Thinking Visually – Sketchbooks

It's a topic me and my colleagues have often talked about: Is it really a turn for the worse that design process more and more is directly started on the computer? The most of us share the opinion that the excessive use of our digital companions actually determines the methods and approaches during the process. So again and again we promised each other to start and – that's the much harder challenge – consequently use a sketchbook as a tool of visually traced thinking before the computer as an assistant comes into play. Unfortunately these attempts often result in frustration and mealy stacks of nearly untouched sketchbooks just because of one becoming aware of the own shocking – as untrained – drawing skills.

Right on this topic Brooklyn based graphic designer Jason Santa Maria wrote a nicely handwritten article in his blog. He emphazises vehemently:

Sketchbooks are not about being a good artist, they're about being a good thinker.

The sketchbook as a record tool conserves spontaneous thoughts and ideas which arise from the uninhibited way of trying to visually write out what flares up in your mind. And by-and-by you'll accumulate an individual library of ideas, approaches, methods and views that may give you the decisive impulse to solve a design problem ten years later.

Very interesting: Jason started a flickr group named «Pretty Sketchy» and everyone is free to add one – and only one – spread or page from the own sketchbook. There were already a lot of wonderful spreads added. But beware! Browsing this group might result in immediately starting an own sketchbook – if you don't have one already. I for one – once more – resolved to free my books from dust and to finally do more sketches again. Maybe this might help to rescue my thesis project?!