When you listen to designers talk about the most important thing to have in your design toolbox, the answers are mixed. I will say, sketching ability tends to reign supreme when it comes to communicating your designs. At least that's what the "experts" say. BUT, I beg to differ, and I'm gonna to throw my 2 cents in (because this is my blog). I think the most important tool as a designer is Photoshop. You heard me!! Now stop scoffing and take a look at this "helmet concept". I put that in quotes because I didn't add color and a concept without color is like a sneaker without laces: useless. Well not useless, but definitely half-baked. Now take a look at my sketches on the left.. fine, right? Nothing special, seems as if maybe that was the first time I've ever drawn a helmet (got me). But you see me working through cutouts and shapes, but it gets the idea across. Now, take a look at the sketch I pulled over to the right. And WOW take a look at that texture. Without the shading, the texture, materials, the sketch wouldn't have VOLUME. And what is a sketch without volume? One again, a shoe without laces! Photoshop is there to turn sketches into fully formed visualizations without the time and expense of 3D modeling. Maybe my sketch is a little off, and my perspective needs tweaking, but with a little bit of my PSD magic? It's a helmet that sells the form before committing to modeling.
So, what's your most important tool?
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