I'm quite comfortable leveraging sketches to tell stories and explain product concepts to customers. These sketches are often quite detailed and contain plenty of information about the "Big Idea," aesthetics, function, and color. When I'm not present for meetings, sketches are my only means of communication with customers/retailers.
When working with a seasoned team of marketers and engineers, I prefer to tailor my sketching approach to the intended audience. For example, marketing teams respond positively to sketches that evoke emotion, and engineers appreciate careful attention to manufacturability... and generous draft angles.
Sketches that I throw down quickly to evaluate a form, or to think through a mechanism, are often seen by others as hairy scribbles filling page after page. But to me, they are a visual record of my thoughts and are an essential part of my creative process.
