This is a great question actually. “Do I have to start designing with hand sketches and diagrams, or can I just go directly into 3d modeling and computer programs?” The answer will really vary from person to person.  We all work in different ways, and honestly it is nice to switch things up every once and a while.  Here a few ways I begin in my design process.   1. The Hand Sketch/Diagram For me, I love hand sketching.  Any time I have an idea, I will sketch it out by hand in my sketchbook.  It is pretty effective in getting my thoughts recorded quickly.  I like to draw many iterations of the same idea and even try to make pieces of artwork and mixed media to enhance my drawings and promote divergent thinking.  I also write a lot.  I write key words and terminology into my designs to remind me what things mean, like writing — “Humility?” — next to a space that I want people to feel very humble. This is a pretty unique trait to hand drawing.  It allows you to think differently.  The words give meaning to the forms and space.  When you are designing in Sketchup, you would have to stop modeling to write those things down, and then the ideas are kept in two different places. 2. 3D Computer Modeling However, sometimes I have been thinking about my design for a week before I even start to work on it and I want to go directly into production mode.  I make a model in SketchUp to get my ideas into 3D form quickly.  I am able to get sections, plans, elevations, and perspectives from this.  The cool thing about this is that you can print out portions of your 3d model and draw over them to create hybrid drawings.  This gives you the best of both worlds. — No matter what you do, or which method you decide to begin with, the basic principals still apply.  Determine a reason for doing.  Develop a parti or concept as a main driver, and continue to work that idea throughout the entire design process.   An average project has: A Vehicle - Your process and methods of construction. Starting point - Your Parti or Concept. Journey - Your experiments, trial and error, models, drawings, etc. Pre-conceived Destination -  Idea of what you want it to be. Final Destination - Where the product is when you decide to stop.
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This is a great question actually.

“Do I have to start designing with hand sketches and diagrams, or can I just go directly into 3d modeling and computer programs?”

The answer will really vary from person to person.  We all work in different ways, and honestly it is nice to switch things up every once and a while.  Here a few ways I begin in my design process.  

1. The Hand Sketch/Diagram

For me, I love hand sketching.  Any time I have an idea, I will sketch it out by hand in my sketchbook.  It is pretty effective in getting my thoughts recorded quickly.  I like to draw many iterations of the same idea and even try to make pieces of artwork and mixed media to enhance my drawings and promote divergent thinking.  I also write a lot.  I write key words and terminology into my designs to remind me what things mean, like writing — “Humility?” — next to a space that I want people to feel very humble.

This is a pretty unique trait to hand drawing.  It allows you to think differently.  The words give meaning to the forms and space.  When you are designing in Sketchup, you would have to stop modeling to write those things down, and then the ideas are kept in two different places.

2. 3D Computer Modeling

However, sometimes I have been thinking about my design for a week before I even start to work on it and I want to go directly into production mode.  I make a model in SketchUp to get my ideas into 3D form quickly.  I am able to get sections, plans, elevations, and perspectives from this.  The cool thing about this is that you can print out portions of your 3d model and draw over them to create hybrid drawings.  This gives you the best of both worlds.

—

No matter what you do, or which method you decide to begin with, the basic principals still apply.  Determine a reason for doing.  Develop a parti or concept as a main driver, and continue to work that idea throughout the entire design process.  

An average project has:

A Vehicle - Your process and methods of construction.

Starting point - Your Parti or Concept.

Journey - Your experiments, trial and error, models, drawings, etc.

Pre-conceived Destination -  Idea of what you want it to be.

Final Destination - Where the product is when you decide to stop.

#46 Never underestimate the power of design. Will I become an architect after I graduate?  Is this really what you want to do?  Am I ready for the commitment, the all-nighters, and the sacrifices I will have to make to become an architect?  Will this all be worth it? Who knows? But one thing that is undeniable is that the power of design is getting more noticed and more substantial every day.  Architecture school teaches you more than just how to design space and how to make drawings and models, it teaches you how to think like a designer.  It teaches you how to look deeply into things and create something from absolutely nothing. You learn how look at the world in a different way, and being able to see the world through the eyes of a designer is such a powerful tool in life.  You get to expand your imagination and the experiences and things you will learn through school will open up so many avenues for you later in life.   Yes, the end goal of architecture school is to become an architect, but there is so much more to it.  A keen sense of design, especially in a world driven by an aesthetic platform such as the internet, will allow you to pursue more than just architecture.   It is almost as if we become doctors of the visual realm to make the world a beautiful place to live. Its pretty cool.  :) “Life of a designer is a life of fight, fight against the ugliness, just like a doctor fights against disease. For us, the visual disease is what we have around, and what we try to do is to cure it somehow with design.”   - Massimo Vignelli
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#46 Never underestimate the power of design.

Will I become an architect after I graduate?  Is this really what you want to do?  Am I ready for the commitment, the all-nighters, and the sacrifices I will have to make to become an architect?  Will this all be worth it?

Who knows?

But one thing that is undeniable is that the power of design is getting more noticed and more substantial every day.  Architecture school teaches you more than just how to design space and how to make drawings and models, it teaches you how to think like a designer.  It teaches you how to look deeply into things and create something from absolutely nothing. You learn how look at the world in a different way, and being able to see the world through the eyes of a designer is such a powerful tool in life.  You get to expand your imagination and the experiences and things you will learn through school will open up so many avenues for you later in life.  

Yes, the end goal of architecture school is to become an architect, but there is so much more to it.  A keen sense of design, especially in a world driven by an aesthetic platform such as the internet, will allow you to pursue more than just architecture.  

It is almost as if we become doctors of the visual realm to make the world a beautiful place to live.

Its pretty cool.  :)

“Life of a designer is a life of fight, fight against the ugliness, just like a doctor fights against disease. For us, the visual disease is what we have around, and what we try to do is to cure it somehow with design.”   - Massimo Vignelli

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