Well, well. Some good feedback here. I didn't expect everybody to like it, but it seems that at least the opinions are divided.
Working to a design: I don't always do it, but I find that I generally use a design when I make boxes or more intricate pieces. For most of my bowls, I tend to see where the wood guides me. On my site is a fruit bowl/dish on a stand. That piece would have been impossible without design. The stand is actually made from 3 segments which were turned together with 15 others to achieve a turned, curved outside and inside to the legs, something that would otherwise have been nigh on impossible. And in order to get that right, I needed a drawing with precise dimensions. Coming from an engineering background, I am no stranger to drawings, and I have a sketchbook with loads of design ideas. Not all of them will make it into actual pieces, but some have. And some are still to come, when the time is right. It's something Mark Hancock recommended, and I am very glad he did.