The items in the images below are becoming harder and harder to find these days:
Drafting boards.
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Cups full of colored pencils.
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Drawing tables.
Stacks of markers.
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Reams of paper.
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Lead-stained erasers.
Hand-drawn design sketches are becoming more rare in this business. As people become more comfortable using advanced computer software to design, I began to wonder if the specialized skill of drawing by hand is becoming a lost art.
Personally, I use it in my work every day. Drawing by hand is sort of like an extension of my brain. I just can't seem to design anything without going through the motion of drawing it out - for me, it's the same as talking through a problem out loud.
And my clients seem to appreciate it too. They like their sketches and always want to keep them. I have a wall of them in my studio and people always stop to look.
Am I the only designer feeling protective of the art of putting pencil to paper?
What are other designers doing? Are they designing by hand or through technology?
Is hand drawing even still necessary? Will young, up-and-coming designers carry the practice into the future?
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Have hand-drawn design sketches become a lost art?
Because I have been unsure as to what to think about all this, I decided I’d pose the same question to an audience of designers on LinkedIn.
I began the discussion by linking to an article written by @Will Ryles of Dovcor Bathroom Designs, titled:
- There's Something Special About A Hand-Drawn Design -
Soon after clicking the Submit button, I began receiving passionate responses . . . for over a month. A competition of sorts was even suggested.
What conclusion did we all come to? Well...
Drawing by hand is NOT a lost art. In fact, just about everyone (at least those who participated in the discussion), young and old alike, feel the process to be absolutely necessary to the process of developing a design. And I'd like to share some of the responses I received...
They're all beautifully written, some even poetic, just as you'd expect the artists of the design field to sound. And I thank all of them for chiming in ;-)
Shouldn’t all design spring from the passion these people have expressed?
I think so ;-)
Discussion Highlights
“I like the feel of a pencil in my hand, music in the background and then I go into my own little world, fully connected to the project in front of me, feeling every line, dot and circle, something inside of me clicks and on many occasions I am surprised with the end result, seeing it for the first time and wondering where in the world did it come from.”
“I’ve been designing products for 40 years and each one started with a hand sketch. It may be old fashioned but I think there is no better or quicker way to design than with pencil and paper and to top it off when you’re with the client you can create on the spot!”
“There is a certain energy to hand drawn art and paintings that bespeaks of that particular artist’s passion for their work. It appeals to us on an emotional level that doesn’t always translate digitally.”
“I design all our in-house fabrics by hand and paint them by hand. Computers come into the process later...I always say if you want to write a good story, you must first know the language and its syntax and grammar. Same with art and design - basic drawing is where it all starts.”
“The difference between CAD and Manual Drafting as like the difference between Fast Food and a Home Cooked Meal!!”
“One is more involved with the project when holding pencil to paper. Ideas flow with the hand moving across the paper.”
“In a recent meeting, the client was able to sketch on my sketch, which had a level of interactivity and excitement that bonded us even closer and led to better mutual understanding.”
“I LOVE rendering by hand. And being able to do a quick sketch has served me well to communicate ideas better than anything else. I do hope it doesn’t become a lost art.”
“By working with hand drawn visuals the client is not expecting photo realistic images and this allows the actual design to speak, which is the whole point in visuals, to communicate ideas across.”
“Let us learn how to draw again, sense in your mind where the light source is coming from and illustrate it properly - and do it very quick. Keep the “Human Factor” in.”
And my favorite...
“To me, drawing is a conversation between the mind and the hand. It can be loving, contentious, amusing, exciting, frustrating -all of the above, and more.
The computer generated image is formal-a black tie reception at a slick restaurant where all of the participants are trying too impress each other.
The hand drawing is family. The computer image is business.”
Despite their overwhelming support for hand-drawing, the professionals who've weighed-in here all still bow to computer software for precision and documentation of design, most especially revisions....
....because, this day and age, technology's accuracy and dependability just can't be beat.
However, when it comes to design, to the birth of the concept, almost everyone felt it began, and will always begin, with a humble pencil and piece of paper.
