COMMUNICATION GRAPHICS - LEVEL ONE STUDY GUIDE

Communication graphics:
It is a process of communicating ideas through pictures or drawing.
DRAWING
- It is a representation of something by means of lines either in pencil or ink
(printed)
- Graphic representation of objects, on art fact or a system.
TYPES
Two types
i. Pictorial drawing
ii. Orthographic drawing
PICTORIAL DRAWING
It is a three dimension drawing (3D)
It shows three faces of objects in three dimension of length, width (breadth)
and height
Basic Tools
A draftsperson needs some basic tools to draw. These should include the
following:
● A range of pencils
● Ruler
● Set squares
● Rubber
● Compasses
● Dividers
● Drawing board
● T-square
● Clips or tape
● Emery board or fine sandpaper

Pencils: You will need a selection of pencils. A hard leaded pencil (6H) can
be used for light lines, a softer pencil (2H) for the outlines and an even softer
pencil (HB) for printing. (More than one pencil of each grade will save you
from frequent re-sharpening.)
Ruler: It is advisable to have a transparent ruler.
Set squares: You will need at least two set squares: a 60 ° and a 45 ° set
square. It will be also useful to have an adjustable set square, which will
enable you to set the angle on the set square to anywhere between 0 ° and
90 ° . If you have an adjustable set square you can manage without the other
two.
Rubber: Choose a good quality rubber, one that does not smudge.
Compasses: You will need at least two compasses: a small spring bow
compass for small circles and one for larger circles.
Dividers: A pair of dividers is essential.
Drawing board and T-square: Drawing boards for size A2 paper can be
bought with a fitted horizontal square which slides up and down on rollers.

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A less expensive board is one that is used with a separate T-square which
slides up and down on the side of the drawing board and has to be held in
place when used.
Clips or tape: The best tape to use to hold paper on the drawing board is
masking tape but metal drawing board clips are easier to use.
Emery board or fine sandpaper: This is used to ensure that the lead in the
pencils is kept sharp.

There are other instruments that will help you to draw quickly and accurately.
These include the following:
French curves (for drawing non-circular curves accurately).
Large spring bow compasses.
Trammel (for drawing circles with very large diameters).
Scales (rulers with special markings for drawing items bigger or smaller than
they are in real life).

Using the Equipment

First fix the paper to your board, using clips or tape. Then sharpen your
pencils, either to a point using a pencil sharpener, and use this shape for
drawing lines, drawing from the ends of each line to meet in the middle. Use
the emery board to sharpen your compass leads to a chisel point too.
Finally, draw a frame on your paper.

LETTERING A DRAWING
Most notes on drawings are done in upper case (capital letters) although
lower case (small letters) can as well be used. Most draftspersons develop
great skills in printing by hand. If you need to print, try both standard and italic
and develop a style that suits you.

TYPES OF LETTERING
a. Standard print (lettering)
It is an upright lettering, as shown below:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
I234567890
b. Italic print (lettering)
It is a slop lettering of approximately 10o, as shown below:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
I234567890

FREE HANDS SKETCHING

 Refers to drawing an object without the use of drawing instruments such
as compasses.
 Any straight edge and without measurement
 The proportions of the object are judged by the sight and not by
measurement.
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 It is a faster method of drawing views and objects both pictorially and
orthographically.

TITLE BLOCKS
This is the table which contains details, information of the drawer and the
object drawn.
TYPES OF BLOCKS
i. One which covers the whole bottom of the paper
ii. One which is drawn at the bottom right corner
The content of a title block include:
a. Name of the drawing
b. Title of the drawing
c. Scale
d. Date
e. Occupation
f. Cohort/ year of entry and level
g. Drawing symbol
BOARDER LINES / MARGIN
- Boarder lines are drawn on both sides of a paper meeting each other at
right angles.
- On A4 paper the border line is 10mm from the edge of the paper
- On A3 paper the border line is 12mm from the edge of the paper
- On A2 paper the border line is 15mm from the edge of the paper
- On A1 and A0 paper the border line is 18mm from the edge of the paper
The border lines should be done after setting the paper, then the title block
and finally the drawing.

TYPES OF LINES
i. Construction line
- It is a thin and faint line throughout its length (continuous)
- It is used for construction
ii. Finished line
- Also known as object line and outline
- It is thick and lighter
- Used for outlining and furnishing object
iii. Hidden details
- It is a short dashed line (broken line of dashes and gaps)
- Used to show hidden details of a drawing
iv. Projection line
- It is a light and broken line with gaps
v. Centre line
- It is a short continuous line broken by gaps
- Used to show centre of circular sections
vi. Broken line
- Is a line with ‘Z’ marking at intervals showing an incomplete drawing
vii. Section line

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 - It is a line used to show the solid portion that has been affected by the
cutting plane (indicates that a cut has been made).
viii. Dimension line
- It is lighter and thinner line
- It is a continuous line with arrow leads touching the projection
- It is used for dimensioning an object.

