quickly sketching things out lets you explore ideas, rather than getting caught up in how to properly execute (or trying to figure out if you can execute) that idea on the computer.

The key also is speed. You're less inhibited … it allows you to quickly get concepts out without feeling like you're invested in perfecting that idea. Perfect the idea after you do 100 or more sketches and you find which one is worth focusing on, rather than wasting time focusing on a fewer number of ideas.

Just yesterday I needed to make an icon for something at work … it was fairly low profile, but I knocked out 35 sketches in about 5-10 minutes. Came up with one that worked, IMO, and executed it in another 10 minutes. Done deal. Whereas if I had gone to computer, it would have taken me much longer and I would have been more focused on tweaking the "ideas" rather than concepting. It puts the focus more on the concept (where it should be) than on the execution at that stage. After the concept is decided, then you can focus on execution.

This article, illustrates some of that reasoning as well as giving more information behind why it's a valuable part of the process.

When people go right to the computer, they automatically become too focused on getting lines and curves and color just right. The point of sketching is not to make something that looks good, but to get ideas out of your head as quickly as possible. A logo sketch for example shouldn't take more than 15-20 seconds each. It allows you to visually see right away whether or not an idea is worth pursuing. Once you come up with a few good concepts, then you can refine the lines a little on paper. The computer should only be for the final product.

I suppose you could use a tablet and sketch that way.
The idea is not to get bogged down in the toolbox execution of a design.

Plus, a lot of designers aren't 100% familiar with everything their design software can do. If you take off the limit of knowing the software by using a pencil, you can envision anything, then go about figuring out how to actually execute it later.

I often get requests for quote for projects where the designer says, "we want it to look like this, can you give us print options on how to do it."

Don't limit your imagination.

As the others have stated, for me...It's about speed. When I work in Illy, PS, or any other application I am working on something and it's very easy to get bogged down in the details. But, when you are drawing on paper, the only thing you have is your hand and imagination. There is nothing to hold you back, and you can always add little notes on colors, etc.

I always suggest that you start with a brainstorm. A blank sheet of paper with a heading. After that, I just write down my feelings, thoughts, etc about the topic. From there, I pick out the important and all encompassing thoughts, and start drawing thumbnails. Then, I pick out the best ones and work on those a little more before going to the computer.

The key here, again, for me is speed. I can work faster on paper. So, while I'm not getting bogged down, my brain gets one idea after the other out on paper...then...it's out of my head.

My teacher explained it this way...when you write down a thought, or a drawing, that idea is gone, making way for another idea. That first idea is the simplest idea, but not the best one. Only by working through the process can you discover the best idea for the project.

Nice article, Craig.

Thanks MS. Sketching, IMO, is invaluable.

The computer limits the brainstorming process because people tend to get caught up with perfecting an idea rather than brainstorming.

Say you wanted to make a shopping list for a party you're going to have. Is it faster to get ideas down quickly and move onto the next item by writing them down, or do you go out and buy each item before thinking about what else to add to your list?

Getting your ideas out quickly onto paper means you can just as quickly discard the first 10 or even 20 as "too obvious". Once you get out the stupidly cliche ideas, you can start dreaming up the smart ideas. But if you have everything swimming in your head at once and all memorised, it's much harder to sort.

OK, I understand. Thanks, ya'll.