AS323760– Demonstration / Industry Talk

The New Sketchpad – Sketchbook Pro for Architecture

Mike Engel – Associate AIA / Designer
ESG Architecture
Email – [email protected]
Twitter - mengelmn

Learning Objectives
• Capture initial concepts quickly in Sketchbook
• Leverage model and background underlays to augment the sketching process
• Understand the nuances and difference of digital vs traditional media
• Leverage Cloud Services to setup future in-depth design studies in an in-depth
collaborative environment.

Description
Today’s design process and project timelines get shorter with each project. Design teams are expected
to do more, with less, while providing rapid feedback to team members. Explore how today a simple
Ipad / tablet device can take you from "Initial Concept" to Design Package and become a mobile design
studio. What once took a room of tools and desktop computers, can be completed on a device that fits
in your pocket. This Class will look at the use of SketchBook to work through sketch studies.

Speaker(s)
In addition to collaborating with large institutions, developers and national brands on the master
planning and design of hospitality, multifamily residential, workplace and education projects, Mike is an
early adopter of new technologies in design. He incorporates these technologies into his work to
increase process efficiencies, streamline design and production’s integration, and elevate ESG’s abilities
and design solutions to levels that exceed best practices.
Utilizing such software as Sketchbook, Revit and BIM—as well as hand sketching—Mike quickly and
efficiently designs unique, high-quality projects. With these digital efficiencies, he also shares iterations
and information with design team members, clients, contractors and fabricators to ensure critical
aspects of a design remain in place. Leveraging technologies to design innovative canopies of faceted
panels for hotels, insert modern amenities into historic renovations and adaptive reuse projects, and
present rapid iterations of building facades to find the right solution.
It’s about what’s considered undoable and finding the technological tools to bring inventive design
solutions to fruition.

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Session Overview
This session will be taking a walk through basic methods of how to work with and leverage the abilities
of modern toolset as a basis for mobile workflows. It will look at how one can transition or augment
tradition methods utilizing Pen and Paper to a contemporary tools set leveraging Digital Sketching as a
basis for process and delivery. As a note, it is important to remember that each user and project
requirements will require unique methods and tools. With this as a basis, included below is the
beginning of understanding the toolset and concepts which will be covered in detail.

First, In this session, there are four essential elements when looking at design workflows today. These
basic concepts are merely the individual processes of, Sketch, Iterate, Capture and Collaborate. While
these are listed and will be discussed linearly, in reality, they are each in a circular relationship with the
other.

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Second, this session will step take an introductory look at two primary components, the “Kit” and the
“Methods” with how utilizing Sketchbook and other applications to develop a Digital Work Flow. The
“Kit” or the set of tools, consisting of both hardware and software based elements. Also, the “Methods,
how does one function and utilize the tools in the sketching process.

Session Agenda / Outline

• Overview
o What does it mean to sketch in a digital environment

• Review the “Kit”

o The Hardware – What hardware do I need to get Started?
 Tablet
 Stylus
o The Software / App Sketchbook Pro – Which Software and apps do I need to Install?
 User Interface
 Basic Tools / Brushes
• Selecting
• Adjusting

• Demonstration of the “Methods”

o Scale (or lack thereof)
 Define Drawing Size

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  Define Drawing Scale (Relative)
o Tools
 Ruler / Straightedge
 Guides
 Perspective – General
 Perspective – Model Underlay
o Underlays
 Model Images
 Layouts
o Overlays
 Screens
 Texture
 Color
o Present
 Title block Overlay
 Export for External Layout
o Collaborate
 Cross platform

• Review using Sketchbook Pro in Collaborative design workflows.

o Challenges
o Benefits
o Differences

• Examples
o What does it look like in the real world?
o Variations / Alternates

Conclusion
The process of sketching and specifically of using “pen and paper” as a critical component of the
Architectural Design Process, is not going anywhere. However, It is evolving and expanding. While
sketching will continue, the tools we use will change. Today we can leverage tools like Sketchbook Pro
along with the Ipad and various other tablets as they come to market, to expand and augment our
traditional methods with new tools. These can then allow us to work more effectively regardless of
location while simultaneously allowing greater iterations and more significant opportunity for
collaboration across teams and mediums.

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