DAE ever just start sketching on a napkin when you're stuck? | Build And Design

Mason Smith · 2026-03-09T16:50:13.678691+00:00

I was working on a layout for a small cafe's menu board last month, and I kept hitting a wall on my computer. Everything felt stiff and wrong. I mean, I must have moved those text blocks around for like two hours. So I went to get coffee, and while I was there, I just grabbed a napkin and a pen from the counter. I started doodling shapes and scribbling notes, real messy. Idk, something about the rough lines and not being able to 'undo' made me try stuff I wouldn't normally. I came up with this off-center layout with a hand-drawn border that actually looked cool. Went back, scanned the napkin, and basically traced it in Illustrator. It's maybe the best thing I've designed in six months. Has anyone else had a dumb little trick like that actually fix a project?

dixon.rose5mo ago

Watched my friend get stuck trying to design a logo on her tablet. She finally grabbed a kid's crayon and some construction paper, just to be silly. The waxy, blunt line totally changed the shape she was going for and she ended up using it.

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paulbarnes6mo ago

Read about a study that said messy sketches help you think better.

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beth7196mo ago

Totally get that, it's like the napkin forces you to commit to a first thought. @paulbarnes has a point about messy sketches, but for me it's more about the change of tools. Switching from a mouse to a cheap pen just makes my brain work differently.

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