Why sketching is so important for a designer? | Nick Huber -Mesh01.com

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Why sketching is so important for a designer? Nick Huber -Mesh01.com |
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PODCAST: NICK HUBER x CHOU-TAC

CT:
Today we meet Nick Huber who is Director of Design and Community of MESH01:

An online platform that connects designers to the brands through a Design competition.
Besides that MESH01 offers product testing service to brands such as Adidas, Burton, Nike, Under Armour…
“Whether you are a student or a Senior Designer
Mesh01 is, first of all, looking for great ideas”


Nick, sharing about the Design competition:

The way we do our projects – we do multiple rounds of design selection – In the first round of design, what we are looking from designers is the rough ideas. We are interested in the idea not that the designer spends a lot of time in work.
So the quickest way to get your ideas out is sketching. The designer who has strong sketching skills who can put their ideas down the quickest has obviously an advantage.
Because they can submit multiple ideas – compared to people who rely on a computer – that takes a lot more time.
They may take longer to make the same amount of work. Because the designers who work for the 1st round don’t get paid yet, we don’t want them to work for long hours.
”The designer who has strong sketching skills
who can put their ideas down the quickest
has obviously an advantage.”
Anything that can facilitate speed is a good thing.
And a great thing about a good sketch is not only about making a sketch fast but is really good at telling stories. It’s actually frequently better than a computer rendering.
So obviously if the designer can improve his sketching skills, it makes them much stronger for the first round for our projects.
CT:

How many rounds are usually needed?
“The designers will take feedback on their sketches.”
Nick:

Most of the time it’s 2. Sometimes it’s 3.
The first round we are looking for rough ideas, we will review the design with brands, and the brand will narrow down to 3 or sometimes more. The designers will take feedback on their sketches.
And then they will take them back through the second round on something more refine like Illustrator or something they can take to the factory.
You know you don’t get to that round if you don’t have good ideas in the first round. That’s why sketching is so important.
CT:

I guess there is a big selection made for this second round.
Nick:

Yeah, all the designers who make it for the second round are expected a lot of work for this round and get paid for that work.
CT:

Ah ok! And the one who will be selected at the end of this second round will get the competition prize.
Nick:

Yes.
CT:

What if the participants don’t know how to use Illustrator? Is it something you guys cover or teach him?
“Photoshop and Illustrator are skills
Designers have in addition to sketching.”
Nick:

We will work with him on that, but generally, most of our designers – Photoshop and Illustrator are skills they have in addition to sketching. So we generally expect better designers to have it. But obviously, there is varying level or abilities. But they are programs I have a lot of experience so I work with designers if their skills are a little lacking – to make sure their designs can be executed.
CT:

How about 3D software, is it something you think important as well?
Nick:

It’s coming more and more. We are starting more and more requests from brands we work with to get 3D.
“3D is certainly a skill that can benefit designers.”
My background is from Footwear design, and so I used to know how to use 3d in college but professionally I never used 3d for footwear. Personally, that skills are faded.
But for other types of products, we do frequently have brands looking for 3d. So it’s certainly a skill that can benefit designers to have.
CT:

So you guys are working with emerging and leading brands such as Under Armour, Adidas, Burton, Nike. I saw that Mesh01 also test the products?
Nick:

Yes. We have two aspects of the business. We have the design side where I work primarily, and we have also product testing. We work with a lot of brands too – before a product hits the market, it has to run through a test.
There is the lab testing where we can test the abrasion and the wearied material – also getting the product on the athlete and getting the feedback on how it feels on the running – or like a jacket how does it feel on the humidity on hiking, or other activities being tasked to do and put the products on users and provide the feedback from these users.