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Adjustable Pen Tip for ID Sketching, Yea or Nay?

By Rain Noe - May 16, 2013

in Hand Tools

When it comes to sketching, line quality is everything. To build up the desired thickness using ink, you can either switch between multiple pens or you can hit the same line repeatedly with the same pen, as Spencer Nugent has done above; if using pencil or a pressure-sensitive stylus on a digital device, you can hit the same line and/or press harder, as Michael DiTullo's done below.

So this currently-under-consideration-at-Quirky design proposal has me curious. Designer "HSingh" is pushing for a pen with an adjustable tip, whereby a dial in the barrel somehow alters the nib's width.

There's virtually no explanation for how the thing would work, but the question is: Would you guys use this to change line weights, or do you prefer the old-fashioned way? And does anyone remember having to swtich back and forth from like, five different Koh-i-Noor Rapidographs in design school?

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Don Martinez

6 years ago

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Was this Concept developed? would be interesting to see how it works.

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Ben P

11 years ago

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i agree w thomas. this seems like its designed by someone that doesn't ever sketch.
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Luke

11 years ago

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An analog pressure sensitive pen? Isn't that just a soft lead pencil? Harder you press the darker and thicker the line?
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broseph

11 years ago

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hwo about an analog pressure sensitive pen...
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LukeJ

11 years ago

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It has everything to do with personal preference and which phase of the sketching process one is involved with. I personally wouldn't rely on this kind of tool in the thumbnail/rough sketch phase as it would interrupt my flow, as compared to one that allows line variability based upon pressure input, of which there are many. However, I could see it playing some role in tighter sketches when one may need a more cautious approach, yet don't think it's necessarily superior to a multiple pen setup. Much would depend on its feel in the hand and it's level of adaptability without compromise.
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thomas

11 years ago

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I've drawn since I was a toddler (art prof dad, had to), and seriously drawn-drawn for a quarter century. Yeah, I had my bucket of rapidiographs & AD markers & Blackwings at one point (school & post school misplaced pride), but most of the time, be it wacom stylus or Pilot Precise Points, I just adjust pressure. It's intuitive and automatic and I, personally, can't imagine taking the moment required to twist the barrel of this thing. If I'd started out with it, maybe, but it seems redundant.
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