Sketching Is A State of Mind

That's my Moleskine notebook. I take it everywhere I go and use it to sketch out ideas as they pop into my head. I'm constantly sketching on paper, napkins—you name it. Sketching with simple tools like a pen and paper is the fastest way for me to explore different ideas, concepts and designs.

The above statement is mostly a lie.

Well OK, it's partially true. That's my Moleskine and I occasionally use it to sketch out ideas and jot things down—however you would be surprised out how FEW drawings I have in it.  It's actually quite pathetic for someone who "thinks visually". Since sketching is the new black right now, I'd like to offer up a personal perspective that comes at this topic a bit differently.

Sketching and drawing are not the same thing.

Allow me to elaborate on this personal opinion. For me personally, drawing on paper actually has some downsides. I find that when I draw, I'm tempted to render things. Rendering (making things look nice) gets in the way of my thinking process and as much as I try to ignore how things look, I find that the physical drawing part limits me. Sometimes I actually enjoy the drawing part so much, that my brain slips into "doodle" mode which is very relaxing but a essentially puts me into a semi-trance, as opposed problem solving mode. Again, this is a personal opinion but I have found that the act of "sketching" actually has nothing to do with drawing whether it be paper, or white board. Now to be clear, I am not saying that a pen and paper aren't useful tools—they are. But here's a few things to consider.  They work for me and might work for you, especially if you are uncomfortable with "drawing" but want to sketch more. 

1. Sketch in your head
Since you most likely have eyes, it means you are capable of thinking visually. When you have a visual idea, make up a name for what that idea is and write it down. Then take a mental snapshot of the what's in your head. I do this all the time, especially because in reality I don't carry a sketchbook with me at all times and often times, just naming something is enough for me to recall the idea when I'm ready to make it visual.

2. Use the tool that you are most comfortable with
If you like the feel of pen and paper then this article might not be for you. For me, I am very comfortable sketching digitally. My tool of choice is adobe illustrator because the vector art lets me move things around as quickly as I can. In fact, I actually embrace the limitations of tools such as Powerpoint because it helps me focus on the idea—not the rendering of it. It's difficult to get things to look perfect in Powerpoint, so it forces me to keep things simple. Plus, both tools let me copy and paste any image I can find on the internet—again this bypasses the temptation to render. Bottom line is that sketching does not have to be separate from digital.  Actually, I consider most of my images to be digital sketches and didn't draw on paper for most of these.

3. Think in color
Paper and pencil sketching doesn't allow you to express your thoughts in color—and for me personally, I think in color and shapes! Again, there are lots of digital tools that allow you to quickly color items, select shapes and edit rapidly. Print out versions of digital sketches that you think are getting at something, use color to create visual hierarchy in your ideas. For me personally, color helps me think.

While I think the act of sketching is essential—I think there needs to be a distinction between the tools and the act of sketching itself, as well as drawing. Sketching isn't better when it's analog, or when it's digital—it's better when we are in the right frame of mind. For me, this includes resisting the urge to make things look too pretty and working with tools I feel comfortable with. For me, the tools are a combination of digital, mental and visual. No Moleskine or white board required.

So just get out there and sketch. But don't feel like you have to draw. Work in a medium that lets you move forward rapidly and doesn't get in the way of your ideas.  That could very well be a sharpie and napkin—but it doesn't have to be.  Sketching is really a state of mind.  Oh, try a good beer when you sketch, that helps me too. ;-)

Comments

[Michael Anton Dila]

David,

Check out Dave Gray's Marks & Meaning, the "unfinished" book I mentioned the other day. It connects very much with this post: http://www.lulu.com/content/3252489

[Angela Maiers]

David-brilliant post as always.

I just had this discussion today with teachers encouraging them to throw a ways their 50 page study guides of fill in the blanks and word finds, and get students to show with an image or sketch what they understand.

The idea was met with great resistance as many thought of sketching and "art" class stuff and not as a way of unpacking understanding. Wow-would "I have loved this post today! Tomorrow is a new group!

[David Malouf]

Ok, I'm going to give a major plug here, Dave.
I'm teaching a 1-day workshop on how to bring sketching to your Interaction Design design processes. I'm pretty excited about this first-time 1-day workshop as part of SmartExperience.org.
http://smartexperience.org/classes/sketching-for-ixd/

I totally agree with Dave on his 3 points and would add a ton more if time allowed. The short is that sketching is about communicating ideation, and not communicating complete thoughts/concepts. So its intention is much more important than the tools used. But like Bill Buxton says in his book "Sketching User Experience" it is important that sketches are disposable, rough and quick to be most effective.

As for my class I plan on bringing in concepts from Understanding Comics and applying them to clearly communicate during ideation processes the special qualities surrounding interaction design.

Get sketchin'

-- dave

[Kate Rutter]

I love your distinction between sketching and drawing. I find that I sketch to capture and communicate, I draw to understand, and I render to fully articulate something visually. Each has it's place and sometimes things meld and flow into each other. The hand-to-paper fluidity is my major thinking tool.

The tip to Think in Color is a grand way to capture an important idea. While I've been both lauded/accused of adding color to my sketches ("it makes it grokable" & "if you have time to color it, you have too much time on your hands") it's a critical part of organizing information in my head and on paper.

Thinking in color has a beautiful ring to it. Thanks!

