Back to the drawing board

The drawing office industry is vast, no doubt. Constantly evolving over the last century to keep up with the times; it's come a long way since the dawning of the humble drawing board; when man first took pencil to paper properly.


Back in the early 20th century it would have be hard to imagine where design technology would ultimately take our society. CAD (computer aided design) has pushed boundaries and opened limitless possibilities with what we can do with materials. This, coupled with the desire of designers to be remembered for their work, has produced impressive results over the whole spectrum of design.


The Seed Cathedral is one of my recent favorites for its bonkers brilliance. It displays a way of think about construction that questions conventions built up since man started arranging stones into wall shapes. But at the heart of all this development still remains that first idea, that initial scribble on the back of a crisp packet (which is really hard if you've ever tried it). The next step is the drawing board where the idea is given a chance to really flourish for the first time. That initial sketch lays out the basics of the concept and gets it out in the open for the first time.


Drawing boards help you thrash out an idea in a way that a computer program never could. And so, with even the most cutting edge technological advances, life still started out on a drawing board. Computers have tried to emulate what a drawing board can do with limited success - at the end of the day there really is no substitute for pencil and paper.


Ultimately, computers have the major role in modern design from building skyscrapers to space stations and it's likely it'll be that way from now on. "CAD" was born the first time a computer was used to replace that final stage of drafting a finished technical drawing. Maybe though, its simply that computers can never totally replace that initial design phase.


No matter what you are designing "CAD" is almost a given in this day and age, maybe we should change it to "DAD" (drawing aided design) and celebrate the drawing board and it's legacy that still lives on.