GEOMETRIC CONSTRUCTION
AN ANGLE
- It is the inclination of two straight lines meeting at a point to each
other.
- The point where two lines meet is termed vertex
- It is measured in degrees (0)
TYPES OF ANGLES
There are four main types of angles
I. ACUTE ANGLE
- An angle less than 900 e.g. 150, 300, 450, 600, 750
II. RIGHT ANGLE
An angle of 900
III. OBTUSE ANGLE
An angle between 900 and 1800 e.g. 1050, 1200, 1350, 1500, 1650
IV. REFLEX ANGLE
An angle between 1800 and 3600 e.g. 1950, 2100, 2250, 2400, 2550, 3300

The Triangle
Definitions
The triangle is a plane figure bounded by three straight sides.

A scalene triangle is a triangle with three unequal sides and three unequal
angles.
An isosceles triangle is a triangle with two sides, and hence two angles,
equal.
An equilateral triangle is a triangle with all the sides, and hence all the angles,
equal.
A right-angled triangle is a triangle containing one right angle. The side
opposite the right angle is called the ‘hypotenuse’.

To construct an equilateral triangle, given one of the sides

1. Draw a line AB, equal to the length of the side.
2. With compass point on A and radius AB, draw an arc.
3. With compass point on B, and with the same radius, draw another arc to
cut the first arc at C.
Triangle ABC is equilateral.

The Quadrilateral
Definitions
The quadrilateral is a plane figure bounded by four straight sides.
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A square is a quadrilateral with all four sides of equal length and one of its
angles (and hence the other three) a right angle.
A rectangle is a quadrilateral with its opposite sides of equal length and one
of its angles (and hence the other three) a right angle.
A parallelogram is a quadrilateral with opposite sides equal and therefore
parallel.
A rhombus is a quadrilateral with all four sides equal.
A trapezium is a quadrilateral with one pair of opposite sides parallel.
A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with all four sides and angles unequal.

Polygons
Definitions
A polygon is a plane figure bounded by more than four straight sides.
Polygons are frequently referred to have particular names.
Some of these are listed below.

A pentagon is a plane figure bounded by five sides.

A hexagon is a plane figure bounded by six sides.
A heptagon is a plane figure bounded by seven sides.
An octagon is a plane figure bounded by eight sides.
A nonagon is a plane figure bounded by nine sides.
A decagon is a plane figure bounded by ten sides.

A regular polygon is one that has all its sides equal and therefore all its
exterior angles equal and all its interior angles equal.
It is possible to construct a circle within a regular polygon so that all the sides
of the polygon are tangential to that circle. The diameter of that circle is
called the ‘diameter of the polygon’.
If the polygon has an even number of sides, the diameter is the distance
between two diametrically opposed faces.
This dimension is often called the ‘ across-flats ’ dimension.
The diagonal of a polygon is the distance from one corner to the corner
furthest away from it. If the polygon has an even number of sides, then this
distance is the sdimension between two diametrically opposed corners.

CIRCLES
A circle is the set of all points in the plane that are the same distance away
from a specific point, called the center.
Important Circle Parts
Radius: The distance from the center of the circle to its outer rim.
Chord: A line segment whose endpoints are on a circle.
Diameter: A chord that passes through the center of the circle. The length of
a diameter is two times the length of a radius.
Secant: A line that intersects a circle in two points.

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Tangent: A line that intersects a circle in exactly one point.
Point of Tangency: The point where a tangent line touches the circle.
Tangent Circles: Two or more circles that intersect at one point.
Concentric Circles: Two or more circles that have the same center, but
different radii.
Congruent Circles: Two or more circles with the same radius, but different
centers.

Circumference of Circle

The circumference of a circle can be defined as the distance around it. This
can be understood with the help of an example. Suppose a wire of length 10
cm is bent so that it forms a circle. Here, the circumference is equal to the
length of the wire, i.e. 10 cm.
How to draw a circle?
Figure 1 given above, represents a circle with radius ‘r’ and centre ‘O’. A
circle of any particular radius can be easily traced using a compass. The
pointed leg of the compass is placed on the paper and the movable leg is
revolved as shown. The traced figure gives us a circle.