[Stormy]

I'm a paper person. I've banished all paper as a record keeping device but I still like to take notes and sketch on paper. I remember things better, see things better, come up with relationships I never would have thought of, ...

Then I transcribe the ideas I want to keep or convey into a digital medium.

[Joann Sondy]

Another insightful post as always.

While you focus on sketching & visualizing; I think the amalgamation of sketching, doodling, journaling should not be ignored in driving the creative process.

I carry my mini-Moleskin and use it for a variety of entries: drawings, sketches, notes-to-self, jotting down ideas and more.

It provides me the ability to continue the free flow of thoughts and ideas. This I thinks is the most important aspect of anything we do or want to do.

[Rosemary Long]

Hi David,
I was recently introduced to Evernote (http://www.evernote.com/about/what_is_en/tour/), which is a great tool to remember quick notes, but my favorite feature is its handwriting recognition. You can hold your notebook up to your iSight camera and it will take a picture, scan for words, then you can do a search on any of the words in the image. There's also a mobile download that will allow you to post mobile pictures to your Evernote repository for character recognition.
Thanks for the great post!

[Shirin Jindal]

I liked the content on this site. Would like to visit again. http://www.chennaiflowerplaza.com

[csven]

While this is similar to things I've written in the past on Core77's forums and on my blog - most recently in regards to "Design Thinking" ("Drawing an object isn’t designing, it’s recording a visual image. Take critical thinking out of design ideation/concept sketching and you have nothing left but drawing." http://blog.rebang.com/?p=1231 ) - there's one item in your list that seems to miss the whole thinking/doing integration point of the process:

"2. Use the tool that you are most comfortable with"

I couldn't disagree more. Designers shouldn't always operate within a comfort zone.

Innovation arguably most often results from dealing with restrictions. Just as different manufacturing processes impose their unique restrictions and yield innovative product solutions, different media impose their own restrictions on the design process and yield not just a different output, but a different input: the designer sees something different and consequently the mind is more likely to interpret something unique ... which then enters into a kind of mental feedback loop influencing the next "thoughtsketch".

Design is an iterative process. "Fail early, fail often" is not beyond the earliest sketching/ideation phase.

[Richardatdell]

Hi David, enjoyed the part about thinking in color, as I know you have analogue tools for that to go with the sketchbook :-)

[David Armano]

Richard, I have actually used the color pens! (well only once but still) ;-)

csven I totally get your point but when it comes to sketching, I do think using the tools you are comfortable with makes sense. That's why so many sketch with a pencil—they are comfortable with it. BUT, I do agree when it comes to prototyping, which in my mind comes after sketching though there is obviously overlap.

Kate, glad you see the point about color too. It's important!

[csven]

"I do agree when it comes to prototyping, which in my mind comes after sketching though there is obviously overlap."

This is where we disagree. Within the design process, when sketching is specifically used to "explore different ideas, concepts and designs", I make no distinction between ideation sketching and experimental prototyping; even though, as an industrial designer, prototyping almost always means physically modeling a three-dimensional solution. What's important is that these activities occur outside the mind.

If I have an idea in mind and copy that mental image to paper (or to a foam core mock-up or CAD model or spreadsheet or whatever), all I'm really doing is documenting; illustrating. It's not until *doing* affects *thinking* that the true Design process begins, afaic. Up until that point, it's just Thinking; mentally "Sketch[ing] In Your Head".

However, when what a person sees on the page affects their thinking on the problem being addressed, that's when putting marks on paper (or any other non-mental activity) transitions from illustrative documentation to concept ideation, imo. So I don't perceive overlap as much as a natural transition from one into the other.

[Dennis Hurley]

Dave, I disagree with you.

There's a brilliant study that was published in Design Studies Journal by IM Verstijnen et al. called "Sketching and Creative Discovery" -- I think it will make you rethink what you've said here. It proves the many benefits of sketching during creative problem solving. It also noted that experts tend to sketch for longer than rookies.

I think you need some good old-fashioned scrap paper for abstract sketching, scribbling out your ideas, and organising your thoughts. Throw it away when you're done!

Use your moleskine for making art.

D

[Ryan Graves]

A manager once said to me that the people who are valuable are the ones that can not only understand a concept but can teach it. If you can put a concept or thought onto paper...SKETCH...then you will be one of those "valuable" people. I keep an idea book with me at all times and I try to draw every great thought.
Dave I'd love a chance to talk on Skype or phone if you get a chance...

Check out my blog http://ryanagraves.com

[Jamaaludeen Khan]

Good article. I lost my Moleskine (can you believe it?) so I have another notebook I do sketches in - most of mine are mindmaps of my ideas. I used MindNode for mindmapping onscreen (Mac only) and Evernote for capturing notes and ideas I find while surfing the Web.

[Geoff Livingston]

I find we are lot alike sometimes, cowboy. Motorcycles, cigars and now sketching. I just restarted, pastels and charcoal sticks with a sizable pad. 1/2 hour everyday. Refreshing to tap into that creativity again after so long.

[Jane Rowe]

Have you looked at Papershow. This allows you to sketch on paper in a presentation environment and it is instantly displayed on your PC and projection screen. I blogged about it at http://tinyurl.com/5txtvo. Great as you can save, archive or e-mail your sketches too.