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Thought Shares

I used to skip sketching, but a client's feedback changed my mind | Drafters - Thought Shares

I used to skip sketching, but a client's feedback changed my mind

I always jumped straight into CAD for my drafting projects, thinking it was faster. Last month, a client asked for a quick sketch to see a concept before any digital work. That sketch showed me a big problem in my first idea that I would have missed on screen. Now I do rough paper sketches first, and it saves me a lot of time fixing things later. Do you ever start with hand drawings too?

4 comments

4 Comments

milesk277mo ago

Remember that feeling when you first learn a shortcut, then overuse it? I hit that with a kitchen remodel last year. My CAD layout had all the cabinets fitting perfectly, but a napkin sketch of the work triangle showed the fridge door would block the oven if both were open. That kind of spatial argument between elements just pops on paper for me. It’s not about pretty drawing, it’s about forcing your brain to slow down and argue with itself. Does the medium we choose change how we see the problem?

andrew_palmer7mo ago

You know, I actually go the other way. My brain works in 3D space, so jumping into CAD lets me spin the part around right away. A paper sketch for a complex bracket just looks like a flat puzzle to me. @uma_williams makes a fair point about catching issues, but doesn't staring at a blank page sometimes waste more time if you're not a natural drawer? The screen feels like a faster blank page for my ideas.