36 questions about Design sketching | Part 2

Hello !
Today, it’s time to publish the 2nd part of the questions you have sent to me these last few weeks! (We’ll cover 36 questions)

Because I want you to progress much faster but also happier, I have prepared an online course where you will learn how to sketch within a community of passionates! You will progress much further getting feedbacks from your pairs and myself! So you won’t have to struggle studying alone and you won’t stagnate anymore!!

I have just confirmed the exact timing! I invite you to book in your agenda the Wednesday 1st February for our first FACEBOOK LIVE! to celebrate the opening of the New Creative program 2017: “BRING YOUR SKETCH ALIVE!!”

Take note of your timezone below,
and see you on next week for the Live! on Wednesday 1st February!
Los Angeles: 7am
New York: 10am
Brazil: 1pm
London:  3pm
France: 4pm
New Dehli: 8.30pm
Singapore: 11pm
Japan: Midnight!

There will be a Q&A session, so you can ask me anything! And I will answer you on the spot. Grab your invitation today!

Let’s start !

37. Steven Martinez, 26, USA, Design/Engineering Student. How to come up with sneaker concepts a lot quicker.

I am not sure what you mean about concept here. But it you are looking for story, keep in mind the user. A basketball player won’t get the same needs as football player for example – or even people who wear shoes casually. Try to focus on one feature, and brainstorm a story around. If you are looking for a running shoe for marathon, you may think of lightness. Then explore from there different materials, or ideas realated to it (feather, thin skin, mesh, polysthyrene, velocity, rebound… and so on)

Start you research from ideas, and translate them into sketches. Feel free to use reference pictures to get inspired from. Try to feel the expression of lines from nature or existing products.

38. John Tollefsen, 55, Norway, electrical engineer
Give advice how to improve for someone who has given up drawing several times because of no progress.

I would say get an entourage who help and support you. Nobody succeed alone.

39. NIKITA,24, India , Im a telecom engineer and lover of product design
How to make one product look realistic specially through shading.

Having a good understanding of light is essential. To make it more realistic, you may work on the boucing light from the ground, but also the ambient light as well. They are very subtle, but they will level up your rendering.

40. Pascal, 30 from Switzerland. How long did it take to become a sketcher like you are now?

41. Joseph, I am 21 and I study Product Design at Bristol Uni.
Whilst sketching is invaluable, is traditional marker pen rendering going to be overtaken by digital rendering in the near future?

I see more people colouring scanned images in photoshop or sketching from the Wacom. It makes sense because it saves paper, the images are editable and workflow becomes more efficient. Is this where design sketching is going?

Each company has its own way. As long as you can express your ideas it’s fine. But it’s true that softwares allow you to make quick change of colours, textures, and many other things that it’s worth going on digital. If you love markers, go ahead. They give instant results, and you can always mix them with digital tools as well.

42. Simone, I’m a 28 years old Italian mechanical engineer.
There are a lot of questions I would like to ask you:

a- I’d like to enroll in a new degree in Industrial design but I don’t have time, do you think I can learn just reading and studying by myself?

Alone will be really tough. If you wanna get a greater level, you got to surround yourself with other designers. Try to see if there is school giving a degree after one year of study. There are especially made for professionals.

b- Is it possible to create connections and work just “selling” sketches? I work all day long with surfacing in NX, but I think I don’t have time to surface also as a freelancer during the nights.. In a first stage I would like to start working only on sketches.

Yes it’s possible. I myself have no clue about 3D software.

c- How can I find some interesting project to start with? I always need motivation!

You may need to wire your inspiration with creative people. You may visit the website www.designboom.com for example. You will see a lot of student designer competition.  You may also want to participate and choose a subject you like. It’s fascinating! And you may win a prize !!

d- What is the best way to build a first portfolio starting from zero?

Keep all your sketches. Produce your work an later on compile them for your portfolio. I recommend you to work on topic that truly passionate you. You may aslo look at your own hobbies. You love Ice skating ? Think about a new Ice skating set !
To know more: I want to apply for a design school, but I have no portfolio

e – What is the common flow during the design process?

You got the design creative process detailed here: https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/tip-120-how-to-present-a-project-to-your-design-company/

f- The internet is full of great designers, also 20yo and I’m quite new to this world and not so young, how can I understand if I have some chances?

Don’t compare yourself to others from your age. Age does not matter. Anybody has his chance.

There is 2 types of people. The first type focus on “Oh, that will be difficult, it’s not worth trying”. The other type will say: “Oh! That’s difficult, but not impossible, so there is a chance !!” If you step on your dream, for sure 100% chance you will fail. But all people who succeed, are the one who tried and believed it was possible. The best indicator of success, is your passion intensity. If you are fear, it’s ok. Only passion will give you the strenght to keep going.

g – I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I always end up with not showing my works. What is the best ramp up for a new designer like me?

Perfectionist are the best procrastinator. Hehe.
Keep going keep failing. Think like that: a mistake is not a failure. It’s a feedback. To become a designer, you got to accept growing step by step and iterate on your mistakes. have you ever seen anybody play piano with no training ? I guess never. That’s the same for sketching. It’s a life long journey that will give you a lot of surprises along the way ! Take it as a game. More you play, higher your level will rise.  🙂

43. Achyutanand Upadhyay, 21, student

Is it necessary to take admission in good design college. Because best design college are hard to crack..???

