ISO50

Maybe I’m a little arrogant when it comes to this topic, but my firm opinion is: you are not a designer if you don’t have some sketching and calligraphy skills. You might be a pixel pusher, but you are not a designer. You don’t have to be DaVinci, you don’t have to be Michaelangelo, but you should at the very least be able to lay out your shapes, designs and typography with a pencil. Imo it’s a real shame that we are entering an area where many “designers” can’t draw at all.

I so bad want to get some good sketching skills for all the ideas floating around in my head. Beats firing up Illustrator/Indesign/Photoshop. Alas, my drawing/sketching and handwriting skills sucks so bad, since all my work and even writing is done on the computer/Iphone. Used to draw ok back in the day, but now my 7-year old daughter draws better than me lol.

I have been thinking to get some training very soon, and get going with my handwriting again, just to flex those muscle mechanincs, but I don’t know where to start. Anyone got a good idea on where to begin with that?

Greetings from Denmark, have a nice time in wonderful Norway.

Sketching is the only way my ideas begin. I spend the better part of the design process sketching ideas. I feel more comfortable sketching than putting it on the computer actually :)

Lars-
Sketching is like riding a bike. You never lose it. You just need to get down and dirty by getting back into it. Within a week you should have your skills back. Start by drawing things that excite you or interest you. Otherwise it becomes boring. Sketching/drawing/design is all about freedom of expression. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Good luck!

For me, the “to sketch or not to sketch” question is pretty project-specific. I spend 85% of my time designing websites, and at this point I don’t find sketching particularly helpful. I tend to find the same thing to be true with other more layout-oriented projects, when the real problem is really more tied up in how to balance elements, present information effectively, and create a tight visual flow and mood than it is in solving a conceptual problem. However, when I’m working on a logo or general branding dilemma the computer tends to be a huge obstacle to coming up with a decent idea. The direct brain-hand path is short enough that when a spark of a good idea happens it doesn’t get lost and muddled before it’s recorded, which is really the key to a good logo anyway. I’ve wasted a lot of time on the computer trying to make something out of nothing.

That being said, I too disagree with the position that a designer who can’t draw is no designer at all. A designer is a problem solver, not a draftsman or calligrapher. The computer is a tool just like a pencil is, and to create these absolute ideological divisions between the “right” and “wrong” tools when it comes to an individual’s ability to solve problems contradicts the essence of what we do.

I think.

As an architect, sketching is a way to quickly put down ideas that can be hard-lined latter.

I sketch up conceptual ideas in a pocket size paper bound Moleskine notebook and do more technical and correction type work on trace paper directly over printed documents. I use a nice $2 or so Uniball type ballpoint pen. The major problem I have with sketching is losing scale.

Don’t worry about having your stuff look pretty, the point is to just get something down before you forget it, not to win a sketching contest. Use a medium that works best for you and if you get stuck, go to the art store and buy something completely different and draw something with that.

The key is to have your sketching medium be approachable to you and your brain.

I’m a multimedia designer and part of my media is sketching from concepts to implementation in 3d, web or video. For animations sketching is a window to really narrow the shot you want to portray in a fashion that doesn’t involve time in creating shapes in illustrator or photoshop or a 3d modeling application.

The sketch / story board or sketch concept art for an element that can’t be photographed but needs modeling in 3D will at times need a front, side, top view. Obviously if you can sketch it you can just model directly on screen. Only problem unlike paper you can’t quickly erase and re-sketch shapes in 3d.

From a print standpoint sketching may not be need since a good grid may drive the design process faster. Stock or regular photos fill the gap if your expression is photography then the sketch is your photographer’s eye. Like Justin mentioned it is project specific, but I do share Flo’s arrogance.

As an Industrial Designer by day I always begin a project with sketching, but the weird thing is that most of the time when I’m working on a graphic or web design (evening job) I skip that process. I usually end up wasting a lot of time in front of the monitor until I remember to get a pen or pencil out. I’m with the architect who said it doesn’t matter if your sketches are pretty, it’s just that you need to get a lot of crap out of your head quickly. Usually your first few ideas suck and it’s sometimes quicker to start by sketching. I tend to get too detailed too quickly when I start with the computer first.

Anyway I would encourage everyone to sketch and it doesn’t matter how much you suck at first because the more you do it the better you get. Trust me I had to work hard to get good at it. The best thing for me was to study the sketches that I wanted to replicate over and over and it just clicks eventually.

people get scared of putting a pencil to paper and think that a sketch means a fully rendered, intricate drawing. It definately does not.

I start most of my sketches/drawings by warming up on a spare piece of paper. Next time you start a sketch, just start to scribble*. Your hand and eye will register all the different marks you make and how you made so that when you begin you already know how hard or soft or what handstroke you need for each line.

The most important thing is to not expect every sketch you do to be amazing; a sketch is progressive and a drawing is final.

*Actually this is the same way I learnt photoshop by pressing every single key on the keyboard to find out what each hotkey did.

I’m with Flo on this one. I really couldn’t image doing any type-design or identity project without starting on paper first. Or wireframing. Or anything.

I can’t believe how many people go to art school specifically for design and come out with no practical skills. It’s a trade, not a Philosophy degree (I’m a designer with a Philosophy degree, for what that’s worth).

The point isn’t that the drawings are fantastic. It’s that you know how to draw a straight line, draw in perspective, do fills, &c and that it’s part of your process and your way of thinking. Basic hand-production techniques (including using an x-acto) should be a must, regardless of how computer-centric things are. I’m still shocked by that blog post on the intern who gets a job at none other than Pentagram who couldn’t do these things.

Also, I’d hesitate to say a Wacom is an in-between. Unless, perhaps, you have the Intuos with the ink pen.

Best part of this whole thing: drawing is fun! You’ll learn to enjoy it, and it can even be a great way to introduce new, unique, and personal elements into your work.