Any product you see in a store or online starts life with an idea and a simple drawing. Drafting and design professionals transform this simple sketch or drawing into a temporary model for inspection by their supervisors. From there, it goes through several processes to end up as the product you purchase for home, personal, or business use.
We tend to take product development for granted because we are concerned with a product’s functionality, appearance, and price. Little thought is given to all the work behind the scenes to provide us with what we need and want. By understanding this process better, you may be prompted to look into drafting and design as a career.
Product Design and Development Begins with an Idea and a Drawing
Product development consists of all the steps needed to take a product from its concept to its creation to its market appearance. The old-school approach was to create a product and then look for a market. Today’s approach is to identify a market need and create a product or products to meet it. This second approach is decidedly more efficient and effective in sustaining the product’s acceptance and future success.
After someone generates a product idea, it must be visualized on paper and a computer screen. The concept may come from an employee in which case the idea becomes the company’s intellectual property. If the product concept is generated by someone off the job, the person may seek to develop it or hire a company to develop it. In either scenario, the process begins with an idea and a drawing.
How Drafting and Design Technicians Create Professional Prototype Models
Drafting and design professionals do much more than just create a simple sketch or drawing of a product concept. It must be developed further to include some essential elements:
- Polish it into a clearly understandable drawing
- Add dimensions and specifications
- Modify the drawing for a prototype
- Convert preliminary plan into a set of technical drawings
- Add materials used in the product when needed
Final drawings and plans may also include calculations made from the notes or reports of engineers, surveyors, architects, or scientists to create a prototype model. Once approved, the product will be tested in the marketplace.
| “We tend to take product development for granted because we are concerned with a product’s functionality, appearance, and price. Little thought is given to all the work behind the scenes to provide us with what we need and want. Drafting and design professionals do much more than just create a simple sketch or drawing of a product concept.” |
The Latest Drafting and Design Tools Are Awesome
The latest drafting and design tools and technologies are awesome and efficient. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) software are effective tools that make it easier to visualize products and get them to market. These software packages allow fast and easy modifications to products for use in final technical drawings.
Another useful tool for architectural drawings and civil-survey applications is AutoCAD. Trained technicians can design and draw products in 2D and 3D with all these tools. Individual industries will use specialized software to create their products for consumers and businesses.
Drafting Professionals Are Part of the Production of Major Products
Drafting professionals create drawings and plans for the architectural, civil engineering, electrical engineering, government, and mechanical engineering sectors. The products that result from their drawings and prototypes are many and varied, including:
- Architectural – Houses, rooms, apartments, condominiums, garages
- Civil Engineering – Roads, bridges, pipelines, dams, other infrastructure
- Electrical Engineering – Computers, phones, alarm systems, chips, robots
- Government – Subsidized housing, military bases, office buildings, parks
- Mechanical Engineering – Pumps, turbines, tools, hydraulics, engines, motors
These products are easily recognizable because most of them are used in our everyday lives. Drafting and design professionals get the ball rolling on the creation and development of these useful products.
Earn Your Degree to Be On Your Way to an Entry-Level Job
The best way to get hired for an entry-level job is to earn an associate degree in an industry-approved program. ITI Technical College offers an Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) Degree in our Drafting and Design Technology Program. We invite you to discover its benefits for your future career.
For more information about graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website at: https://iticollege.edu/disclosures/
