Sketching is Our Superpower

I posted this over on my AIxCreative newsletter but thought I'd share here.

I've been sketching since I can remember. I was drawing cartoons in grade school and comic books in junior high. In high school, I embarked on the creative path, enrolled in the art program every year and competing in district art competitions. My freshman year of high school even brought me my first paid art commissions (I sketched a series of dogs for a 75 year old lady).

College came next, made possible by a scholarship stemming from my artwork. I didn’t even know what industrial design was when I first arrived at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design ! In hindsight, I believe that my sketching abilities bought me the time for my design sensibilities to catch up. Suffice it to say, sketching is a skill that I've honed my entire life.

Because it was such a prevalent part of my life, I took it for granted. A few years into my professional career, I remember attending a client meeting with my design director and mentor, Mark Kurth . I listened, took notes, but didn't sketch anything during that hour. On our drive back to the office, Mark told me,

"Remember that sketching is our superpower. Our ability to visualize things on the fly is powerful. It’s a universal language that you happen to be fluent in, which allows you to communicate in a way words just can’t. You take it for granted because it’s second nature to you, and you are around it with your coworkers. But make no mistake, it’s a rare skillset. It makes you extremely valuable."

Over time, I learned he was right. Now, I never undervalue my ability to visualize what others have a hard time seeing.

With the advent of AI tools like Midjourney, visualizing has become easier that ever. It provides people who haven't spent decades with a pen on paper, the ability to communicate with visuals.

It’s a language that I implore everyone to learn. I'll take on the role of Mark now and tell you that the ability to visualize will make you that much more valuable, and it’s never been easier to bring those ideas to life.

Now, does my ~40 years of sketching now hold no value?

I’d argue it's the opposite. By sketching for so long, you learn so much about light, shadows, forms, proportions, composition. You learn to visualize feelings. To get ideas across. So no, if you’re a visual communicator, you’ll do just fine with the added enhancement these programs provide. It will make you a visual superhuman!

And as my buddy Jake Teitelbaum reminded me, sketching is "zombie apocalypse proof. No eletricity, computer or cloud needed!"

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