The Role of Sketching in the Design Process

Some of our young designers who have had easy access to technology  throughout their academic careers, are quick to immediately take their design ideas to Illustrator or Photoshop. But is this the most efficient way of designing?

We think… “not”.

In today’s rather impatient society, the word “fast” has been woven into our very fiber. Fast, food, fast checkout, etc.. To achieve great design, there are no shortcuts.

As a tool or skill, sketching must continue to have  its role in the design process. That role will vary depending on the end-product being created, the size and scope of the project, the individual designer’s style, experience, and workflow, and the client’s expectations.

The role of sketching in digital art varies depending on if your creating Web sites, identities, illustrations, product concepts, or other designs. An illustration or a logo is likely to need more sketching than a website.

A large project with a significant client budget will benefit from sketching throughout the design process. This makes sure that before massive amounts of time are invested on refining a solution, a direction is first agreed upon with the client. Sketching can start loose, beginning with basic concepts. Then work on compositions or layouts. After those directions are chosen, the concepts can further be refined with detailed sketching.

So for your next design project, before reaching for Photoshop or Illustrator, take out your sketchpad. We are confident that this approach will ultimately make you more organized, more efficient,  less stressed, and ultimately lead you to producing great designs!