Everyone has put out very valid points here but seem to be on one side of the fence or the other…
As a 28 year old professional I find myself in some sort of an in between role at the firm I work at… Older designers are retiring with the capability of hand drawing perspectives with very little time. They’ve had years and years of practice and their own hand drawings are all they’ve know for presentation materials. 9 times out of 10, its exactly what a client wants to see for an idea early on. But now the fee’s and hours we’re being provided with on projects in this economy don’t allow us the luxury of time to design and draw off the cuff as much as we could, even just 5 years ago…
I find that there is a generational line drawn in the sand when it comes to this debate… Older professionals like drawing/sketching because its what they know… Kind of like how they had to walk to school up hill both ways in 8 feet of snow with outdoor plumbing and no heat, when they were kids… But the younger crowd is coming out of school in a bit of a unique situation. While the older crew has been drawing their faces off their entire life, with some CAD/Microstation experience, new graduates and entry level professionals have a myriad of skills to draw from (no pun intended). While I’d definately say the newbies have weaker hand drawing skills, and aren’t completely capable of picking up a pen to ‘SHOW ME’ what they are talking about, they unquestionably make up for it in the other aspects that they can bring to the table.
Here’s the ironic scenario. So many of the 55 + year olds rely now on a quick sketch up model of true geometries that are being drawn in a CAD plan, as their base for a drawn perspective. Printing out a simple wire frame from a selected vantage point makes their lives easier and its something that can be generated in a few minutes from a ‘junior’ staff member. The name of the game is efficiency. The only way to ensure your client is getting what will best convey the design to them, is to have all of the tools (analog or digital) laid out on the table, with a diverse team that can arrive at a final product quickly using what makes the most sense…
Its clear that the majority of LA’s dont start designing in CAD… A pen in the hand is worth two in the bush… or something like that… But the reality is becoming that the sooner you can get a project into CAD/REVIT… the better… In an architectural world that is trying to be completely coordinated with all disiplines from the go, hand drawing IS becoming a schematic design presentation tool, and honestly, more of a luxury than a necessity when its delivered to the client.
All of that said… Hand drawing will always have its place in designing, and graphic communications between professionals ALWAYS… But just as technology advances, so do our clients expectations on what they will see from us. How to communicate a meaningful design idea, while pleasing the client, and making a buck…. is really the question.
