What are Thumbnails, Roughs and Comps?

-There are steps that have been used for centuries to make designing more efficient. It is not necessary to use all of these steps in every design situation but they are included here to give you a better idea of the entire process. -THE 6 STAGE WEB DESIGN PROCESS Define the Project Develop Site Structure & Organize Information Develop Page Structure & Organize Interactions Design Graphic User Interface Build Web Site Produce & Publish Web Site -THUMBNAlL SKETCHES The first visual forms of an idea are thumbnail (small) sketches (simple drawings). It is important that they be drawn quickly since you want to record your ideas while they are fresh in your mind. Thumbnail sketches are only helpful to the designer in brainstorming of a design or product.  Thumbnail sketches are akin to doodles; they are nothing more than quick, rough drawings that approximate layouts and placement of key design features or elements. Drawing thumbnails with actual paper and pencil is a great way to brainstorm layout possibilities swiftly and easily. This is always the first step ! -ROUGHS The first full sized sketches of the image are called roughs because they are just that. When enlarging a small sketch into a full size drawing additional design decisions usually need to be made. Designing requires a lot of decision making. When possible roughs should be the same size as the desired product. A large object like a building requires many scale drawings. The first rough is a sketch that enlarges the thumbnail. The image is then refined through a series of steps until all of the design problems are solved and the drawing looks some what similar to what you want to create. -COMPOSITES Where designers start brainstorming layouts and designs with a pencil in hand, producing doodles that may be incomprehensible to anyone else, a composite, or comp for short, takes your thumbnail sketch and makes it presentable for a client to see. Comps can be hand drawn, if they are done so neatly and professionally. Once you've thumbnailed they can be scanned to Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Though comps are not finished designs, they are the necessary middle step between thumbnail sketches and the final visual design.