they are closest to the viewer and usually represent outer boundaries of an object. For example, in a floor-plan view, the designer draws wall lines the darkest to clearly define the spaces. Each design or architectural firm identifies standards for line weights for the projects it manages. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) offers a list of national stan- dards. If using CAD, line weights often have a layer assignment, too. Then, if the designer wants to see a particular part of the construction drawing, he or she can turn the rest of the layers off. The following identifies general standards for different line weights. See Figure 13-34. ■ Border lines. These lines have the boldest line weight that designers use to outline the elements that are cut through and are closest to the viewer (full-height wall lines). ■ Object lines. Medium-weight lines, or object lines, lie below the plane of the cut but above floor plane and outline such objects as fixtures, built-ins, and furnishings. ■ Light lines. The designer uses light line weights to outline the surface treatment of floors such as wood grain or tile. Light lines recede into background so they look lighter than other lines. ■ Hidden lines. Objects that are not visible in specific views, such as shelving, are dashed lines. Scale Drawing scale is important for team member understand- ing. The typical scale a designer uses for residential proj- ects is 1/4" = 1'-0". For commercial projects the typical scale is 1/8" = 1'-0". Usage of larger scales, such as 1/2", depicts details of an elevation or section. The designer must indicate the scale on each drawing, even if there are many drawings on the same page. To indicate the drawing scale, use the following method: scale 1/4":1'-0". Drawing Conventions Drawing conventions are industry standards designers use to reduce drawing time and space needs to convey Border line Object line Centerline Section line Dimension line Guidelines Hidden line Light line Construction line 8′-9″ Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 13-34 These line types are typically used with interior design and architectural plans.