Drawing Ideas: A Hand-Drawn Approach for Better Design

310 Pages·2013·66.55 MB·English

by  Mark Baskinger

A HAND-DRAWN APPROACH
BETTER DESIGN
FOR
MARK BASKINGER + WILLIAM BARDEL
~
WATSON
GUPTILL
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS
NEW YORK
MARK: For Ana and Ben, whose boundless creativity is an inspiration
WILL: Dedicated to my parents; my wife, Susan; and my children,
Madeline and Harrison, for all their love and support
Copyright © 2013 by Mark Baskinger and Library of Congress Cataloging-in ISBN 978-0-385-34462-3
William Bardel Publication Data eISBN 978-0-385-34452-4
All rights reserved. Baskinger, Mark.
Published in the United States by Watson Drawing ideas: a hand-drawn approach for Printed in China
Guptill Publications, an imprint of the better design/Mark Baskinger and William
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Bardel. -First Edition. Illustration credits appear on page 302
Random House, Inc., New York. pages cm Cover design: Maria Elias
www.crownpublishing.com I. Drawing- Technique. 2. Visual Cover illustration: Jason May
www.watsonguptill.com communication-Technique.!. Bardel,
William. II. Title. 1098765432 1
WATSON-GUPTILL is a registered NC730.B3182013
trademark, and the WG and Horse designs 741.2-dc23 First Edition
are trademarks of Random House, Inc. 2012047756

CONTENTS
Introd uction:
Pencils Before Pixels 8
1 2 3
SKETCHING + DRAWING DRAWING TO CLARIFY
DRAWING BASICS BOOT CAMP YOUR OWN THINKING
1.1 Planning Your Drawings 14 2.1 Rectilinear Forms 52 3.1 Recording + Exploring
Ideas with Notational
1.2 Preparing to Draw 22 2.2 Curvilinear Forms, Sketching 139
Planes + Arrows 72
1.3 Materials 33 3.2 Seeing with Notational
2.3 Rotational Forms 86 Sketching 140
2.4 The Human Figure 98 3.3 Thinking with Notational
Sketching 150
2.5 Hands + Interaction 112
3.4 Best Practices for Effective
2.6 Rendering Forms 116 Notational Sketches 156
4 5
DRAWING TO EXPLAIN DRAWING TO TELL A
YOUR IDEAS TO OTHERS VISUAL STORY
4.1 Planning Your Explanatory 5.1 Planning Visual Afterword 300
Sketch 174 Narratives 274
Illustration Credits +
4.2 Choosing a Graphic 5.2 Preparing to Draw Visual About the Authors 302
Structure 190 Narratives 286
Index 303
4.3 Composing a Visual 5.3 Approaches to Structuring
Layout 213 Visual Narratives 294
4.4 Detail Features of an
Effective Explanatory
Sketch 236
WORKSHOP: TEAM DRAWING
Strategies for Collaborative
Design 256
INTRODUCTION: PENCILS
BEFORE PIXELS
WITH AN ABUNDANCE of tools and technology available to create
and communicate, why draw by hand? What does the pencil offer?
Your ability to draw is a fast, powerful means for thinking, reason
ing, and visually exploring ideas-providing visual information for
self-reflection and focused discussion with your colleagues, teams,
and clients. Whether it is of a product, service, information, or sys
tem, a hand-drawn sketch communicates the essence of your idea
and illustrates its potential. The simplicity of connection between
mind, eyes, hand, and pencil shrugs off the layered burden that com
plex technology often adds. Such simplicity ensures fresh thinking
and communication that is quick, clear, and immediately visible. As
an act, drawing effectively encourages observation, evaluation, and
helps spur collaboration and action. To understand the potential
of drawing your ideas, this book focuses on key drawing behaviors:
(1) drawing to record ideas or examine things from real life; (2) draw
ing to clarify and explore ideas further and expand upon previous
ideas; and (3) drawing to explain ideas to others. Each sketching
behavior serves a distinct role in the design process and contributes
to developing and sharing your ideas.
8
it's a matter of
Establishing a clear view of any complex design problem can be
a challenge. The act of drawing helps you to see and think with a perspective
deeper level of engagement. Knowing how to use drawing to record
and explore your ideas can help you observe problems and possibili
ties, effectively breaking them down into identifiable components,
sequences, interactions, and modules. The perspective and focus
that a good sketch provides assist in memory and are the foundation
to a stronger ideation process, one that carefully studies situations
and produces inventive solutions.
Like most people, you want to share your idea but are probably self the power is in
conscious about your drawing skills, especially in public while your your hand
audience watches; we all have these white-board moments when
nerves kick in. Drawing a sketch can-and should be-empowering.
It is an opportunity to command attention and persuade in com
pelling fashion by showing. Imagine the impact of confidently and
fluidly drawing your ideas. This is the goal and why knowing how
to draw remains a valuable asset for presentation and explanation.
Drawing positions you to lead or direct conversation. Knowing how
to clearly explain your ideas in visual form facilitates discussion and
promotes understanding.
Drawing Ideas is a collection of various techniques, practices, and about this book
strategies derived from real-world applications in design practice,
university-level design drawing courses, and our Drawing Ideas®
workshops held within conference and business contexts.
The goal of this book is to inspire by breaking down design draw
ing techniques, visual communication approaches, and a wealth of
examples from the sketchbooks and portfolios of creative profession
als and students. To afford easy reference and application, our book's
structure is aligned with key steps in the design process (observe,
design, communicate). To help you integrate drawing into your work,
we also include helpful callout tips and contributor essays based on
frequently asked questions from our workshops and courses.
9
book organization Drawing Ideas is divided into five sections, each with a specific focus.
These can be read independently or together as the book moves from
personal to public drawing perspectives. Parts 1 and 2 provide an
overview of basic practices and techniques that are the foundation to
good drawing. Part 3 introduces notational sketching, detailing how
to record and explore ideas as part of the design process, and part 4
expands on this, describing how to use explanatory sketches to com
municate these ideas to others. A brief workshop on Team Drawing
introduces methods for using drawing as a platform for shared dis
cussion and for generating effective team and stakeholder participa
tion. Part 5 addresses the use of narrative to enhance explanatory
communication.
what kind of drawer Drawing Ideas is applicable for a broad range of skill levels, from
are you? novices to experts. We include content aimed at specific audiences
as well as generalized information that you will be able to adapt to
your specific drawing needs.
For drawing novices, the entire book offers a wealth of infor
mation, including a drawing boot camp with practical instruction
that clearly explains the fundamentals of how to create drawings
that communicate clearly and effectively. Throughout the book we
include methods and techniques that will help you quickly ramp up
your skills and become more confident with your sketches.
For out-of-practice drawers, Drawing Ideas provides both inspira
tion and techniques to reintroduce basic methodologies with which
you may be familiar. Drawing skills diminish quickly when you're a
bit out of practice. Reviewing the basics in this book will help get
you back into shape quickly, and the more advanced considerations
in this book will further improve your skill level.
For experts, Drawing Ideas offers new considerations on how to
structure and apply drawing. These range from often-overlooked
basic tricks to advanced techniques. In particular we recommend
parts 4 and 5, which introduce explanatory principles, organizational
methods, and narrative structures to make your sketching more
compelling.
In our careers, the ability to draw has enabled us to innovate, lead,
direct, persuade, and effectively express ideas. It also has helped us
invite others into conversation and bring out the best in our inter
disciplinary teams. This book serves as a broad resource to provide
some clarity about drawing for creative visual practice, strategy, and
planning-even beyond the disciplines of design.
10
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