Hand Sketching: Its Power In Web Design

“Sketching is a sense-making tool that supports the synthesis of visual imagery.”

In the age of high-tech software and sophisticated hardware, how far will hand sketching be effective in creating an awesome web design? Truth be told, there is lot more to a hand sketch than old-school charm; and a pencil has the power to bring out something hardly any Photoshop brush can – pure and unabashed downpour of creativity.

While there is a group of people who have absolute hatred for hand-sketched web design, there are also some web designers who cannot think of a life without it. Hate it or love it, I personally feel that something which is hand drawn can catapult a web design to a whole new level. Why? Here are my reasons:

#1.Taking a Load off the Mind

Research reports from psychologists suggest that putting ideas to paper (be it in any form) is better than doing the same on a machine as it helps in extending the memory of a person. Herbert Simon and Allen Newell researched a lot on External Memory of a human mind during the 1970s, and their joint venture came up to the conclusion that activities like sketching assists our External Memory. As a result, it helps us relax and releases the burden of other workloads.

#2.Enhanced Ability to Restructure Ideas

Once a web designer has come up with an idea, he can start giving it a shape inside his mind. However, the scope of improvements on the idea is limited as it is restricted inside the brain. Bringing out the idea in the form of sketching serves the External Memory and this is turn, makes the final draft more vivid. Web designers who sketch on paper are better at restructuring idea than the software users. Studies have shown that designers who sketch on paper change their targets quite often, and this helps them become more versatile while approaching the initial ideas.

#3.Effective Design Outcomes

A successful web design requires an unfaltering link between the hands, thoughts and the sources of inspiration. Most of us learn how to sketch on paper, and thus, it is easier for a web designer to conceptualize his ideas on paper as it is normally the first creative stimuli in our lives. As the brain of a web designer might find a long-lost comfort zone, chances are high that it will create a completely new approach (which is even better than designing on a machine) while playing with his creativity.

Conclusion

There is no denying the fact that there are stuffs on Photoshop and other digital tools which a web designer can never do by hand. However, the use of digital tools creates an abstracted version of the real experience. Sketching, on the other hand, is real and forms a multi-sensorial engagement.

There is a reason why children are taught to do things with their own hands. The nerves at the fingertips have a direct link with the brain, and they help in creating better impressions on the brain. This is the reason why web designers who go into a multi-sensorial experience with sketching learn better and produce faster results.