Digital Sketch Modelling: Integrating digital sketching as a transition between sketching and CAD in Industrial Design Education

Literature on the use of design tools in educational settings notes an uneasy relationship between student use of traditional hand sketching and digital modelling tools (CAD) during the industrial design process. This is often manifested in the transition from sketching to CAD and exacerbated by a preference of current students to use CAD. In this research we report the teaching of a new design practice “Digital Sketch Modelling” which combines the strengths of sketching in ideation and CAD in dimensional accuracy while versing students in digital sketching skills that are now expected of graduates going into industry. In doing so we move beyond treating digital sketching as an equivalent of traditional sketching to become a new transitional design tool. This paper sets out the key steps of the Digital Sketch Modelling technique and reports its integration in industrial design curriculum over the last two years. In doing so we contribute a new type of design practice with a research based foundation that answers the requirements of modern industrial design practice.