Planning a generative artwork on paper before coding reduces debugging time and sharpens the visual intent

The 60-212 course requires students to maintain a physical sketchbook — not optional supplementary material but a listed required resource. The rationale is that planning spatial, temporal, or generative ideas on paper externalises the design problem separately from the implementation problem. A sketch answers ‘what should happen’ before code asks ‘how to make it happen’. This separation reduces the common failure mode of generating code-driven outcomes that are technically correct but aesthetically under-considered. The same principle applies in live-coding: knowing what sonic or visual event you intend before reaching for an API call produces better outcomes than exploratory hacking alone.

Examples

Before coding a generative clock, draw three sketches of different metaphors for time (e.g. filling, rotating, accumulating). Choose one and annotate which variables drive which visual dimensions. Only then open the editor.

Assessment

Take an existing generative sketch you wrote exploratorily. Draw a post-hoc sketch that articulates its visual logic. Identify one dimension that your code explores which your sketch would have clarified in advance, and refactor accordingly.