Deep Linking has a really interesting post up about the paper sketches that the designers of sites like Twitter and Vimeo created prior to launching their web services.
It’s amazing to see the sketches that became major sites like these as there is incredible insight into how the designers were thinking about the interface early on.
I’m always encouraging designers I work with to start with paper first, especially the young students that I teach. So often, designers jump for the mouse rather than exploring concepts quickly with pencil and paper. It’s not that this is the wrong approach, but paper allows you to more quickly explore your options and see how things develop. These sketches may never be seen by anyone but you, but there’s some real magic that happens on the paper.
I also found it really cool that they even discussed the designers’ favourite writing and drawing implements. Personally, I prefer to sketch in 5×7 Moleskin gridded notebooks with a Faber Castell art pen.
Via Daring Fireball.
Previously posted on brightwhite.ca
