Drawing Ideas: A Hand-Drawn Approach for Better Design

by Mark Baskinger, William Bardel

Overview

A primer for design professionals across all disciplines that helps them create compelling and original concept designs by hand--as opposed to on the computer--in order to foster collaboration and win clients.  In today's design world, technology for expressing ideas is pervasive; CAD models and renderings created with computer software provide an easy option for creating highly rendered pieces. However, the accessibility of this technology means that fewer designers know how to draw by hand, express their ideas spontaneously, and  brainstorm effectively.In a unique board binding that mimics a sketchbook, Drawing Ideas provides a complete foundation in the techniques and methods for effectively communicating to an audience through clear and persuasive drawings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385344524
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	11/19/2013
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	198 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

MARK BASKINGER is an associate professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University.  Collaborating with organizations both on campus and beyond, he explores new paradigms for interactive objects, interpretive environments, and experience-driven product development. His work has won design awards from ID Magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America, has been featured widely in design publications, and has been exhibited in museum exhibitions including the Museum of Modern Art. 

WILLIAM BARDEL principal and owner of Luminant Design, which specializes in information design and wayfinding. He has worked as a wayfinding designer at Mijksenaar Arup Wayfinding, as a designer at Joel Katz Design Associates, Concrete Media, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and as an information designer at Resort Technology Partners.

Read an Excerpt

The best sketches visualize ideas through good, compelling form; without substance, the form is empty—and without form, the substance has no voice. Sketches need to transfer information and interpret complex information into definable chunks or messages. How they are visualized depends as much on personal aesthetics as on experience.
The rule of thumb is to develop sketches in a straightforward manner while allowing them to be expressive. A few years ago, a Carnegie Mellon design student named Anna Carey coined the term “freshture” in the context of a first-year drawing class. Her insightful, pithy term seemed to sum up the qualities of good sketches the class was describing—fresh and gestural. Freshness or crisp qualities to strokes, so that they look like they are held in tension, make sketches appear more kinetic. Letting gesture influence mark-making by purposefully missing outlines and overdrawing in key areas adds another quality. Said another way, good sketches are accurate and precise in structure and message but rough in an expressive way. This approach allows some flexibility in the reading of the sketch and takes the formality and rigid qualities away to make the drawing more visually accessible. Keeping “freshture” in mind may help to ensure that a sketch reads clearly as a sketch and is not misinterpreted as a final drawing or concrete idea.