I now work mainly in simple pen sketches to discover the initial ‘spark’ of an idea, to experiment with proportion and find a concept that carries enough visual effect for me to pursue. Then, I go directly into the three-dimensional realm through the Alias system, where I develop the nascent sketch idea into the form and proportion continuation of that ‘spark’. Photo-real renderings are created directly from this 3D digital model in KeyShot or other rendering programs, which helps my client visualize the product readily. Finally, I pull dimensions from the digital model and create the actual product, going into prototype production with a vast amount of confirmation.
Here is a small project that shows you how this process works for me. Of course these are very direct and basic examples; at any point in the process I may work further to develop the concepts, and I can do any level of color sketching, part/view sketching, material selection rendering, or modeling to explore as needed.
