I’m asking this question because I find that IDers who own a tablet usually falls into the category of designing shoes, soft goods, hand tools, and cars (which is more of a hobby for IDers).
I’m interested to see if people use the tablet professionally for other areas of ID such as cellphones and consumer electronics.
I myself have used the tablet professionally to design corporate desktop phone handsets.
However, when designing simpler items such as houseware, kitchenware, and furniture, I find that I tend to go directly from paper sketch to CAD rendering instead, especially when glass, acrylic, precise light and shadows, and intricate details are involved.
See I’m trying to find more reasons to upgrade to an Intuos 4 other than the fact that I’ve lost my old Graphire pen.
Also, any inspired Intuos 4 users out there? It seemed to garner great feedbacks so far.
I use my Cintiq in close conjuction with 3d to give me a quick and accurate way to sketch concepts and details that I know can actually be built. Sketchbook pro all the way.
I have used a tablet in some form or another since my first summer internship.
Ranging from housewares, consumer electronics, medical equipment, major appliances, office products, furniture, etc personal and professional. I bought an
Intuos 1 during that internship and it has been my home tablet since, I have had
a 20 and a 21 Cintiq at two different jobs since. I still like to get down on paper
especially early on, but generally do most of my more refined sketching and ( non 3d) rendering with a tablet. There was a time when I was doing a lot of ProE and the middle button click was wreaking havoc on my arm (RSI) so after trying 2 other mice, I finished the model on the Cintiq, it was strange, but worked.
I’d love to hear more from Intuos4 users, I’m trying to decide between that and a 12" Cintiq right now. Too bad RK is a first time tablet guy otherwise I’m sure he could give us a great comparison between workflow with older intuos and the new one. Maybe he can still tell us about his feedback on the controls…Richard…you there?
I think you’ll find that the categories that you mentioned tend to have more gestural forms and lines so electronic sketching is well suited for it. Things like electronics, etc… tend to have more subtle lines, details, and proportions which make or break the design. So with those, you’d tend to nail down the design with a more precise tool for drawing like illustrator or with 3d modeling.
If I was designing a high end rolex type of watch, I’d hate to have to do most of the visualization with sketching since it would probably be more about proportions and other subtle things. But for shoe design or bags, I’m sure you could explore all day with the tablet until it’s time to nail down the exact details.
I think it all depends on what the specific product is. Some things might even be done straight in 3-d more effectively/efficiently such as wine glasses or something like that. Use whatever is best for the task at hand, don’t get stuck into doing things one way just out of tradition.
We use 'em with Sketchbook Pro for medical device design involving large teams–the collaboration aspects of an all-digital workflow are worth the tablet alone.
I use mine all the time for consumer products. It is hard to beat when you are traveling (I have a tablet PC). Don’t have to rely on anyone to scan, print and so on. Easy to communicate ideas quickly.