Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

This paper traces the development of costume sketching methods. In this study, the source of knowledge is thinking through drawing. The artistic researcher investigates the shift from paper-based, hand-drawn sketching to digital screen sketching in the field of costume design. This research uses a qualitative approach by illuminating retrospective accounts related to sketching techniques. The material for this paper is collected through autoethnography, through the analysis of the designer-researcher’s creative processes through epiphanies. There have been no previous controlled studies which compare differences in physical and digital costume sketching. The assumption is that digital screen sketching gives a larger variety of sketching tools for costume designers use and that sketching on the online paper could be an aid to overcoming “blank paper phobia.” This project provided an important opportunity to advance the understanding of what effects digital screen sketching has on the design process for costume and other designers related to character creation: e.g. animation and story books. The paper is the first study to undertake a longitudinal analysis with a SOM, a self-organizing map, to trace the development from physical to digital costume sketching.