All About Product Design Sketching

Webbies

• April 24, 2020
• 3 min read
• Design
• Design Development Graphic HTML UI/UX

SKETCHING PRODUCT DESIGN

Remember the days when sketching, drawing, and coloring was your favorite childhood activity? Little did you know that these favorite activities are going to be a vital part of your product designing process. Sketching product design represents one of the visual methods in which your product is presented. 

Sketches speak louder than words for many product designers. These sketches serve as one of the best platforms to brainstorm and generate new ideas. This helps in product aesthetics and functionality. Product design articulation via sketch eases the product development process. This paves the way for a systematic designing approach.

We at Webbies have often reaped the benefits of product sketching which has made our designing process organized. This led to efficient communication and the exchange of ideas between designers and clients. 

All you need are the following materials and you are good to go 

1. A sketchbook 
2. 3 grey markers
3. A couple of primary (red blue etc) and secondary (green orange etc)  color markers. ( Faber Castle or prisma color markers) 
4. Black fine liners 
5. Highlighters     

Some amazing apps for product sketching: 

1. Autodesk sketchbook (ios)
2. Paper by FiftyThree (ios)
3. Procreate (ios)
4. Evernote 
5. Adobe Illustrator Draw (android)
6. Dotpict (android)
7. ArtFlow (android)

5 SKETCH TYPES YOU CAN ATTEMPT TO EASE THE PRODUCT DESIGN PROCESS: 

1. IDEATION SKETCHES:   

A quick 2D sketch which gives us a rough idea about the product design. Personally used by designers before they create the fair draft.  

2. REFERENTIAL SKETCHES:

Observational sketches of product design used for future reference.

3. MEMORY SKETCHES:

Minute sketches of product elements and parts which will be useful for recollection later. 

4. INFORMATION SKETCH :

2D visual representations for non-designers. Management and stakeholders understand the functionality and nuances of the product design. This is a detailed sketch that is labeled and explanatory. 

5. PERSUASIVE SKETCHES:

These are some of the final and finishing 2D sketches for the audience for demonstration. 

5  QUICK TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCT SKETCHING SKILLS: 

1. KNOW YOUR PENCIL MOVEMENT : 

Mechanical pencils are often recommended alongside normal pencils. Holding the lower end of the pencil produces darker markings and the upper-end hold produces lighter markings  

2. AVOID SMUDGING YOUR PRODUCT SKETCHES:

Put a paper underneath your sketch to minimize smudging. A crisp neat sketch is mandatory in the product design process.   

3. 70/30 RULE WORKS IN MOST CASES:

Less is more always. 30 percent of your sketch zooms into the major elements and 70 percent fillers. This creates focus and attention to details    

4. MAXIMIZE SYMMETRY BUT NOT ENTIRELY: 

Symmetry is attractive but 100 percent symmetry makes the design flat and boring. Perfect balance of symmetry and asymmetry is what makes the sketch functional and appealing.   

5. PROTOTYPE AND SHARE:

Always draw a draft sketch of the product and share it with your team for recommendations. Also share it with your clients to ensure changes in design elements are implemented in the sketching stage itself. 

Webbies is a designing and innovation company and product design sketching is one of the major parts of our designing process.