Technical Drawings
Graphic Illustrations for Technical Literature
The
picture on the left is an instruction leaflet for assembling furniture
components. It is a combination of hand art and computer graphics.
The concept for the illustration was drafted by hand, and then converted into a
computer vector graphic. This enables the information to be sent by E-mail
to anywhere that it can be received, for the convenience of assemblers on
site.
In addition to electronic dispatch, this type of work can be printed and
bound for distribution as hard copy. In digitized form, it can be
conveniently incorporated into just about any type of printed
publication.
Before
computers became a desktop-publishing item, graphics for instruction literature
were produced by what had become traditional means. The drawings
themselves were painstakingly prepared by hand, and the artists were highly
skilled in the mechanics of process. Some of the "exploded"
views of aviation and automotive products were magnificent works of art.
Some small and somewhat insignificant examples of this type of technical drawing
are shown on the right, together with the resulting publication. The
"copy" accompanying the drawings was either inserted with transfer
type, or typeset and pasted onto the mounting boards. The completed pages
were then photographed and transferred onto plates for printing.
