Edinburgh Napier University

  Do not press undo

I believe an authentic sketchbook shows ‘the scars of ones thinking’. Not all pages need to present fully resolved solutions. I am interested in what happens to the documentation of one’s thought process when we shift from thinking with pencil and paper to thinking with stylus and screen, especially as its all too easy to hit undo and erase the provenance of the idea.

3D design students can often lack confidence to show rough sketches, dismissing their value in favour of presenting more finished/ polished works. However, through developments in mobile platforms and drawing applications it is now possible for traditional drawing skills to be seamlessly integrated into a digital production pipeline that includes sketch, visualisation, and production ready drawing packages.

This paper explores how this ‘digital arc’ has put drawing back into the hands of the designer and its impact on creative ‘work flow’.