Oh, I can hear it all now; "Drawing? What, are you kidding me? Why the heck do you think I took up Photography?". Well, despite any aversions you may have to connecting pencil to paper, everyone has the capacity to draw. Hard to believe, but it's true. Whether you are an accomplished artist, or still struggle with stick-figures, drawing is a life-long skill that can be improved and practiced at any level. It is a vital key in becoming a better visual communicator - whatever your medium.

There are many aspects and elements of an image or design that need to be thought through before being flung into the spotlight. Composition is a biggie, not to mention lighting and shadows, background and props, focal points and visual hierarchy, perspective and view point, contrast and balance, message and meaning, and the list goes on. Sketching not only makes you test different combinations of these elements, it also forces you to think through what your creation will actually be used for. Planning your image around a particular audience will give your ideas a stronger direction and a greater chance of being applauded.

Sketching is essentially about ensuring that you execute your best idea - not your first idea. Your first idea is usually something you've seen somewhere before. Even if you're quite experienced and have a knack for coming up with a good idea straight up, chances are, it is not your best idea, and is not challenging the status quo at all. This is where the beauty of sketching roughs comes into play. Quickly scribble down your first ideas - all of them, go for it. Get all of the stupid clichés out of your head, onto paper and move on to greener pastures. Without getting a plan down on paper first, you are dooming yourself to execute the first thing that pops into your head, often resulting in an extraordinary waste of production time. Sooner or later, while trying to make that first idea look pretty, you will realise how dumb the idea was to begin with, and probably waste even more time executing your second idea. Sketching roughs and thumbnails allows you to filter out all of the mediocre concepts, and bring the credible ideas to the surface with great efficiency. Far better that you spend your production and polishing time only executing the good ideas, rather than just the first ideas.

The Photographer: "So, you're serious then. You really think I'll be a better photographer if I sketch out my shots first?"

72ppi: "Well, yeah! Why not?"

The Designer: "It'd be a waste of time for him! I mean, the guy's got a digital camera. If the shot sucks, all he has to do is delete it and take another one!"

72ppi: "True, but luck can only take you so far."

The Illustrator: "Yeah, that's right, you need pure talent - like me!"

72ppi: "Err, no. Not exactly. Even a very skilled person can waste a lot of time making boring ideas a reality."

Although the above-mentioned professions involve different sets of production methods, skills, processes and purposes, they all need a certain amount of preparation and planning in order to achieve a satisfactory level of efficiency and success. Really, it doesn't matter if you're an architect, an electrician or a football coach, testing your ideas out on paper can spare you a lot of collapsed buildings, burnt eyebrows and tears in the change-room.

Preparing yourself to take a photograph involves a lot more than just buying some nice equipment and finding a nice place to use it. In fact, barring the shots you took during your last alien abduction, most good photographs are to some degree preconceived and organised. Some of the questions a photographer should be asking well before releasing the shutter might include:
• What sort of emotions or reactions is this shot supposed to evoke?
• What kind of publication am I attempting to cater to?
• What is the theme or genre?
Answer these sort of fundamental questions, and a variety of associated sounds, words, imagery and other ideas should flood your imagination. Get them down on paper quickly, because unless your memory is photographic as well, a good portion of those ideas will just pop back out again. From this initial brainstorming session, compositions, colours, and other elements should begin to appear, along with more questions:
• Do you need to make space in the composition for any text or design elements?
• Could a designer crop or extend the dimensions of this photo easily?
• Would it be better if the subject was male or female?
Again, all leading to more sketches and a further refinement of concepts and imagery.

Illustration and design works in a similar fashion. Few of us have the luxury of wasting production time, yet a lot of us talk ourselves into thinking that roughs are not necessary, and that we have enough instincts to nail it on the first attempt. The clock starts ticking, there's a rough idea rolling around up there, and we'd rather skip any further decision-making and just start getting the job done. The truth is, your concept development time is the last thing you should chop in a tight deadline. A brilliant idea hurriedly executed will always do better than a spiffy-looking dumb idea.