Somebody submitted this question to my other blog (midcenturymoderndesign.tumblr.com) and I ended up
Somebody submitted this question to my other blog (midcenturymoderndesign.tumblr.com) and I ended up writing quite a long answer, so I figured I may as well post it on here, just in case it helps anyone in anyway at all! It is a very hard question to answer really, but I tried to help and be honest. My answer is below:Hi, thanks for a tough question! I’m 25 and have been a designer professionally for about three years now, after spending four years at University. So It wasn’t so long a go that I felt in a similar way. It’s interesting that you ask me about drawing specifically. Although it was once something that I enjoyed as an artistic outlet, somewhere along the line I stopped doing it as a hobby and have never really found my way with it again in that sense. Now drawing is less of an artistic pursuit for me, but as a graphic designer it is quite a functional and rational one.My advice would be this: You don’t have to be able to draw to be a designer per se, there are some areas of design that you can pursue where you don’t have to draw to succeed. However drawing is something that is very helpful as a designer, and I don’t mean the ability to do realistic drawings of what is in front of you. I mean the ability to put pen to paper and explain what it is you want to communicate, to get an idea across clearly and simply. In business jargon these are called roughs, thumbnails or sometimes scamps. Personally I do these, sometimes just for my own benefit to get my thoughts down on paper. Being able to do this to a standard where you can show somebody else and get a quick opinion is extremely helpful. Drawings can be rough, or not very accurate but still get the idea across. You can also use photography and draw on top of it to explain your design ideas at early stages.A lot of graphic design can be done without ever getting off the computer, but you don’t want to be limited to that, and often doing things by hand (not necessarily drawing) can be enjoyable and help you work differently. So being confident at doing things by hand really is a plus, but that doesn’t mean drawing realistically, it just means having enough confidence to take what you picture in your head and make it a reality in front of you by any means necessary!It is also worth considering what it is you will be drawing as a graphic designer, in design there is ‘Illustration’ and you can collaborate with Illustrators if you want something drawn to a really high standard or in a certain style. As a designer you may be drawing shapes, compositions, letters etc… these aren’t the sort of thing you would be drawing in ‘Art Class’ so it is very different. For you right now saying ‘I can’t draw’, might not cover the types of drawing that a designer does.Furthermore there is illustrating digitally, working on Adobe Illustrator with a digital pen and tablet you might find things completely different and easier! I don’t really do this much personally, but technically I’m drawing when I’m on the computer designing letterforms for typography, or constructing a logo or making graphic elements (abstract things or stylised versions of reality). Again it is unlikely that the sort of things you will be doing as a graphic designer are things you have done in a more general art class. Personally I’ve always managed to learn as I go along. Nobody expects you to know it all, you just have to have the will to make your vision come true. As a designer you are creating images, and drawing is just one of the ways to do this, or just one element of a larger piece. However if you can get better at drawing, by which I mean more confident and proficient not more realistic, then that would be very beneficial for you as a designer in the future. It may help if you practise by yourself and don’t feel like you need to show anyone your drawings, you are bound to improve naturally over time. It may even help to take pieces of graphic design that you admire and try to sketch them roughly so that you capture their essence, imagine how you would sketch them if you had to explain what they are to someone who hasn’t seen them. If you have access to a library have a look for some books about Illustration (rather than on drawing in the traditional artistic sense), some of my favourite illustrators have styles that wouldn’t be considered good drawings in an art class, and this isn’t because they can’t draw like that (they usually can though), its just that they have developed a style that is different. Some illustrators don’t even draw at all in the traditional sense, there is paper cutting, collage, painting etc… anything that creates an image.The truth is that it often comes down to confidence rather than a natural ability, personally I’m at my worst when I don’t feel very confident, when I put pen to paper it shows in my drawings. Confidence can be changed by either lots of practise or a radical shift in your mindset (e.g: - clarity is better than realism).Drawing would just be one of the skills you may be expected to develop as a design student (not something you need to be the best at before you start). If you go to study design, they will probably set you a task which involves drawing, just to push you out of your comfort zone (you wont be the only student worrying about drawing ability I can guarantee that), but sometimes this is great and its good to be challenged or scared! Any good design course should radically shake up everything you have previously been taught in a more general ‘Art’ course. Someone who is great at realistic drawings might turn out to be an awful designer. You need your brain more than your hand!I hope this helps! Apologies that this answer is so long and rambling (hopefully me being from England doesn’t mean that art/design education is completely different for you). Some designers will say oh you definitely need to be able to draw well to be a designer, others will say it doesn’t matter. But right now you are telling me you want to go to college to study and learn to be a graphic designer, so while your learning to be a designer I’m sure you will improve your drawing skills and confidence at drawing along the way! Don’t let a fear about one aspect of design stop you from becoming a graphic designer, follow your heart and naturally how you work will suit the skills you have and what you enjoy doing, in the process it may well turn out you actually have skills that you thought you didn’t have. -- source link
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