A graphic I created for the January 2012 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. This image accompanied an article about the potential dangers of celebrities using Twitter. Created using Illustrator and Photoshop.

A graphic I created for the December 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. This image accompanied an article about common mistakes to avoid when designing your website. Created using Illustrator and Photoshop.

Recently had the honour of designing some enamel badges for the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST). They picked my Gary Neville is a Red… design in recognition of the great lad hanging up his boots after 19 years in the Manchester United senior squad. The set of two badges is sent out to all members of MUST along with a certificate.

Very happy with how the badge looks. Shall proudly add it to my collection.

But, try as I may, I just can’t get used to using a drawing tablet. The ‘not looking at my hand while drawing’ concept is just something my tiny brain can’t get to grips with. Fellow designer friends continually encourage me to persevere – “eventually it will happen and you’ll never look back” – but it just isn’t happening for me.

Therefore, if I want to bring my scribblings to life on the ‘puter, I’m left either using the good old mouse or going totally old skull and scanning in my drawings to Photoshop. Not that I have a problem with this. I actually get a lot of satisfaction from turning off the Mac, getting out the layout pad, pencil and ink pens and having a doodle. Many a logo or graphic image that I have produced for a client started out as a sketch that was scanned in to the Mac. I also genuinely feel that drawing freehand on paper encourages experimentation and rewards mistakes. As skilled as I am using the tools in Adobe Illustrator, some of my favourite pieces have started out as sketch that I have merely traced over or ‘coloured in’.

Which brings me on to the Wacom Inkling. A scanner and pen combo that transfers your biro drawings in to editable bitmap and/or vector artwork. How does it work? Well I’m not entirely sure. It appears the scanner (that you clip on to the edge of your regular drawing pad) works in conjunction with the pressure sensitive pen to record the pen’s position and degree of pressure on the paper – thus allowing it to differentiate between light shading for instance and heavy scribbling. The Inkling also has the ability to record ‘layers’ therefore allowing you to split elements of your drawings off for full editable control on the computer afterwards. As a friend on Twitter remarked the other week – “Surely it’s witchcraft?”

The scanner is able to save all your drawings until you are ready to upload to your computer. So, let’s say for instance you are sat in a Starbucks and the urge came over you to do some doodling in your Moleskin*. Just clip the scanner to the edge of your pad, sketch away and when you were back at you Mac, upload your efforts. Unfortunately, the Inkling can not rewind time (yet!), so you need to make the decision beforehand if you wanted to record this drawing or not. I suppose you would just get in to the habit that anytime you decided to doodle, you would automatically activate the Inkling. At present, I just doodle away and if something looks interesting and worth developing, I would scan it in. With the Inkling, you may find yourself ‘retracing’ over doodles.

I am really interested in purchasing one. As someone who doodles a lot, I can really see the potential in it. But ideally, I want to see one in action first before I stump up £150. I’ve already thrown £50 a Wacom Bamboo drawing tablet and that’s gathering dust on a shelf somewhere…

*I have never had the urge to do any drawings in my pad in a Starbucks… or any other ‘coffeeshop’ for that matter.

A graphic I created for the October 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. Created using Poser, Bryce, Illustrator and Photoshop.

A graphic I created for the October 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. Created using fibre-tip pen and Photoshop.

A graphic I created for the September 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. Created using Bryce, Illustrator and Photoshop.

A graphic I created for the September 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. Created using Photoshop.

A graphic I created for the September 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. Created using Cheetah 3D, Bryce, Illustrator and Photoshop.

A graphic I created for the August 2011 issue of MarketingDotCom magazine. Created using Photoshop.