The Sketch

Abstract

The article presents information on a sketch. A sketch is a two-dimensional record of an idea as well as a useful communication tool for industrial designers and other members of a product development team. It can be produced by dragging a pencil on paper, a stylus across the computer screen, or both. It can communicate a function, a user's concerns, a mechanical movement, and even an emotion. Industrial Design education has welcomed and successfully adapted to the techniques of computer-aided design, computer modeling, rapid prototyping, and computer interface design. The generation and communication of ideas is something that industrial designers are expected to contribute to the product development team and, as such, the sketch is a valuable tool. There are several sketching techniques that industrial designers employ to aid the development of ideas. Prior to placing the pen to the paper, the designer needs to focus on a product issue and control criticism. From this point, the designer will generate as many ideas as time and the project schedule will allow. Some of the sketching techniques that may be employed by a designer are also mentioned in the article.