Navigating Creative Gravity, Ep.3: Sketchpads and Space Maps

Before Figma, before wireframes, before five layers of nested components...

There was paper.

And a pencil.

And actual human hands making actual marks.

I still start there.

Not because I’m a purist.

Not because I don’t love the slick precision of digital tools.

But because paper is frictionless in the right way.

No loading screens.

No pixel snapping.

No plugin rabbit holes.

Just you, your ideas, and a blank surface asking “so, what are we building?”

When I sketch first, I think differently.

More freely.

I’m less concerned with layout grids and more tuned into flow, clarity, and intent.

Here’s why I still keep a sketchpad within arm’s reach:

📝 I can explore three bad ideas faster than I can center a div

📝 It forces me to slow down and think, instead of faking speed with polish

📝 I make fewer assumptions when I’m working in lines, not pixels

It’s not anti-tech.

It’s pro-brain.

Because before you chart the high-fidelity cosmos, sometimes you need to scribble a space map on a napkin.