Process
5 min read
Why I still sketch every logo with a pencil
The computer is a brilliant finishing tool and a terrible place to start. Here’s how a pencil keeps me honest.
Every identity I’ve made started on a layout pad. Not because I’m nostalgic, but because a pencil is slow in exactly the right way.
On screen everything looks finished too early. A wordmark set in a font looks like a logo; a sketch looks like a question. Questions are what you want at the start.
My rule: no software until I have three ideas I’d be happy to show on paper. It makes the computer part faster, not slower.
— Nell
