This x 100.
Too many today open their laptop without actually understanding the formal aesthetics of what they are designing, and then developing a suitable patch layout. Deceptively simple looking things like high end faucets or gardening tools, for example, can be very demanding, but once the designer has figured out the patch layout - even sort of crude physical mock-ups allow you to literally draw patch layout ideas on - incredibly helpful; or the ability to do good old 3D sketches on paper.