# Architectural Drafting and Graphics Course Online

Canonical URL: <https://vdci.edu/courses/architectural-drafting-and-graphics-course-online>

## Overview

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to architectural and interior drafting, covering the principles, tools, conventions, and professional standards used to communicate design intent through technical drawings. Students will develop a foundational understanding of drafting as a precise visual language used across architecture, interior design, and construction industries. Beginning with the purpose and history of drafting, the course explores how drawings function as technical and communicative documents. Students will learn to think like draftspersons by developing skills in accuracy, consistency, hierarchy, and clarity, with emphasis placed on understanding drawing sets, title blocks, scale, and orientation, as well as the proper use of drafting tools, linework, and lettering.

Through guided lessons and hands-on projects, students will learn to draft floor plans, elevations, sections, and details using industry-standard conventions. The course culminates in measuring an existing space and producing a scaled, dimensioned, and annotated floor plan drawing within a title block. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the technical literacy and drafting confidence necessary for advanced design courses and professional practice.

## What you'll learn

- Understand drafting as a precise technical communication tool and explain its role across architecture, interior design, and construction industries.
- Recognize the historical evolution of drafting and explain how traditional principles inform contemporary practice.
- Apply principles of precision, hierarchy, consistency, and visual clarity to produce professional-quality drawings.
- Interpret and navigate architectural drawing sets, including plans, elevations, sections, details, title blocks, and sheet numbering systems.
- Use drafting tools, materials, and scale accurately to measure, set up, and produce technical drawings.
- Apply industry standard linework, lettering, dimensioning, and annotation conventions across a variety of drawing types.
- Draft floor plans, elevations, sections, and details using professional conventions and graphic standards.
- Measure an existing space and translate field data into a scaled, dimensioned, and annotated floor plan drawing.

## Instructors

### Richard Hess — Instructor

Richard Hess is an accomplished designer with over 23 years’ expertise in architecture, interior, and furniture design. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degrees in Architecture and Interior Architecture from Auburn University before pursuing a Master of Architecture at NewSchool of Architecture & Design, where he graduated top of his class. Currently, Richard serves as the Director of Career Services at his alma mater, while teaching thesis and portfolio courses, equipping graduates for careers in the ever-evolving field of architecture and interior design.

### Rebecca Lockwood — Instructor

Rebecca Lockwood earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the Michael Graves College at Kean University in New Jersey. She began her career working in residential interiors, where she developed a love for creating homes that reflect the people who live in them. That same dedication naturally grew into a desire to nurture learning and inspire future designers to tell their own stories through design.

Today, Rebecca teaches an array of Interior Design courses at a local college in North Carolina and also works with high school students around the world as a remote art and design instructor. She is committed to making design approachable, inspiring students to gain confidence in their skills as they create meaningful interiors.

Rebecca is also an Educator member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Outside the classroom, she writes poetry, appreciating the parallels between poetry and interior design, from structure and rhythm to depth and storytelling. She enjoys spending time with her children and noticing the everyday moments that shape life and design.

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $579