Sketch with me in this video as I design custom details for a residential project. Inventing bespoke solutions to design challenges is the reason I love designing homes. Often, if I’m stuck on a design brief, I’ll zoom in and begin sketching a detail. There’s something about the scale and how manageable it is to solve simple problems that helps me move forward.
For me, this process always starts in my sketchbook (or on the iPad) and then I’ll move to the computer to draw it more precisely following that. Starting informally with a sketch allows me to be free and fast with ideas and it leads me to other threads I hadn’t anticipated. You’ll see this in the video as I chase down a few absurd ideas.
The process begins with a design brief: in this case the hanging coats at the entry wall and adding a flip-down desk near the pantry area. I then compile inspiration imagery (like the military field desks) and grab a ruler to have on hand as I’m designing. Relating to the human scale is an important part of detailing and a ruler helps you set proper proportions for drawers, desk height, etc.
A trick I use as I’m drawing is to really think hard about the daily patterns of life around the subject I’m designing. How would someone use this space? What would they have in their pockets, what would their daily routine moving through or around this space be like? Placing yourself there and asking what would make this experience better, or more “delightful” leads to novel insights. Delightful is kind of a corny word but it’s the best descriptor I can think of. It’s the thing that makes you smile when you see it, and say, “Wow, they really thought this through! They really considered what it means to live here, in this place.”
The point of sketching is to chase down all the bad ideas, all the strange threads of thinking, including the absurd. Be open to thinking differently and the invented solutions may surprise you. It’s important to not to put too much pressure on it, these aren’t beautiful drawings, they’re process, they show the steps from one idea to the next.
Timestamps to help you navigate:
00:00 Inventing solutions
00:22 Sean Godsell Quote
00:27 Design Brief: Entry Wall Details
00:51 Tools I use when designing details
02:28 Sketching ideas
06:54 Taking it further
08:32 Zinc shelving idea
10:08 Typography monogramming
11:25 House “FOB” idea
11:57 Design Brief: Flip-down desk design
12:59 Sketching on iPad
14:24 Idea to eliminate hardware
16:56 Desk materials + interior
19:26 Leather tab idea
21:55 Designing the stool
22:50 A step stool too?
23:57 Analog ideas
24:20 Oops.
The sketchbook I’m using in the video is a new custom project called TRACE. The media is a 90# vellum, printed with a grid of white reticles, it takes graphite, ink and alcohol markers (like Copics) beautifully. Set for release in May of 2021, learn more here: https://thirtybyforty.com/trace-sketchbook
If you made it to the end and you’re reading this, this is a personal thank you for your support. I don’t have a big team that helps me film, edit or post these videos, it’s just me so the feedback and support from people like you is invaluable and never taken for granted.
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