drawing board

plural drawing boards

1. A plane surface or table to which paper can be fastened for drawing purposes.

   The T square, used by architects, makes very good parallels, if made to slide along the smooth edge of a drawing board, or a straightedge laid and kept steady on the paper.

   1815, Peter Fleming, “Land Surveying. [Of Measuring Lands with the Chain only and Planning therefrom.]”, in A System of Land Surveying and Levelling; wherein is Demonstrated the Theory, with Numerous Practical Examples, as Applied to All Operations, either Relative to the Land Surveyor, or Civil and Military Engineer, Glasgow: Printed by R. Chapman; and sold by Brash & Reid [et al.], →OCLC, page 86

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   The Drawing-Board is a smooth board, […] very accurately rectangular, with its edges quite smooth. Upon this board drawing-paper is usually fixed, and evenly stretched, by means of glue or paste applied to a small strip of paper all round, which it is not intended to retain in the drawing.

   1859, Thomas Lund, “Prop[osition] XXXIII. To Explain the T Square, and the Drawing-board.”, in Elements of Geometry and Mensuration, with Easy Exercises, Designed for Schools and Adult Classes. In Three Parts, part II (Geometry as an Art), London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, →OCLC, paragraph 130, page 115

   As we explored the second floor of the building, we were pleasantly surprised to find a group of artists working away at their drawing boards. Without knowing it, we had stumbled into Walt Disney's Comic Strip department.

   2013, Floyd Norman, “The Other Floyd: Mr. [Floyd] Gottfredson and His Famous Mouse”, in Animated Life: A Lifetime of Tips, Tricks and Stories from a Disney Legend (Animation Masters), Burlington, Mass.; Abingdon, Oxon.: Focal Press, →ISBN, page 98

   So much of what followed from the drawing boards of others will have been designed with the demands, effort and grandeur of Primrose Hill [tunnel] in the back of their minds.

   2020 August 26, Tim Dunn, “Great railway bores of our time!”, in Rail, page 44

   Synonyms: drafting board

2. figurativelyThe planning stage of a project.

   Heading into the international break, Guardiola will return to the drawing board, wondering how he can restore his side to their previous heights.

   2025 August 31, Adwaidh Rajan, “Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Manchester City”, in BBC Sport

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   At the time we doubted that such a locomotive would be given swift consideration—at least in detail; but the evidence suggests that one is already on the drawing board and will appear next year.

   1962 October, “Talking of Trains: Towards 75 m.p.h. B.R. expresses?”, in Modern Railways, page 219

   Following every economic crisis, political leaders, finance ministers, central bank governors, policy makers, academics and other interested parties hurry back to their drawing boards to rethink and redraw the rules or "architecture" governing both the national and international economic order.

   2014, Shalendra D. Sharma, “G-20 World: Limits to Economic Cooperation in the Post-crisis Era”, in Global Financial Contagion: Building a Resilient World Economy after the Subprime Crisis, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 295

   Localization makes use of a process known as postponement, which refers to the method by which the commitment of a product to its final form or destination is delayed. When decisions on the final product configuration are made ahead of market demand, there is the risk that the products that are in finished goods are not what the customer demands. The philosophy of postponement ideally begins on the drawing board when the products are designed with late configuration in mind.

   2015, Walter L. Wallace, Yusen Xia, “Reshoring: Revolution or Evolution”, in Delivering Customer Value through Procurement and Strategic Sourcing: A Professional Guide to Creating a Sustainable Supply Network (Financial Times Operations Management Series), Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, →ISBN, page 292

   Although the oft-mentioned plans to diversify the economy are off the drawing board for now, Europe and China still need Russian oil and gas, and export markets for grains, NPPs and weapons continue to expand.

   2021, J. L. Black, Russia after 2020: Looking Ahead after Two Decades of Putin, page 19

   Freightliner has advocated the long-planned development of Ripple Lane as a nodal yard. Its redevelopment, to accommodate roads up to 700 metres long, was listed in the London Freight Strategy of 2022 but hasn't gone beyond the drawing board.

   2025 August 6, David Stubbings, “Network News: Options sought for more trains to London Gateway”, in RAIL, number 1041, page 10