We noticed a popularity in sketching articles this year, ranging from traditional pen and paper to a new wave of digital drawing. As designers, we understand that sketching will always be important in the design process—it’s here to stay.

In Episode 1 of our Coreskills series, sketch master Spencer Nugent of Sketch-a-Day takes us through a solid sketching warm-up for designers.

Looking toward the future, we understand that sketching will continue to transition to digital platforms. We especially like what the Microsoft Surface Studio and its dial will do for design drawing, which enhances digital sketching to an unparalleled new dimension.

To go along with the Surface Studio, the new Mental Canvas Drawing App looks amazing. Through its clever 2D to 3D transitions, the designer can easily see a rendering of their space come to life. It seems most useful to architects, but there would be significant uses for ID'ers and Product Designers too. If this app is any indication as to what’s next for sketching, we might be okay with what’s to come.

Along with new sketching techniques, good old fashioned educational sketchbooks made headlines this year. Sketching Process by Tom Skeehan focuses on different sketching processes used by Industrial Designers.

In How to Draw: FIGURES, author Mark Kokavec goes back to the basics to teach readers how to draw the human form on paper. The sketchbook filled with templates that use a sort of reverse-engineering technique that he calls “phasing-out.”

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