The Concept Sketch as a Space

In this paper I explore some of the ways a concept sketch can be used in the professional practice of industrial design. The paper shows generally how an inscribed object is situated and utilized in collaborative activity, by focusing particularly on the space over the sketch as a site for participation in a concept development meeting. This participation is both bodily and verbally manifested and I attempt to show how using the sketch and not using the sketch are distinctly organized. A main finding is that the sketch – a ubiquitous artifact in design – is much more than the iconic representations inscribed upon it. For example, the ‘sketch space’ in the air over the sketch is a site that can arbitrate a fundamental organizational resource, namely turn taking. Another type of organization concerns the sorts of verbal actions carried out with and without the sketch, or the space over it. Actions concerning the organization of design were carried out without the sketch, while actions concerned with the concrete particulars of the design project at hand were carried out with the sketch. Its uses in the meeting allow for the artful demonstration of the professional competences of industrial designers.