sketching – DesignApplause

Carl regehr: the lost journals.

Oct 25, 2012

Carl Regehr, Chicago graphic designer in 1960s and ’70s, name always comes up when discussing either Chicago design history, graphic design teachers, or sketching. Last year his daughter, Jana Regehr-Armstrong, discovered a trove of his journals, and another Chicago graphic designer, Jack Weiss, has edited them down to a compact, 154-page volume called Carl Regehr: The Lost Journals. The book features the designer’s sketches and notes interspersed with remembrances by his colleagues and students.

Regehr came to Chicago in 1953; by 1960 he started his own design shop, which turned out witty, sophisticated work for corporations and nonprofits. Regehr collaborated with theater director Shozo Sato, for whom he designed posters. An example of a concept sketch to reality poster is the 1981 Wisdom Bridge Theatre production of Sato’s Kabuki Macbeth, a bloodred arm rises upward out of a gold kimono, its hand where the wearer’s head should be. From 1972 until his death in 1983, Regehr taught design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Carl Regehr: The Lost Journals Book release Friday, 26 October, 6-9 PM, Wright, 1440 West Hubbard. The release party coincides with the [ STA’s 85th anniversary ]

The concept of sketching in today’s digital world is sometimes overlooked. Here’s something to think about [ sketchy thinking ]

Sketchy thinking 2.

Feb 8, 2011

good sketcher says, “sketching is a must! bad sketcher says ”sketching isn’t all that important, what about model making?” (left) renzo piano.

“I have so much to say about this that I will be quiet and just sketch…” [architect]

“A designer who can’t sketch is like a journalist who can’t write!” ( nike creative director )

“A couple of good points, but it still doesn’t negate that sketching well is the cost of entry. I think this piece explains why sketching isn’t just important to get a job, but an essential part of the the process.” ( comment )

resources:
randy shear
douglas wittnebel
sketchy thinking

about randy shear

Sketchy thinking.

Mar 9, 2009

above: illustrator serge bloch // “a designer who can’t sketch is like a journalist who can’t write!” ~ nike creative director // editors note: this post amended 14 november 2018.

Slowing the thought process down
Does sketching provide an advantage at the critical product collaborative phase with the client ? While computers can explore options quickly, sketching slows the design process down which is also desirable because clients like getting involved earlier in the concept and the sketch seems to do that.

above: ray eames, sketch of chairs, Source: Eidelberg M et al. the eameslounge chair: an icon of modern design

above: sketchbooks by hiro kurata

above: sunbeam toaster and a hair clipper by alfonso Iannelli (1888-1965)

above: henry p. glass (1911-2003)

above: john samsen

above: hugh ferriss ( 1889 – 1962 )

above: eero saarinen ( 1910 – 1962 )

above: asif ahmed, student, flux energy elixir workup

I teach a graphic design course, Introduction to Graphic Design at Columbia College Chicago, comprised of graphic design, advertising, and illustration students. It’s a semester-long assignment where they have to create a product/service, name it, design a logo, create five marketing mix concepts, a complex design solution that involves both graphic and product thinking. This course for me was a bit of a revelation regarding the designer vs illustrator comparison: though all students will be sketching concepts, design and advertising majors tend to conceptualize on the computer while illustrators rely on drawing skills to concept as illustrator asif ahmed demonstrates above. asif’s concept exploration also seemed to draw him more into hypothetical branding touchpoint applications.

Am I a good sketcher? There were no computers for my earlier jobs but I had some skills. Today I can relate more closely to bloch and eames.

Select comments from resources below:
Good sketcher says, “Sketching is a must! Bad sketcher says ”Sketching isn’t all that important, what about model making?!” // “A couple of good points, but it still doesn’t negate that sketching well is the cost of entry. I think this piece explains why sketching isn’t just important to get a job, but an essential part of the the process.” // “Drawing is very closely linked to thinking, and building something in your head.” ~ architect

Resources:
sketchy thinking 2 / DesignApplause
a private view
vintage concept sketches
questioning the cult of the sketch
hugh ferriss, delineator of gotham
types of drawings
designing for humans
why products fail
michael bierut: five secrets from 86 notebooks / added 14 nov 18