Look for a school that suit your philosophy. To me, a good school would emphasise on people and innovation – instead of marketing and business skills.

44. Mei yu / Mj, Philippines, 2d environment and character artist/ concept artist / illustrator
How do you get through studying the fundamentals, without getting stuck in a study rut? XD because sometimes it’s too repetitive and you don’t know if you’re ready or not to do the real illustration. D:

If you wanna learn how to swim, you gotta jump in the water! So anytime you can start drawing and practice what you have learnt.

45. Lucas Hippolyte, 16 years old, France, student
I would like to continue to share my sketches and learn even more !

Hey Lucas!! Sure, I am pretty sure you will enjoy the New program “Bring you Sketch Alive!” where you can share your sketches with the community!
Lucas is the youngest student of my course. He was 15 when he started. You may look at his fast progression here: Before After 3 months of Sketch like the Pros 

46. Ankit,25,India,Preparing for design college for post graduate course,have graduated in mechanical engineering and love design thinking.
What are your hobbies besides sketching?

I love watching movies in cinema!! However I have no TV, as I rather spend this time at other things. I start going to gym 4 times a week.

47. Andrea Vázquez, 23 years old, I´m from Mexico and I’m a software programmer. Were you born with the gift of drawing or was it through drawing classes?

When I was 22, it was obvious I had no innate talent. I was 1 year younger than you today. I learned at my Design School from the different courses we had. It was tough because we never really have a proper sketching class all along the years. I had great teachers, but I wished spending more hours with them. With my classmates we had to figure out a lot of issues and interrogation. It was tough, but we was so passionate!
To know more: The sketches I did for my entry exam for my design school

48. Reyna M. Rodriguez,23,USA, CA, work part time, draw, paint, sculpt, create. Do you have any tips on digital painting? Would you recommend the adonit jot and sense brush stylus?

Painting like Dusso is not my specialty. I had friends who used his technique for their degree presentation. It was super cool!
I would not recommend the Adonit at all. I bough 2 of them, and had a bad experience with it.

Nowadays you got the Pencil from Ipad Pro. You may also consider this upcoming pen from Scriba at http://www.getscriba.com/. you can squeeze it to make it reactive to pressure. I have not try it personnally, but it’s definitely worth checking it!
My personal preference is still the S-pen on Samsung Pro Note. The pen is a bit too thin though, so I hacked it by inserting it in a retractable pen body. One day I should publish a foto of it on the blog. 🙂

49. Paras Kapoor from India. It is been 21 years for me being here on this planet 😊 . I am persuing B.E (mechanical) and further wish to do M.Des. (Transportation, interactive or product design) from NID or IISC or IIT in india. As i mentioned M.Des. , the whole procedure of admission acc. To me is quiet much complicated. CEED and DAT exams + following the desired colleged for admission + my B.E will be completed in 2018 and i will be giving exam afterwards so if i start inquiries right now it will be senseless. Bro. . . . Its complicated Tell me a bit about it and if you find any M.des. student from india please introduce me to him/her.

If there is any student from India who is studying at M.Des, please send me an email, or leave a comment below. I will be glad to put you guys in contact.
Paras, Feel free to browse on Coroflot, or Linkdin if there is any student or alumni. Then just them an email directly. I am sure they will be happy to help you.

50. Larry W Lockett Jr. / 31/ USA / Solider, Engineer, ID Student, Husband
How long does it take for the typical student to become good at sketching?

Oh, got answer this question in the previous article, question 5. 

 51. Zaid Siddiqui, 28 ,India , Mechanical Engineer. Will be able to collaborate like in forums like DevianArt

Hello Zaid ! (One of my student too)
The new program “Bring Your Sketch Alive!, the Private club for designers” will allow you to get interractin between members and share your sketches.

52. Mohsin. Pakistan. Teacher (IT). How to convert sketching into a hobby?

I believe if you wanna become a designer, don’t consider it as a hobby, but a passion like an addiction.
To know more
Tip 73: Sketching is not a hobby, but a passion.

53. Cris Weer, 39, Born German, Paris, New York, and now Bangkok and Guangzhou. No question, maybe where your name is from.

54. Jon Zufiaurre from Basque Country. I am a young design engineer of 22 years.
Which are the webs you use to inpsire or de magazines you read to learn more or people you follow? Any job for beginners? ;P

To know more:
9 must see creative websites for designers
7 Colour and graphic websites to get inspired from for your mood board

A good trick when you look for job is to reverse the situation. Don’t think I need a job, so I wish somebody will hire me. Instead, start thinking like: I am an opportunity, I want them to wish hiring me. Whenever in the interview they ask you what do you expect from the job or internship. Do not tell them what you want for yourself, but what you will bring to them. Does it make sense? :

55. Alexandra. I live in Moscow, Russia. I am 27 years old, I have husband and 2 little babies. I graduated medical school in 2012. 

a- How did you study design?