Position of Points of a circle

In the below figure, various points are marked lying either outside or inside the
circle or on the circle. Based on this any point can be defined as:

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 1. Exterior Point: Points lying in the plane of the circle such that its distance
from its centre is greater than the radius of the circle are exterior points.
A point X is exterior point w.r.t to circle with centre ‘O’ if OX > r. In fig. 2
A, D, G and B are exterior points.
2. Interior Points: Point lying in the plane of the circle such that its distance
from its centre is less than the radius of the circle is known as the interior
point. A point X is interior-point w.r.t to circle with centre ‘O’ if OX < r. In
fig. 2 C, F, and E are interior points.
3. Points on the circumference of a circle: Points lying in the plane of the
circle such that its distance from its centre is equal to the radius of a
circle. In simple words, a set of points lying on the circle are points on
the circumference of a circle.

A point X is said to lie on the circumference of a circle with centre ‘O’ if OX =

r
In fig. 2, points P, S and R lie on the circumference of a circle and on joining
these points with the centre, i.e. OR, OP and OS will represent the radius of
the given circle.
Now that you have learned about a point and its relative position with
respect to a circle; let’s understand a line and its relative position with respect
to a circle. Given a line and a circle, it could either be touching the circle or

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non-touching as shown below:

Secant
In the first fig. the line AB intersects the circle at two distinct points P and Q.
The line AB here is called secant of the circle. The line segment PQ is known
as the chord of the circle as its endpoints lie on the circumference of the
circle. A chord passing through a centre of the circle is known as the
diameter of the circle and it is the largest chord of the circle.
Tangent
In the second figure, the line AB touches the circle exactly at one point, P. A
line touching the circle at one single point is known as the tangent to the
circle.
In the last figure, the line does not touch the circle anywhere, therefore, it is
known as a non- intersecting line.
Chord
A line segment joining two different points on the circumference of a circle is
called a chord of the circle. A circle can have any number of chords.
Diameter is the largest chord of a circle.

Arc of a circle

A part of a circumference of the circle is known as an arc. An arc is a

continuous piece of the circle.

The arc PAQ is known as the minor arc and arc PBQ is the major arc.

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Now go through the circular region which is cut off from the rest of the circle
by a secant or a chord.
Segment
Part of a circle bounded by a chord and an arc is known as a segment of the
circle. The figure given below depicts the major and minor segments of the
circle.

Sector
A sector of a circle is the part bounded by two radii and an arc of a circle. In
the below-given fig. AOB is a sector of a circle with O as centre.

Parts of a circle diagram

The figure given below illustrates the various terms related to parts of a circle
as explained above.

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PRODUCING DIAGRAMS USING CAD SOFTWARE
CAD software are programs / applications that are used to produce
computer aided drawings/ shapes.
CATEGORIES
a. Open source software – that can be free downloaded and shared
without extra costs. E.g. Dia, Modelio
b. Closed source software – purchased software eg. Microsoft visio,
AutoCAD

Advantages of CAD software

 Production of accurate designs
In 2d or 3d and rotated
Design the unit of measurement then draw your model at 1:1 scale,
With manual you must determine the scale of the view before you start
drawing
 Convenient layout of the drawing
Layout represents the drawing sheet. I t contains the border, title block,
the dimensions, general notes etc
 Flexible to organize drawing information
 Easy to establish drafting standards
You can ensure comformity to industry or company standards by
creating styles that you can apply consistently for text, dimensions and
line types. Use of templates.
 Draw efficiently
A variety of drawing tools that create lines, circles, curves etc. you can
easily move, rotate, copy, mirror etc
 Draw accurately
With CAD several methods can be used to obtain exact dimensions,
you can specify exact coordinates, X and Y axis.
With manual you need to draw carefully to ensure exact size

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  View of drawing
In manual size and resolution are fixed. With CAD you can increase the
display by zooming in as needed. You can zoom and pan to create
the best consitions
 Create dimensions and text
With manual there’s need to redraw, change and relettering the whole
drawing, changing the model will automatically update the whole
document
 Easy to modify your drawing
Revisions are part of any drawing, CAD software eliminates tedious
manual editing by provision of a variety of editing tools. No redrawing,
erase, trimming stretching, rotating, trimming etc

DISADVANTAGES
- Most popular software are high priced for individuals eg. AutoCAD –
alternative is the use of open source
- Every new release means an upgrade of the skills
- Improper use of the packages make updating and modification
difficult

Compiled by C. Luka, MACOHA LVTC lukathree@2023

CHARLES LUKA, MACOHA LVTC 11