Incoming ID student. How can I prepare myself?

To a poster’s suggestion, I decided to study ID over fine arts because I want to apply my artistic skills to design. I love product sketching and practice daily lately. What mainly attracts me to ID is the cross of left and right brained thinking; it’s like art/visual communication mixed with engineering elements.

That being said, what can a newbie like myself read into when it comes to ID fundamentals or basics for a beginner?

I don’t start my courses for another 5 weeks or so and I’m eager to get going and start learning things here and there. I’ve taken my foundation art courses at a community college (figure drawing, color theory, 3D foundations) along with gen eds… Although the 3D class I was in was more sculpture/studio focused and we didn’t go over any core elements for the fundamentals of building something in 3D… We merely just built/sculpted, and critiqued each other’s work.


Documentaries, books, online sources, anything is welcome. Thanks!

Hey,

I just completed my first semester of ID in Aus, so I think I can give you some understanding of the very basics. Firstly, some books that you should read are “How to draw” and “How to render” by Scott Robertson w/ Thomas Bertling. They both basically begin from the very foundations of drawing in perspective with these sort of in app interact-able tutorial videos on some pages which are pretty helpful. Some of the things they initially cover and you might cover in the first couple weeks of your ID course are just the basics like drawing straight lines, curved lines, circles, squares, line weighting, perspective drawings (1 point - 5 point); which are mundane but invaluable for your muscle memory in drawing more complex products/objects/illustrations.

I think if you begin practicing those drawing fundamentals now, it’ll put you in a good place during your course in terms of understanding and just general execution of things. Try to research some designers, doesn’t have to be all ID designers. I just think reading on all these various design philosophies are so interesting and sometimes helpful in how you approach your assignments. Also your execution for your assignments are pretty crucial. Presentations should be clean and well thought out. Explore various designs and apply your art background into making things look beautiful and conceptual. Go kill it man.

Just an small online resource that might help while you’re waiting for other resources: START SKETCHING WITH THE DESIGNER STARTER KIT BOOK (FOR FREE!) — ⭐️ The Design Sketchbook |Product Design Sketching Tutorials

It’s just a small pdf w/ basic drawing skills. Not bad but it’s something lol. Good luck.