Think with your pen out
Stop struggling to explain your ideas. Start showing them
But why learn to sketch?
Concept exploration sketching is where engineers get to think out loud with a pencil, and it's honestly one of the most fun skills you can develop.
This is the stage where you're not worried about dimensions or perfect angles; you're just trying to get ideas out of your head and onto paper where you can actually look at them.
The magic happens when you sketch three or four totally different approaches in the time it would take to even open your CAD software.
Sketchy Perspective Views
Learn to sketch your ideas in perspective, giving your ideas that extra bit of realism!
Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
Sketch your Design for Manufacturing ideas, to help your vendors understand your ideas (before you build CAD)
Improve Communication Speed
Engineers often lean on CAD to convey an idea. CAD can be slow and rigid when exploring ideas. Learn to sketch to accelerate your design discussions!
The lightbulb moment
Suddenly you can see which direction feels right, and your teammates can jump in with "what if we flip this?" or "could we combine these two ideas?"
That's the real power here—turning abstract thoughts into something everyone can point at, react to, and build on together.
And here's the liberating part: these sketches are supposed to look rough.
Wonky lines and imperfect proportions are totally fine because you're capturing the essence of an idea, not creating a work of art.
Curriculum
About Caleb Vainikka
Caleb Vainikka - Founder & CEO, Cove Design
I've always been into art, and somewhere along the way I discovered that engineering and creativity are perfect partners. I get to spend my days turning wild ideas into real products that people can hold in their hands.
With over ten years of experience designing consumer electronics and hardware, I've learned that the best solutions start with a pencil and paper.
I'm that engineer who fills notebooks with concept sketches, exploring five different approaches before most people have even opened their CAD software.
I've been teaching online sketching courses for a few years, and I'm building a library of video content to help new-grad engineers develop skills to explore their creativity.
