Idea sketch, pen and paper, 2025
Recently, I have taken back to sketching out ideas by hand again. To achieve a neater and more compelling final composition, I found it really useful to work in layers.
The first layer is always a rough placement of where things go. Subsequently, I will refine content and details, ink the outlines, and finally add color and shadow. Every pass is an attempt at both fleshing out the idea itself and achieving balance between the elements. Finally, the pencil lines are erased, the scaffolds taken down, and what is left is the final polished composition.
This is going to sound profound and basic at the same time: iteration isn’t optional – it’s essential. Good design demands iterations because it only emerges from progressively refining ideas from rough concepts to detailed compositions. No one, no matter how talented, can do it all in a single pass.
Product design mirrors this truth. Understanding a problem thoroughly demands multiple iterations. Every pass is an opportunity to uncover new insights to elevate the status quo towards something better. Unlike paper and pencil, modern tools often err on the side of too much gloss. This is a reminder to myself that at the fundamental level iteration, more than any tool, is how we get to great products.