Sketching — A lost art or sacred tradition?
Somehow, no matter how many times I sit down to write about design, it leads me back to this notion: Design is a product of the ever-evolving digitized world. I recognize that it may not have started out like this, given that the beginnings of design trace back to the cavemen era. However, the dramatic influence that the digital age has on design today cannot be ignored. Each new wordly invention, idea, theory, practice and more, share common deeper roots inside digital devices, enormously more than ever before. This, of course, includes design… especially graphic design.
Think about it like this, a graphic designer's main purpose is to create designs that make the lives of consumers easier. We design calendars, posters, even websites, and plenty more all with the intention of creating something that people can use both easily and enjoyably. Therefore, since most of our needs today revolve around our multitude of different screens, much of our design basis then becomes on screens as well.
We design and redesign websites, write code, design social media posts, design magazine page layouts, make video animations like gifs, and so much more in the digital world. There are also a number of design softwares that we have learned to know, love and (sometimes) hate. These include Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Express, Dreamweaver… truly the list goes on.
Hence, with a towering digital monopoly over the world, and on design, my question is -
Are designers still sketching on paper?
In school we’re taught there are five steps in the Design Thinking Process that all designers should live by. These include Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Empathize is meant to level you with your consumer or target audience so you can understand their user experience and how they are struggling. The define stage allows designers to truly outline the problem and the user's specific needs. Yet, the ideate stage is where the magic really happens, in my opinion. The ideate stage is where designers get to put their research to the test, by sketching ideas for a prototyped design.
Despite the changing times, many well-known designers do still sketch on paper. For these seasoned pros, doing things old-fashioned isn’t just to keep up with tradition, it has become an integral part of how they design.
Jaime Rummerfield
Rummerfield is an interior designer and cofounder of Woodson & Rummerfield’s House of Design. She prides herself in watercolor and pencil sketches as one of the first steps in her design process. “Not a project goes by where I do not communicate ideas through hand sketching or rendering,” Rummerfield told ADPro. “The effort put into hand rendering and sketching forces you to think about each detail, color, material, scale, texture, and how they all relate to one another. It truly is an expert art form as a part of our trade.”
Eneia White also agrees.
She is a lead interior designer with Eneia White Interiors.
“I rely on hand renderings to relay my ideas to clients in a way that feels personal and intentional,” White told ADPro. “I’ve noticed my clients really value the time I spent—picking up a pen and developing a creative thought—specifically for them. I love utilizing 3D renderings, but hand sketches are a nod to the ‘old-school’ approach.”
Similar to Rummerfield and White, most designers worship their paper and pencil sketches as a pivotal part of their design success. Yet, outside of the design world, are regular people still sketching on paper?
Some people have argued that sketching on computer software is easier and has given them more opportunities to put their thoughts and ideas onto paper when they lack the skill. According to one blogger, CAD software has allowed more people to enter into the design realm, who otherwise would not have (Isobel). This is because the computer has more resources for creating objects, straight lines and uniform patterns compared to just your hand and pencil.
Overall, I believe sketching is a sacred tradition for designers across the board, regardless of the digitizing world we live in. Sketching allows for the birth of revolutionary and original ideas.
Citations
Isobel. “Designing on Paper: Are Hand-Drawings a Lost Art?” Scan2CAD, 16 November 2018, https://www.scan2cad.com/blog/cad/hand-drawings/. Accessed 27 April 2024.
Ritz, Jessica. “View the Beautiful Drawings of Design Talents Who Still Work By Hand.” Architectural Digest, 28 October 2020, https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/beautiful-drawings-design-talents-work-by-hand. Accessed 27 April 2024.