Sketching is an important method of quickly communicating design ideas; therefore, learning to sketch is necessary for any person working in a technical field. Sketching is as much a way of thinking as it is a method of recording ideas and communicating to others. Executives, engineers, technicians, and nontechnical people, from children to adults, use sketches to represent new ideas.

Sketching is a form of documentation in the early, ideation phase of engineering design. Most new designs are first recorded using design sketches.

This chapter introduces you to sketching techniques. The next chapter uses these techniques to help you visualize the forms of objects in your mind. Later chapters show you how to take your sketched design ideas and formalize them in models or drawings that can be used in analysis and manufacturing.

Lettering is part of sketching and drawing. Before CAD, lettering had much more emphasis in engineering and technical graphics. Now it is no longer necessary to spend hours working on lettering technique. CAD systems offer the user many different typestyles that can be varied in a number of ways. More and more, hand lettering is used only to add additional information to sketches. Though this lettering will probably not be as refined as the lettering in a mechanical drawing, it should still reflect a standardized style and should be neatly done.