Books on industrial design?

[SciFibrow]

At Art Center (in the 80s) I had a couple instructors who advocated adding the “speed lines” back in on top of finished renderings. Even if the sketch was very polished and all the underlying linework was removed/traced away/covered up, the lines gave it a quick, “knocked off” look that had a certain energy to it. Always thought that was funny - make it look like you did less work (like a “quick sketch”) by actually doing more work.

That is funny.

I guess it depends on who the work is being done for. The savvy ones will see the design through the many lines, the uninitiated might mistake it for a lack of drawing ability. How does one know who is looking at one’s reel, if they’re going to judge one way or another?

[Artbot]

Yeah, it seemed anathema at the time since a client rarely wants work that looks “dashed off”, even if it is. And if you inform them you added the “speed lines” back in on top of the drawing, they’ll probably think you’re crazy and they’re paying you too much. :banghead:

I know the “look” of those lines started with industrial design sketching (and sketching in general), and among modern concept artists it’s frequently seen in Doug Chiang’s work. But to be fair, he usually sketched on paper and used ellipse guides, so the lines were necessary and justified. It’s just funny to see on digital work (Feng Zhu’s comes to mind) where such lines aren’t necessary since they can be deleted or turned off after they are no longer needed. It’s become more of a detail left over from a previous time, like the little floppy disk icon every program uses to mean “save”.

[SciFibrow]

I think Feng’s work is totally wearing it’s analogue roots with pride, like how speedpaintings do with scanned brushstroke textures etc.

[Fahrija]

this might be an other interesting book for techniques in industrial design sketching:
Learning Curves

[Quadart]

I know the “look” of those lines started with industrial design sketching (and sketching in general), and among modern concept artists it’s frequently seen in Doug Chiang’s work. But to be fair, he usually sketched on paper and used ellipse guides, so the lines were necessary and justified. It’s just funny to see on digital work (Feng Zhu’s comes to mind) where such lines aren’t necessary since they can be deleted or turned off after they are no longer needed. It’s become more of a detail left over from a previous time, like the little floppy disk icon every program uses to mean “save”.

It seems the practice goes way back.
Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci:

I think the use of left over construction lines and flourishes are just as aesthetically appealing and functional today as they were in the past. The practice is commonly used in figurative sketching as well. Accentuating form with expressive perspective, contour, and silhouette lines, of varying weights, does much to describe and strengthen aspects of an objects shape/form and the geometry of the space it resides in, whether it’s a loose sketch or moderately tight rendering, depending on style. Its pretentious or contrived usage is usually pretty obvious and not at all appealing. I personally like the look of ‘seasoned’ sketch lines in more finished tech renderings, depending again on style, though not as boldly displayed as in Feng Zhu’s sketches, where they’re a bit too boldly emphasized.
Of course you wouldn’t use them on most finished line-art or a slick, realistic and highly detailed technical illustration like a Kevin Hurley work.

A bit OT, but speaking of Kevin Hulsey’s work, linked below is a phenomenal 960 hour, 2d technical cutaway illustration of a cruise ship, done in illustrator and PS, for those interested in a detailed breakdown of a finished illustration. It was created with the old-school perspective drawing method, as no pre-posed perspective view CAD line art was available at the time of the project. He had to rely on deck floor plans instead. Check out the huge detail images. *Click the options next to ‘ship tutorial’.

http://www.khulsey.com/ship-cutaway-vector-drawing-tutorial.html

[Artbot]

A bit OT, but speaking of Kevin Hulsey’s work, linked below is a phenomenal 960 hour, 2d technical cutaway illustration of a cruise ship, done in illustrator and PS, for those interested in a detailed breakdown of a finished illustration. It was created with the old-school perspective drawing method, as no pre-posed perspective view CAD line art was available at the time of the project. He had to rely on deck floor plans instead. Check out the huge detail images. *Click the options next to ‘ship tutorial’.

http://www.khulsey.com/ship-cutaway-vector-drawing-tutorial.html

I’d seen this image before, but never saw the breakdown. That is absolutely amazing work. As a former technical illustrator myself, I feel like a house painter looking at the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

[SciFibrow]

It might be to much but besides working on the sketch quality I would like to recommend to engage a little with manufacturing processes. It will enrich the sketches because I think it is not only about how good props or items look. Its also how believable do they look in terms of visual functionality. There is a recomendable book of Manufacturing Processes especially for Industrial Designers that gives clean and understandable breakdowns of many different manufacturing techniques. If you understand how a product might be produced you will e.g. insert the joints in a much more believable way.

Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals

regards

.

This arrived the other day. It’s a bit like an encyclopedia: functional as expected and crammed with every imaginable technique in medium detail. I’d probably get a car manufacturing book focusing on the entire construction process next, when I feel like some more light reading.

[JM-art]

Thanks Scibrow, and since we are here again… yesterday a shipment of 10 books arrived from amazon (incredible how well their international shipment system works…in ten days i received at the door of my house in Argentina the books at just 5 extra bucks per item)

So, being on topic…Drive was one of them, i had little time too see it but is looking great so far, a nice adittion to my shelfbook, and i plan to make some studies of the concepts to get a grasp of the design languaje, form and perspective.

Some of the books i received that i think are worth of mention are

Composition and visual story telling:
Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre…very powerful book (i´m not sure what that means, but i hope you get the picture:) )

Human Anatomy guide
Classic Human Anatomy by Valerie Winslow …This is a gem, buy it if you are learning anatomy, is as comprehensive on the subject as a book can get. I think the Michael Hampton book (wich i don´t have) might be in this league too (each one with his pros and …not sure cons), but since this one was cheaper i picked it.

Other…

Science Fiction Concept Art
Mechanika by Doug Chiang…to be perfect, i wish he explains a little more about how and why he comes up with the initial sketch (wich sometimes is a very cool looking device already). He shows the process from there ,one and twenty times with diferent concepts…but i would prefer just five concepts from the initial stage of development and explanations of why he uses the lines and forms he uses. I like it though and for the price is great…is not amazing or extremely comprehensive that´s all.

Character design
100 ways to create fantasy figures by Francis Tsai…nice to have it around for reference (not visual , but conceptual), a lot of tips and things to bear in mind to make your characters more believable, appealing, and with personality…i won´t say is a must, but since is not expensive at all, is great for the price.

The two books of James Gurney (Imaginative Realism and Color and Light) are an amazing value for the money, those are very thick books ,filled with very cool art and information by a master, very well organized. From all the books i ordered i think they have the best relation between price and quality…followed by sketching, and clasic human anatomy.

So, my intention with this is to give a little review of all this stuff and books, in part because i just like to talk about it and because it might be usefull for people trying to learn everything related to concept art too. I didn´t mention some books about perspective and composition since they are not particulary relevant …to my eyes at least.

Cheers.

[SciFibrow]

I’ve got most of those books apart from the character/anatomy ones. They’re all worth it.

Regarding Mechanika. I think it’s such a good insight but I do see your criticism there (it would be some book if it had everything ). Other than getting more books on construction processes and observing real world examples the only remaining ingredient is the “art” part of the design. You’ll develop a sense of design proportion the more you practise. What you think looks cool and correct will differ slightly from others and become your own style.

[waikit]

I highly recommend
Learning Curves, the ultimate Guide Book to sharpen your design sketching skills’

I wrote a short review about it HERE

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