How Sketching on Paper Can Change Your Designs
1Many web designers prefer to put their ideas on paper before even thinking of how to code a layout, therefore I thought of showing everybody what process these type of designers follow. It is always a good idea to put your ideas on paper because, as you will see in this article, a design can totally be changed and improved by the end of such a process. Starting on paper has its own disadvantages as well, because not everything you sketch there can actually be coded, but we will take an in-depth look at this right away.
The pen, paper and pencil are the best friends of a designer, I’ve heard someone say few years ago. Yes, we live in the digital era today and we have Photoshop and InDesign, but why not still do it the old way if it works for us?
Sketching on paper is a part of the design process, but also a part of the pre-planning. Even after a short briefing with the client you still come home with a bunch of ideas. If you open Photoshop immediately and design a layout without planning in advance, the result might not be the best. The best way of starting is putting ideas down on paper first and then making a basic sketch of what you think the design should look like. This will spare a lot of work and frustration later on when you normally have to make key decisions – this time you won’t, because all the key decisions have already been made in pre-planning.
Start by marking the key words of the project to distinguish the company from the others and describe the desired result as precise as possible. When you start to think of the graphic part, these keywords will help you a lot to stay focused. You can do this in a list and maybe even arrange the keywords by importance.
This is in the manual of each web designer and has to be done every time we start designing for a company or a client, regardless of their type or requirements. Starting this long process by being disciplined will help you a lot in the future steps.
The second step is the creative process, which is an intermediate step between the briefing and the process of creating a layout. Everything from colors, fonts, ideas, boxes, inspiration, images to sensations, mood boards or textures are planned here. You have to put them down on paper during this second step.
Going through this process seriously will help you get rid of those periods in which you end up with a blank document in Photoshop and have no idea on how or where to begin. Set the guidelines now and use them later when you actually create the product. Doing those things on paper gives a good start and allows you to work in a more spontaneous way, stimulating your imagination and creativity.
If the project you are working on is a long-term one and rich of small details, then starting on paper is critical. Put ideas down, analyze them, start tracing abstract design patterns, see how they look and get familiar with the layout you plan to provide. On paper it is much easier to erase and then start again than in Photoshop or any other graphic program, where it all takes too much time. Use Photoshop only for the final layout.
The third and last step is the process of actually creating the layout, and lately it is very popular to bring aspects of the sketches in the design. There are lots of examples on the internet and we will take a look at some of them soon, where designers combine the digital world with paper and pencil. This brings a new dimension to web design and such spontaneous layouts are always appreciated.
Sure, implementing such combinations is not easy and I do not think everybody can make it properly, but if you spend a lot of time on it and follow this process through, you might be able to do it. It is important to be creative, but discipline is crucial as well. Here there are some examples of very good designs inspired and changed by the simple pen and paper technique.
As you can see, all these pages have elements which were found through this process of sketching on paper. There is no doubt about the fact that their designs are unique and very difficult to copy, and will stay in your mind for a long time. This is how the sketching on paper process can help you.
Bottom line
To sum it up I will advise you, as always, to try following this process at least once. You will see that it brings good results and less frustration. The moments with no sign of inspiration will be less and you can focus much more on improving the layout than creating it.
Sketching has to be a habit for you afterwards, you will realize how much it helps and you won’t drop it again, I promise.
What do you think about sketching before actually starting the design process? Have you ever done it before, or will you? If you don’t plan on doing it, why is that?
Great Post, I fully agree with you on this you will find a lot of people have forgotten about the old pencil and paper but people should embrace it more to help them fully understand what they want to gain out of what ever project they are looking at developing/designing.