it's back to pencils >> davo

as usual it was a chance message that led me to the blogs / website that I am introducing to you through dgthekneelo today. I really never know what I will be writing about form each day to the next. that is what makes stuff so interesting and fresh.

I knew that I was not crazy when I detailed the things like to always have with me in a blog I wrote a while ago 'found a nice pencil'.

troy worman's blog 'orbit now' was the starting place leading me to pencil revolutions and finally on to dave's mechanical pencils.
now this site is a real work of passion I have to say I spent far too long reading it earlier

nothing to do with the blogs mentioned but check out davo, a new concept is instant blogging that I have started, with the idea that snippets or section of conversations that seem interesting. at the moment it is very early and the only person set up to update is me, but if things work out I would like to open it up to anyone. Have a look and leave your thoughts.

meetings >> designing >> what do you use?

I apologise for the rambling nature and poor grammar of this post. perhaps I should have planned it in pencil first?

I have just come out of that (two hours plus) meeting I mentioned in yesterdays blog, it was very productive that is not something I can always say.

during the meeting I was struck by they different way the people involved chose to record their thoughts or used to bring their ideas to the meeting. taking in to consideration the make-up of the meeting, it included two people from an ICT (information communication technology) background, two from a design technology background (with four with a science background for the first half of the meeting) then ending with a longer discussion of design technology at the end. all the people present would by the nature of their work and qualifications would generally be thought of as academics.

I always take my filofax making sure I have got fresh plain paper and lined paper in, all but two had paper based forms of writing either with a pencil or a pen. only one had a pda (personal digital organiser) and one had nothing at all, I felt jealous that I didn't have the courage to not bring anything but myself, surely it is showing extraordinary confidence or that they couldn't care at all. knowing the person I have to say the former is the truth.

I thought more, with the assembled at the meeting all of whom work on computers every day, and all being computer/technology literate. why did no one bring a laptop? why did only one use a pda? and how is it the tool of choice for most a pencil?

then I thought more the one person using the pda is probably at least 15-20 years younger than the rest of us who where writing. the only one in the same age bracket as pda man was the person who didn't bring anything but his thoughts. I know others around the table have pda's and all have laptops of some description. I have a pda (i-paq) in fact I have had two, I gave one to carol and now I use the other as a sat-nav. I tried to use the first one I bought instead of the filofax after about 6 months I stopped I could just not get on with it I felt it made me think far too slowly, I was becoming bound by the software.

If I am trying to put an idea down visually I will always now start with a piece of paper (nearly always A3). even when it is for a web idea's or something with a digital outcome. this was not always the case up until a couple of years ago I would design totally on screen but I started to find that the ideas were being driven by the software and I started to design to the software specifications which became very limiting.
I would be interested to hear if I am the only one who works like this? do you design directly on your mac or (pc). do you still use a pencil and paper? is it an age thing? when I learnt to write we used paper and pencils then ink-pens when we went to the junior school! it would be nice to hear from you, if you have managed to get to the end of this!?!

thinking >> it's just words

I spend hours and hours keeping up to date with both (ICT/enterprise) educational thinking as well as current business practice.
I worked in the real world as a designer, and a retailer before hiding away in the comfortable world of education! (well perhaps not that comfortable but for different reasons).
but I find myself spending more and more time reading only half the book, the first couple of pages of an academic paper or a .pdf document only to get bored at the point when I realise that so much of the stuff I am reading is probably just common sense wrapped up in a well designed cover, perhaps by some-one who hasn't even read the book, or 'just words' telling me the same thing.

whether it is web usability or information architecture, even planning for business success through a multi layer intranet. I have say that some stuff I have seen and read lately simply is just not very good, that said I am still a great fan of jakob neilsen and the useit web site.

I keep thinking about what my photography lecturer (in the late 70's) said to me when I was trying to measure to perfection where I was going to put my lovely art school 'black and white photo', using a really clean stainless steel ruler and my finest mechanical pencil spending ages and then finding that it still looked a bit wonky. I also remember feeling a certain amount of horror as he took the photo away from me and picked up a new clean piece of mounting board and with out measuring it at all put it in exactly the right place, saying "if it looks right it is right", but then it's just words, or is it common sense?

writing stuff down

for a long time I considered writing lists was an excuse for not doing it (thinking that the fact you had written it down was sort of doing it) so I never wrote lists.
over time perhaps my thinking changed or my memory has become less good or more likely I have more to remember.
so for the last few years I have written (scribbled) stuff down in my filofax. things that are happening that day or plans for the next day pretty normal way of working really and as close to lists as I have ever got (normally without comment so not really a diary).
I have never succumbed to the to do culture that is too contrived for me.
I tend judge my life by how much scribble there is. as I look back through the scribble of the last few days (first photo). I can see that my week was pretty busy but this weekend (second photo) and the beginning of next week is not, as defined by the lack of scribble (scribble = good) and that makes me worry. I still like to have too much to finish another 80's throw back perhaps. luckily I have the surfing article to get done (third photo). I am sure by tuesday my pages will be full of scribble again.

found a nice pencil >> what do you always carry with you?

a few weeks ago my friend davidthedesigner posted on his blog a picture of his favourite pen a 20 year old rotring. at the time I wanted to respond with a picture of a muji pencil (silver, right) that I thought was my favourite, but at the time couldn't find it. in a way I am pleased that I didn't because the fact that I couldn't find meant that I wasn't really using it. it wasn't very comfortable to write with but it looked so good. since then I have found the bic mechanical pencil in the photo (below black/silver) which I have now replaced as my favourite. it is a budget mechanical pencil but it is just so nice to use and it looks good as well.

I got to thinking in this world of technology and digital applications why is it that I still am excited about a cheap mechanical pencil?
I have a pda, and a mobile phone that is with me almost all the time.
I thought about what I always carry with me whether working or not. I consider the glasses I wear when needed a piece of clothing, as I do my watch (as these are a given rather than considered). I though it would be interesting to find what others cannot be separated from.
I have to add that my real job is that of an ICT & enterprise teacher so I work with computers (& students) all day. with so much of my work automated it would be easy to not write anything by hand.
I could probably have one flash drive with me (as some colleagues do) and still be able to function well in my job, moving between different computers.

the picture (bottom) shows what goes with me everywhere. my filofax (I did use a pda every day for a year or so but I really missed writing on paper), the bic mechanical pencil, a 1GB flash memory drive, for documents and animations, presentations etc, and a 2GB flash memory drive for images and video.
now I realise no matter how much technology I have around me I still want to be able to write with a pencil on paper sometimes. that's why I will alway carry one with me, along with filofax (for me an 80's throwback) and my 'geek sticks'.

what do you carry with you every day?