Worth A Thousand Words
Sketching to ask a visual question, and get a visual answer.
What if I told you my best productivity hack of the week took 60 seconds and saved me an hour or more? What if I told you it was a quick sketch? Honestly, finding the pink and red markers took the longest. Are you disappointed? As a designer you will be forever translating words people say into visual language. Sometimes it’s easier than others. It makes sense that to solve a visual problem you might ask a visual question. A simple sketch can offer up the clarity you need.
I had an edit request for a scallop edge where there existed a 4pt line border. Simple enough. But once I started thinking about it, there are several different ways to interpret that visually. Does the line simply become scalloped? Or would that be filled in? The sketch I sent:
Two things about this sketch. I didn't worry about making it look perfect or clean. It is a sketch. But it communicates the options. It also offers up A/B as a clear way for someone to verbalize which one. Otherwise, you run the risk of having to figure out which one is meant by “I like the simpler scallop” or “the red one."
After seeing the sketch and choosing B, they sent another specific direction, which I hadn’t even thought about, which was to have the scallop edge point into the box instead of outside the box. So, another clarification and time savings.
I am a visual thinker, and your client might be as well. Even if they're not, you are producing a visual product and so it makes sense to use visuals for clarification when appropriate. Think about how tricky it would be to try to describe these two options with words.
Yes, you could just make a hundred versions – but why? Is that a good use of your time? You could make AI do it, but too many choices can be overwhelming and lead to choice paralysis for the person on the other end. A lot of design is narrowing down infinite choice, not creating more. Sometimes there’s time or opportunity to explore a bit. But sometimes you just want to hit the nail on the head. Some things in Illustrator are surprisingly tricky to me. I had to look up a video on how to make a scallop border. And after you make it you can't really go back and edit it, which is why I didn't want to do it more than once.
Keep it simple stupid. You don’t always have to do the fanciest thing. And there is no award for most revisions. Ultimately this is about communication.
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K. Nicole Stowe
K. Nicole Stowe