TIP 219 Transform Your Sketchbook into an Idea Hunter’s Treasure Chest

Hello guys from Korea!

I am now in Seoul, and it’s super cold—like being in a freezer. I went to find refuge in a café to warm myself up and do some sketching. I sat down, opened my sketchbook, and found an unfinished fish sketch from 7 months ago (I made in Boston Aquarium). I decided to complete it today! :)

---

My Live Sketching Experience at Boston Aquarium

I sketched this fish back in August 2016 at the Boston Aquarium. It was live sketching, which means I stood holding my sketchbook. The position was not comfortable, people kept walking past, the fish wouldn’t stop moving, and my family was waiting for me to keep going on the visit.

I had to sketch fast. About 5 to 10 minutes per subject to catch the essentials. I told myself it’s okay—let’s sketch following “fast sketching rules”.

(I love sketching this way!) I sketched fast, capturing the feeling with volume and proportion, without trying to copy everything exactly.

---

Go Out Hunt Ideas with the Fast-Sketching Technique!

What I learned is—it’s super fun!
The fast sketching technique lets you jump quickly from one subject to another. You don’t look for perfection but focus on the main lines and the important details.

Remember to draw from general forms first, then details. (For example, start drawing the main form of the fish, then add in the eyes, the mouth and so on). Order matters in sketching.

Then my main task today was to add hatching to bring more volume and contrast.

You discover:

• You don’t need to show everything to make a nice sketch.
• You gotta spot the key features.
• Around 80% of a sketch is often done within the first 2 minutes.

---

Why I Always Bring My Sketchbook When Traveling

When I travel, I carry my sketchbook with me. When I get bored, I flip the pages and rediscover my past work. Seeing that fish sparked a strong sensation, a flashback.

It’s amazing how this 5-minute sketch reactivates my memory.
Through that quick sketch, I still remember being there a the Boston Aquarium: the light, the ambient sound, and even the thick, strange texture of the fish.

---

Sketching Creatures Feeds Your Memory for Product Design

That’s one main reason I love sketching. You capture a moment of life in your sketchbook and can continue to improve on it later. The details—the scales, colors, textures, and motion—are new sources of inspiration I tap into for future product design.

---

Explore Your Surrounding World with Your Pen

Explore your world intentionally with your pen to expand your awareness and sharpen your observation skills. You’ll be surprised how many new details you can catch at each sketch session.

---

As Designers, We Need to Break Our Routine

Most of us are stuck in the same routine: wake up, go to work, go home. We basically see the same things every day.

As designers, part of our job is to intentionally break this routine and go out to see the world! Believe me, the internet is not the answer.

---

Your Sketches are your Treasure

Your personal sketchbook is a goldmine, a treasure.
By flipping through your sketches, you can extract features to inject into your product design projects.

Anywhere you go, be ready to catch and feed your memory of forms!
Become an idea hunter with your sketchbook! :)

---

A Few More Sketches from Boston Aquarium

Here are some additional sketches I caught during my visit. Each one captures a living form and its unique texture.

---

Final Thought: Study Nature — It Never Lies

Even if you study product design, I invite you to study nature. “Nature can’t go wrong, and never lies.”
If you take it further—biomimicry is about tapping into nature’s intelligence to create better products.

Take care,
Chou-Tac

---