The Accidental Line. One Key to Original Designs

Design Process.

While I sketch (pencil on paper) out design ideas it is often an accidental elbow bump or mental distraction that results in an accidental line. That line sometimes leads to the freshest details or at least a new iterative path to pursue.  This is the magic blessing that comes from sketching on paper.  It is a feature I miss having when drawing out ideas on the computer using any CAD program.  I remember a conversation with a former head of the Architecture Department at KSU where he shared a similar respect for the accidental line. On a page full of quickly drawn iterative sketches an imperfect arc or misplaced line stands out.  It is the attention it draws to stand out that hints at the potentially unique creation. 

I believe many of the new and inventive original ideas are the product of pursuing an unexpected inspiration or accidental line.  That old solutions survive for so long without improvement doesn't mean they are good,  It means no one has stumbled across a simple but vastly better alternative.  My patented inverting TV tray table design was the outcome from an accidental sketch line.  TV Tray Table

So sketch, Sketch a lot.  Don't trust using a mouse with a PC app to leave an accidental line.  I concede that there are tablet apps that you can sketch on with a stylus or your finger, and some come close to mimicking what is possible with pencil on paper.  Don't get distracted with the color options and line width options and so on as they steal attention away. There is grace in a simple session between your hand and a piece of paper via a simple pencil. Shy away from mechanical pencils with skinny leads. The relatively fat lead in a wood pencil that you have to sharpen is where line width and shading and random marks live. I know there are tools in most drawing programs for effective iteration. I have yet to see any app that occasionally puts a line somewhere you didn't intend or expect it to be then lets you start a new iterating branch of sketches inspired by that accidental line.  

Sketch pads (the paper kind) come with blank pages to sketch on. There are also pads of graph paper with a light grid you can use to maintain relative scale of your sketches on.  I prefer the latter.  On a blank white page a beautiful sketch of something you want to make may prove less appealing when adjusted to fit actual final dimensions. I often start my sketches with a light rectangle or perspective cube drawn to desired scale on the grid. Then I know what I sketch within will remain constrained to the desired final proportions.  

4D