Design Drawing

Computers and other modern technology have changed the face of the graphic design industry. It is safe to assume that everything created by designers today is produced using software on computers. For this reason, it is hard to see why a person working as a designer would need to have any drawing ability. People believe that drawing is a skill that does not have practical use, therefore it is for artists, not designers. This false notion fails to see the effectiveness of sketching out ideas, which fuels creativity and helps designers determine the best method of delivering a client’s message. Drawing and sketching are important abilities for designers to develop because they allow for a better ideation process, create more effective teamwork, and they ultimately begin the development of designs.

Different levels of drawing ability can help designers in several ways. In his video Does a Graphic Designer Need Drawing Skills?, Gareth David discusses two levels of skill when it comes to drawing, and what each would be used for as a designer. The first is “drawing to render art,” which David mentions is great if a designer wants to draw hand lettering, graphic novels, character designs, and many other more detailed works. Drawing to render art means that the designer has a very high level of drawing ability. They can create very detailed pieces which incorporate a stylized look into their graphics. This level of ability is not necessary for a designer to have; however, it certainly does not hurt. Skilled artists can balance their ability to draw with the principles of design to create dynamic pieces which draw in their intended audiences.

Although an enhanced ability to draw can certainly be a good thing for designers, it is by no means necessary. However, designers do need to have a level of drawing proficiency which David calls “drawing to design” in his video. This represents a much lower skill set for drawing than those who can draw to render art. The more basic level of ability is simply so a designer can take all their thoughts and put them onto paper. These sketches are mainly used for creating basic versions of ideas and presenting a general proof of concept to their team. Design drawings are so important because they help the people who are watching a designer’s presentation to better understand what they are saying. Jon Robinson writes in his article that “When abstract ideas lack concrete presentation: Game over.” Sketching is also a fantastic process to help with ideation for many aspects of graphic design, including logo design. By sketching out their ideas, a designer can see everything that they had in their head in person, allowing them to distinguish the ideas that work well from the ones that don’t. Design drawings are also important to user experience designers to have an idea of how a user is going to navigate their application before they even get on a computer to work on it. Design drawing allows a designer to create a quick and clear version of what they are trying to create. All designers need to have a certain level of drawing ability to begin their design process.

"It's not easy to align on an idea that exists solely in someone's brain." -Jon Robinson

Drawing and sketching are necessary components of the design process for graphic designers. Sketching helps to get what a person is thinking onto paper. This allows a designer to see how effective a logo or other concept is going to be before they put work in on the computer. Sketches can also be used to create possible layouts for magazines, applications, and maps. Not only are drawings important to coming up with ideas, but they are the key to getting approval from a boss or a team on a design for a project. Even though designers who are more skilled at drawing can effectively incorporate them into a design, only a basic comprehension of the skill is necessary for the sketch work that a designer needs to do. Even though computers are such a crucial part of modern graphic design, the design process still begins with pencil and paper.