Why Do Designers Need to Sketch?

The biggest mistake is jumping into computer too fast, it’s obviously restricting if too much time is spent looking into a monitor without any idea. You can’t just hold a mouse for a few hours waiting for the magical things.

By spending a short time sketching on paper you can save many hours on the computer.

Cow app icon sketches by Kaizen Nguyen from Junoteam.

Sketching does a variety of things when it comes to the creative process. It is one of the effective ways of brainstorming for designers because you can create a quick, simple visuals that can be easy to share with teammates or client. You can create as many sketches as you want without a lot of pressure, additional time or cost.

Why sketching is great:

1. Cheap and fun

What kind of tools do you need? they’re super easy to find

Pencil
Pen
Eraser
Paper
Sketchbook
Dot grid book
Sharpie marker (optional)
Highlighter (optional)
Sticky notes
Whiteboard (optional)

At Junoteam, we’re using Dotgrid book from dotgrid.vn

Sketches leave ideas open and give the designer the chance to read into them further. When you stop worrying and allow your ideas to expand, you’ll discover how enjoyable it is to sketch. Learn to always start with your pen and paper, and you’ll be surprised at your tons of ideas. You’ll wonder why you didn’t do this before. Don’t limit yourself, just play around with your lovely pencil.

2. Quick, fast and rough

It only takes a few hours to create many sketches and it’s super easy to stick up a sketch in the middle of a process to help describe an idea. You won’t know whether your first idea is the best until you explore others. If you find something you like more, you’ll hope that you didn’t waste 8 hours on the computer for a bad logo, website or just an icon.

Wireframe design by Nguyen Doan from Junoteam.

3. Discover more ideas

Some of the best ideas start with a sketch. Sketching is a powerful tip because it always helps discover the best ideas and solutions to a design problem.

Sushi app icon sketches by Kaizen Nguyen from Junoteam.

It is difficult and waste of time to ‘modify’ or ‘edit’ a complex design in photoshop/illustrator without ruining the details. So that’s a reason why sketching will remain an important step in the design and development process.

4. A great tool for brainstorming ideas with teammates

It’s lucky to work in the talent community but each person has a specific skill which we can learn and grow from each other through these skills.

So the best way to work through a tough issue or asking for ideas is to stand at a whiteboard and sketch it out with the teammates, putting a sketch out there really helps you get other people’s opinions. At Junoteam, we love to learn from others all the time through any way possible and sketching is one of our best tools to describe the ideas and explain design concepts.

5. An efficient way for communicating with clients

At Junoteam, we update to our clients in all of the steps of the design.

We don’t like the “big change” because when you don’t share the process, the end result is often a disappointment. Your clients might not give you more time to design another option because they realize you have a non-efficient working process. We always show clients some of best sketches to describe our ideas and how the process goes. The client and we can then focus on two or three best ideas and create more sketches or take those straight to the computer.

6. Sketch is for any type of design

From magazine to books to business cards to websites, mobile apps, every design project should start with a sketch. At Junoteam, whether it’s icon, logos or websites, always start with paper and pencil.

If you are designing a web page, why don’t you sketch the wireframe first? if you convince yourself to design a digital version with a first idea then you might have to spend time working on something that is not useful.

Web wireframe design by Ga Huy from Junoteam.

Lastly, you don’t have to be an artist to produce your sketches

It doesn’t have to be perfect because this’s is not an art contest. Sketching is a brainstorming tool that can help you to explore more ideas, layouts and shapes before finalising the process of design.

Not everyone at Junoteam is good at drawing, let’s show you some examples:

Logo sketches by Nguyen Doan from Junoteam.

And this’s a final design, please check the detailed design here

Another sketch by Nguyen Doan.

How he turned it to a digital version.

Music app icon design by Tuong Duong from Junoteam.

Make it a part of your routine, it’s time to let your creative ideas flow. Don’t limit yourself.