Who would have thought that in this brave new world, where design often starts with AI prompts, software, and pixel-perfect mockups, a quiet rebellion would take place? Not on screen, but on paper, led by pencil and sketchbook.
Since I joined Interstate Creative Partners five years ago, we have been deliberately slow to launch projects. Instead of jumping straight into digital tools, we went back to hand-drawn thinking—sketching, writing, mapping out ideas, and letting concepts play out before being shaped by software.
We recently demonstrated its value by working with the Royal Mint to design a commemorative 50p coin to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the British Grand Prix. This is not a loose, expressive branding project. Coins are among the most technically regulated design objects imaginable, with every line, texture, and proportion controlled by precision requirements. However, the entire concept phase does not start with CAD models or digital layouts, but with rough sketches and storyboards.
Speed, intuition and unfiltered ideas
For me, sketching is never about artistic perfection. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a great drawer – that’s exactly why it works.
What sketching offers is immediacy. It’s much faster to write down rough shapes and keywords than to open the software and select a tool. More importantly, it captures intuition before filtering it through templates or technical constraints.
Sketching is about taking ideas out of your head and putting them down on paper, while the ideas are still instinctive and active and don’t need polishing. Early drawings create room for experimentation and even happy accidents, moments that often get lost when designers jump straight to the final visual. When something looks “complete” too early, it becomes too precious, so people are reluctant to change it and the scope for exploration is narrowed.
On paper, everything feels temporary, and this freedom can free up better thinking because there’s less pressure to complete ideas. You’ll be more relaxed, more curious, and more open to unexpected directions.
Let ideas grow first, then lock them in
During the Royal Mint project our sketchbooks filled up quickly. We explored traditional racing and modern Formula 1 cars, changing perspectives, layering textures and visual timelines to illustrate the evolution of engineering over a century.
Some ideas are confusing, and some make almost no sense at first glance. Together, however, they form a creative landscape in which connections begin to emerge naturally.
When we later looked back on the journey from first sketches to final coins, we even noticed that some of the “weakest” early concepts became the strongest through improvements. Designs that initially feel awkward or unresolved eventually shine once they are developed and refined.
This is an important reminder for us that good ideas don’t come fully formed. They require time and patience to reach their full potential. If we just jumped on our laptops and sped up the latest software, these ideas might not last long enough to evolve.
The dangers of refined thinking
With AI tools and instant visual output now embedded in everyday workflows, I worry about what will be lost, especially in terms of spontaneity.
There is a growing desire to jump straight to conclusions and see the end result immediately, rather than exploring messy intermediate processes. The problem is that skipping this cursory exploration often results in one polished idea rather than five evolving ideas, leaving far less opportunity for true innovation.
Even a rough digital layout can still encourage premature refinement; you start worrying about alignment, color, fonts, and finishes before you’ve properly tested whether the idea itself is strong. Sketching puts the focus exactly where it should be: thinking. Whether we are developing a branding system or presentation design for an organization such as the Premier League, starting with a hand-drawn process and storyboarding will always result in a clearer narrative than designing directly on the screen. It allows you to get an overall view before getting lost in the details.
Human imperfection is a creative force
Along with speed and creativity, sketching brings human imperfection back into modern design, something the industry seems to be moving further and further away from.
There’s no doubt that the rough visuals will spark conversation. They open customers up to interpretation rather than locking feedback into surface-level tweaks like color choices or font preferences. When something seems unfinished, I notice people focus on the idea rather than the execution.
Sketching can also lead to accidents that often lead to better results than you planned. In contrast, AI-generated visuals and highly polished models often feel resolved too quickly and can end the discussion before it really begins.
Why slowing down can move projects forward
It may sound counterintuitive, especially in a high-energy institutional environment, but slowing down at first will almost always lead to speeding up later. Spending even an hour or two sketching can clarify our thinking, help us discover better concepts, and prevent further endless revisions. When ideas are explored correctly and early on, our execution phase becomes more focused and efficient.
I do believe that pencil-first thinking can act as a creative reset. It reconnects designers with intuition and prioritizes ideas over aesthetics. Ultimately, it reminds designers that true creativity lies in the process, not just the outcome.
