Art Drawing versus Design Drawing.

There are two types of drawing: drawing stuff that you can see in front of you (a form of recording) and drawing stuff that you imagine.

Drawing from sight (where the object is front of you) is mostly associated with Science and Art.

Drawing from imagination (where the object is an idea in your head) is mostly associated with Design tasks.

Designers give form to things. That process is a process of creation.

So why do designers draw?

1.      To get an idea that is in your head out of your head so that you can think of another idea.

2.      To store an idea so that you can refer to it later.

3.      To help resolve a partially formed idea. Ideas are often incomplete – drawing the incomplete idea out helps to resolve the unfinished parts of the idea. By putting down what you know you can fill in the blanks.

4.      To get another idea. Once an idea is drawn its presence on paper helps to evoke another idea.

5.      To act as a guide while you are manufacturing the artefact.

6.      To show other people to get their help and viewpoints about your idea.

7.      To maintain a record of ideas enabling you to understand your own idea developmental progress.

Why are people who can draw sometimes called creative?

Drawing is particularly useful when you are trying to bring something into being. It acts as a tool that helps you solve problems. As you draw  you partially evaluate ideas as the ideas appear on the paper and more ideas are sparked in the brain leading the designer into idea spaces not previously envisaged. In this contest a “creative leap” can occur. Thoughts, drawing skill, the drawings themselves  and an evaluation process feed each other enabling greater, wider, deeper perhaps creative exploration of the problem to be solved than could have been possible without drawing.