How to Enhance Your Creativity in Technical & Engineering Drawings

Although some people are more naturally gifted in creating technical and engineering designs and drawings, everybody has the ability to create at least something significant, no matter how little, and enhance their level of creativity or design ability if they consistently use certain tools or apply certain techniques over a period of time.

Enhancing creativity in technical and engineering drawings is synonymous with enhancing creativity in any type of sport: study and practice is a necessary requirement. Everybody can start at any level of creativity and improve if they are willing to put in an appreciable amount of effort, both mentally and physically.

So, how can anyone develop new ideas or their creativity in technical and engineering drawings? By consistently and conscientiously engaging in technical or engineering drawing visualization, communication, and documentation and producing drawings (traditional and CAD), anybody can be able to develop a higher capacity to generate more ideas and become more creative and competitive in the world marketplace.

This article discusses the following five proven ways that can be used to enhance creativity in technical and engineering drawings, and make it easier to generate new ideas for drawings:

1. By consistently studying the natural world

The easiest way to enhance creativity is to be a student of the natural world: make it a regular practice to meditate on, ponder upon, and draw the objects that exist in the natural world.

By imagining and analyzing how objects are aligned and living things function and interact together in the environment, it would be possible to obtain so much information and inspiration from the natural world and set a firm foundation to unleash and enhance one’s creativity.

It’s important to note that objects such as spiderwebs and beehives have inspired many structural designs, and birds’ wings have inspired the design of aerodynamic structures. There is quite a lot to learn from nature, just by taking time to study living things and natural objects.

2. By learning from mentors or being part of design groups

In today’s world, most people handle technical and engineering drawings in working or team environments which usually have leaders, experts, or knowledgeable people who are usually more creative and familiar with design drawings.

Being part of a design group and having regular interaction with people who are very creative can play an important role in enhancing one’s own creativity and broadening their understanding of what it takes to generate new ideas.

3. By studying artificial or manufactured products

Artificial or manufactured products contain a great deal of information that can be interpreted by studying or observing them, regardless of whether their parts are assembled or dismantled.

By assembling or dismantling manufactured products, one can make evaluations and acquire a greater understanding of how their parts are designed and work together.

By being inquisitive and seeking how to do things differently or making improvements (in efficiency, performance, speed, etc.) in already-existing manufactured products, one could be well on the way to developing new ideas and enhancing their own creativity.

4. By conducting research on patent drawings

Patent drawings for products are great resources for ideas; researching on/studying patent drawings can enhance one’s creativity and broaden their imagination.

People still have access to patent drawings, even though patents, which are issued by governments, protect drawings and grant their respective owners certain rights to exclude other people from using, making, or selling their products for certain periods of time.

Anybody can search a government’s patent office—if available online—for the current design of a product or an idea. For instance, the USA Patent and Trademark Office’s website (www.uspto.gov), which has strict regulations on how drawings should be presented, contains design drawings that researchers can easily reproduce.

5. By surfing the Internet and examining designs or drawings

There are many outstanding sources for designs and drawings on the Internet (World Wide Web). By spending time to visit engineering and technology sites and read/study technical and engineering drawings, any interested individual can become more familiar with drawings and develop or enhance their own creativity.

The following websites can be useful for studying technical and engineering designs and drawings:

i. www.engineeringtoolbox.com

ii. www.practicalmachinist.com

iii. www.howstuffworks.com

iv. www.engnetglobal.com

v. www.mcmaster.com