EMERGING TRENDS IN FREEHAND SKETCH USAGE WITHIN CONTEMPORARY INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PRACTICE AND EDUCATION
Year: 2024
Editor: Grierson, Hilary; Bohemia, Erik; Buck, Lyndon
Author: Mallya, Prabha; Woods, Thomas; Zhang, Wendy; Shahri, Bahareh
Series: E&PDE
Institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Page(s): 29 -40
Abstract
Traditionally, freehand sketching has proven to be an indispensable method for industrial designers to generate, develop and communicate product concepts. However, the primacy of sketching in design practice is now challenged by accelerated workflows, advances in visualisation technology, and the evolution of the discipline from a product focus to a contemporary evolutionary trend towards product systems and services. How is this evolution in practice contributing to changes in the usage of traditional forms of industrial design sketching? If so, what are the implications for the future of sketching for design? Through a broad survey of award-winning industrial designers in New Zealand, this visual paper reveals a notable evolution in professional sketch usage in the following formats: (1) low-fidelity ‘rough’ sketches; (2) medium- to high-fidelity sketches; and (3) non-traditional 'non-object' sketches. These findings are additionally compared with taught sketching content in undergraduate degrees at universities, to reveal significant differences in how educators include each of these three formats within sketching modules.
Keywords: sketching, industrial design, design practice, design education