An Urban Planner Tests Out the Wacom Intuos Tablet
Sharing my first 15 hours using the Wacom Intuos graphics tablet and letting you know if it’s a must-have.
Introduction:
The core elements of urban planning include conducting research, community engagement, collecting data, visualizing data, and writing reports. These are traditional skills that an urban planner develops in university, but there are also nontraditional roles that exist for urban planners that require a special skill for visual storytelling. For example, an urban planner could improve the user experience of a transit app; sketch design standards for a guidebook; develop infographics about curb space management; or create a video about cities and people.
All to say that the profile of an urban planner is evolving in response to the latest technology and communication standards. Visual storytelling is a creative and useful skill for any urban planner to have, and to work on my visual storytelling, I purchased a graphics tablet.
The Wacom Intuos tablet is popular amongst digital artists, but is a little known tool in the urban planning industry. So, I decided to capture my first 15 hours on the tablet, and let you know what I think.
Design and Product Information:
What I Made In 15 Hours:
There is a learning curve to using a graphics tablet. You need to customize the settings and get used to new hand-eye coordination. To do this, here are the steps that I followed.
Watched Wacom Intuos tutorials on YouTube
Traced digital art using Adobe Illustrator
Created a map using QGIS and edited it in Illustrator
Included below are the original pieces and inspiration behind my work, as well as my renditions of them in the 15 hours that I spent on my tablet.
Conclusion:
I purchased the Wacom Intuos tablet so that I could get better at visual storytelling, and at the end of 15 hours, I can say that I am already getting better at it. I’m certainly not a professional graphic designer, but I am excited to use my tablet to distill complex information into infographics and other visuals.
Do all urban planners need a graphics tablet? Till now, I have mainly used the Wacom tablet in Illustrator and QGIS, two popular programs amongst urban planners. The tablet did not create significant efficiencies or ease within these programs, which is why I don’t think all urban planner’s need a graphics tablet. For the nature of most of our work, a mouse or a trackpad works just fine.
The more I use the tablet, the more I will have to share. Rest assured that this post will be updated as needed.
