Posts categorized: Graphics

Hand Drawings in Urban, Building, Interior and Product Design

While we explore digital techniques to engage clients in the design process, we are still a big supporter of traditional hand drawings. Below are the reasons:

1. Freedom: Free hand drawings are not limited by dimensions, numbers and commands. Designers get to let lose in the process and commit to the big ideas before getting caught up in technique.
2. Clarity: Knowing that we cannot copy and paste by hand, designers tend to draw only the overall impression rather than crowding the paper with unnecessary details.
3. Time: It allows designers to be the master of the design. When designers use computers, people expect the result to be instant; When designers draw by hand, people enjoy seeing the progress as part of the art making. We become the master of our profession rather than the slave of the computer.
4. Intimacy: Hand drawings train designers to think in 3d. Counter intuitively, working in digital 3d model doesn’t make people better in spatial design. The ability to simplify 3d data into 2d drawings is the skill that makes architects special.
5. Value: Hand drawings have money value in terms of art collection. We can hang it in the office. It can also be traded, but digital drawings doesn’t carry the same value as a piece of artwork.
6. Copyright: It is very unlikely for people to steal images or ideas from a hand drawing. Much like a signature, it has authenticity. Rendering tends to get copied and pasted multiple times on the internet without crediting the author.

Below is a set of hand drawings documenting various projects from 50km city design to 0.5m product design. Some text and image cropping were done digitally.