The most common method of input is to scan in hand-drawn/painted images and then edit these using Photoshop, etc. But it can be a lengthy process and a large amount of the detail and dynamic range of the drawing is lost during scanning and by adjusting the contrast of the image in post production.
I’d like to look into this workflow and understand how to improve this design process, tapping into our natural capabilities for putting pen to paper and expressing our ideas, yet retaining the pros of digital manipulation and storage.
So far, the closest a designer can come to achieving this is through the use of graphics tablets, which range from surfaces that simply register a pen’s input, to those which include a screen – such as the Wacom Cintiq. The latter type, of course, enables a true sense of working directly onto the computer screen beneath your pen – but they are an expensive gadget that is rarely found amongst your average Architect.
Not only are they expensive, but I believe that until you can replicate the simplicity of working on a desk and sketching with all your drawing tools around you, then people are unlikely to move across to digital methods of input.
More recent technology developments in screens have produced e-ink type screens, such as the noteslate, which feel more like paper and are small enough to carry around with you.
The sketch below shows how I’d like to look into encompassing all the elements of drawing and architectural design exploration into a responsive, personalised desk.
I’d like to incorporate a variety of ideas in addition to a full desk screen – such as capacitive pen/brush input, ruler assistance, data transfer (photos, etc. from camera/mobile phone) and tracing capabilities. I can imagine the screen becoming a lightbox of sorts that would understand the input from a stylus even when there is a sheet of paper in the way, helping enable tracing straight into the computer. One could use it to hand draw, edit 2D & 3D cad and record hand written notes.
I appreciate these inputs are very complicated processes and the interface UI will be an important part of how such a desk would work, but a seamless surface which enables greater creative digital freedom would help plenty of architects pursue their ideas much more freely and eliminate the middle man!
