Abstract:

Sketching is an essential stage of design. However, it is losing its importance and transforming its traditional way of doing lately. This is mostly because of the digitalization of design stages and its result as lessening the importance of hand-work in design education. Ease and better quality of the design rendering and presentation of 3D modelling is becoming an escape route for students. Therefore, the thrust of new technologies and their applications, user’s demands of usage make us to adapt them into our design education. Despite being at a stage of transition of paper to digital mediums for sketching, this research has significance for revealing the perception and motivational side of digital tools for sketching. In this research a literature study was undertaken to cite importance of sketching action in design process and previous researches on digital sketching; and a survey was conducted about relationship of sketching and motives with 132 students who are studying industrial design and different years in education. Industrial design major was selected because of the intimacy of technology and hand-based works in education.

Major findings include:
(i) Subjects were aware of the importance of sketching better.
(ii) Their motivations were future career, better qualifications, and better expressing their designs.
(iii) Their intimacy was on the paper in the early phases of their education, however proportionally were wont to use technologic mediums at their consequent years,
(iv) Although subjects were not experienced in digital drawing mediums, they use 3D modelling as sketching tool in process because of fear of sketching and making mistake.

As conclusion, digital sketching mediums can be one of the motivational tools for design students to make them confident in sketching and overcome their sketching fear.

Keywords:

Sketching, Digital Mediums, Design Education.