At my Design School in Paris, at CREAPOLE-ESDI. I did a master degree. My recommendation is that even if you enroll a school, don’t expect them to teach you everything you need about sketching. They will teach you a lot about creativity, however about sketching, you will need to explore a lot by yourself. As an aspiring designer, you already have to become a problem solver.

b- I bought Wacom Intuos pro. Is it possible to use it for your course? Or lists of paper is better?

Paper is the number one choice. However, you can go on tablet anytime to study in parrallel.

57. Philip, 30,Hong Kong, art & design. Why you became drawing expert and kindly to share your talent?

58. Juan, 40, Spain, Naval Architect & Marine Engineer. For the project you are planing via Facebook: Is it needed to have a Facebook account? (I don´t have one)

59. Luix Vargas, Chile, shoe technician and designer. What is your motivation to share your knowledge?

When I was student, I had hard time to look for information. Today, I wish helping you guys rising your level much faster than I did so you can get super well prepared for your career.

60. Milind.23 from India. Can you teach rendering?

Yes I can. I would be happy to.

61. Marco here, 42 years old from Italy. I’m a designer in an aircraft seats company.
How can i improve my drawing skill?

The best tip is to study sketching fundamentals and practice them a lot till they become a second nature.

62. Stuart Denigan, 35, Australia, furniture designer maker and currently a design technology teacher in private senior school. How do you get inspiration to design and sketch from?

I first look at the user. This is where you find most of the answer. A designer is first an observer. So look at how you user react, feel, live, interract with others. So you can gather precious data for your design.

a- Can you please send me any tutorials how to use it?

Sure, I could think about publishing some.

b- Do you use Photoshop or Sketchbook Pro?

Both of them! It depends of my mood lol.

c- What 3D software do you use?

None. But if you want to study 3D software, I would recommend you Rhino 3D and Solidworks.

64. Ale, Italy, 39yo, UI designer and front-end developer
How can you manage to find the time to sleep? 😀

Hahaha, when I was student I fell asleep in the subway. Every morning, I knew I got 22 minutes of extra nap. I preyed having a seat!

65. Zero, 23, China, I’m applying for design master degree. I wonder how you think when sketching.

That’s an interesting question! I would say I always start visualise my fundamental rules before starting. A lot of them became automatic. But when I feel something looks wrong, I go back to them and fix it.

66. Im Vignesh (22) form India. Im working as a software engineer in an IT company. What made you keep on going when ever you felt exhausted (I mean the feel to give up in design field)….

I did felt exhausted, but never ever had the hint of giving up. As soon as you take a decision to be a designer, stick to it. Do not even consider the give-up option. A trick is to think like you have no safety net, so you will gain a powerful energy that will push your limits. If other people could do it. You can do it too!

67. My name is Edu, I’m 21 and I’m from Catalonia (Spain). I’m finishing my studies of Industrial Design Engineering. I don’t know how to make human parts to complement my sketches (like hands or bodies to show the usability of the product. Do you have any tip?)

Use underlay is the best shortcut. Take pictures of your hands body and so on.
Of course, if you are really willing to learn more, spend time at studying them. Decompose every single parts into basic shapes. For example a finger is equal to 3 tiny cylinders.

68. Mario van Mal, 24, Netherlands, Industrial Design Engineering student, do sports and make music. How do you come up with the important content when you have to write a paragraph/chapter/report? In other words how do you decide what information is important for a reader, to understand your product design from a report.

I never did any report for y design project. All the rpesentation I did at school or professional experience has been oral presentation. In that context, to select the important information for my audience was telling a story. Make sure you add the most valuable information and have the willing to teach something new to them. You are not there to explain something, but to make them discovering something new and awesome!
A common mistake is to talk only about your product. Wrong!! You gotta talk about the user. What makes him so specific, so you can explain what makes your product so relevant. Ok? Your presentation success will be all in this linkage.

69. I am Nathan from India. My age is 22. I am currently studying Product Design. What is the best way to keep improving sketching?

Studying your fundamentals will make you rise super fast. Dont try to take shorcuts avoiding perspective rules. They may look tricky, but that’s actually super simple learned step-by-step.
To know more:
Tip 63: Do not skip perspective

70. I’m Gianluca Gaeta, 26, from a small city near Florence, Italy. I’m studing industrial design in Florence and sometimes I have to work in order to pay university taxes. That’s it! Oh! Yeah, I really love drawing things, all kind of things. 🙂
How did you go from student to actually work as a designer? I’d really like to be part of a technology or car company!

Internship is the key. Make sure to build your portfolio as soon as possible, so you can get ready to present to professionals. Earlier you learn how to sketch, better you rise your chance to get a nice internship. If your first experiences at school have been great, it will definitely give you a super mega kickstart when you’ll graduate.

72.My name is Sumayya Hyder. I am 24. basically a software engineer, now doing communication design in Kerala, India. Can i pursue both animation and interaction design? It’s too early for me to think about that since m still in my foundation year 🙂

You gotta negotiate that with your school. My recommendation is that you don’t listen first to practical data like: higher chance of being paid, or higher chance to get a job. What matter the most is what you feel when you do these projects. What you feel when you create and help people trhough the solution you propose.