How can a graphic designer
not be good at drawing her ideas?

Full disclosure here…I’m not the best at drawing. I can draw what I see, like a still life or a model, but I’m not great at drawing off the top of my head. BUT I’m a big proponent of sketching a design before going to the computer to create it. I think that sketching can be mindless and freeing, not to mention therapeutic. It’s also so much quicker to try and rule out any ideas that won’t end up working.

You might ask, “How can a graphic designer not be good at drawing her ideas?” My sketches certainly aren’t perfect, but they do get the point across. I’ll probably try out anywhere from 20 to 50 ideas in sketch form. Once an idea is sketched out, I’ll choose the ones that seem viable and go to the computer to create them digitally in Illustrator. Sometimes I use the help of photos to get angles and perspective right. (Never ever ever design a logo in Photoshop. To learn more about what programs to use for what, read this blog post.)

I’m pretty embarrassed to be doing this but below I give examples of my crappy sketch and what the finished design ended up being.

logo sketch

logo sketch

logo sketch

logo sketch

logo sketch

This last client combined the two ideas for his finished logo.

Thanks for checking out my logo sketches! I hope you don’t think any less of my design ability. =) Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

logo sketches • pomp creative • graphic design studio • washington, dc • annapolis, maryland