Tools of a Designer
When I first started out as an artist I lived on printer paper and pencils found on the floor. Most of it was to be economical, besides practice is what mattered. As I’ve developed into a professional designer, as well as a small business owner, I’ve become picker with my tools. Especially as I’m able to better invest in what I use and not just rely on the minimum. That doesn’t mean I haven’t tried to keep an eye out for effective but affordable option.
I would say my favorite tool is a 2020 gen 8 ipad and apple pen. I’ve done a lot of digital art using drawing tablets over the years but the apple pen is a game changer. The tilt recognition is enough to send me to the moon. It’s simply fantastic from a drawing perspective. This paired with the Procreate app is one of the most accessible drawing tool I’ve seen. It costs the same as my first tablet, which I’m pretty sure I got used. That’s back when tablets were just a black space that recognized pressure, you still needed the computer and programs part. This speeds up the design process a lot as a task can potentially be completed anywhere.
I do have a lesser used iMac mini that boasts a reputation for be an extremely effective and cheap option for a graphic designer. It hasn’t let me down but I will admit I’m never home to use it. I pair it with a Huion tablet. Not sure how I feel about that option either. I’ve, up until this point, used Wacom drawing tablets but found their more affordable options had short lifespans. The Huion tablet gets the job done but boy did I not know what I was buying. The screen is the size of a monitor which makes work easier but I do wish the resolution was higher.
Nomad 3D Interface
iPad screen featuring procreate
A part of my graphic design employment is that I have a bit of 3D modeling knowledge. I learned on ZBrush but that is a high cost of entry, not to mention it is a little hard to learn more with ZBrush as the language used is it’s own barrier to entry. Not quite ready to teach myself another program, in this case Blender, I opted to explore Nomad 3D. I had 2 requirements when looking for a 3D modeling programs, I wanted something that didn’t require a subscription or hundreds to access it. Then I also wanted to be able to import files to modify. Tinkercad might not be the best cad program but it does one thing I need really well, exact sizes, and I could import those exact measurements into Nomad.
None of this matters as much as choose of design programs and everyone knows Adobe is the professional standard. I do use it but there ethical standards are questionable at best. I use Affinity for my personal designs or whenever I can. Mind you I have the version before the Canva merger. In theory, this merger makes the most robust competitor to Adobe to exist.
