I have been beta-testing the Adobe Fresco digital painting and drawing app and now that it was launched a few days ago, I can finally talk openly about it! Yay! So, let’s start the conversation. (All images included here were created with Fresco.)

My main app of choice for working live (doing digital graphic facilitation, graphic recording, scribing, sketchnoting) recording explainer videos) has been Adobe Illustrator Draw, but since Adobe has decided to stop developing it—I need to see if Adobe Fresco can be my go-to app or should I take the plunge and learn something completely different like Concepts or Procreate. (BTW: Procreate 5 has some amazing features coming!!!)

I am certainly willing to give Fresco my serious attention—and once they integrate the shapes tool, colour themes/palettes & Adobe Capture—it will not be such a huge transition from Draw.

So, here is a first look at some of Fresco’s features. This is not a comprehensive guide, but more of a reflection of some things that have caught my attention—for the good and bad.

There are 3 different types of brushes available in the app: pixel, live. and vector brushes. I will not go into the pixel or live brushes at this point. I am just focussing on the vector brush because that is what I have been using in the Draw app.

The vector brushes

As you can see in the image below, there are 4 vector brushes and they are completely editable. You can tag & edit your favourite brushes so that you have a limited choice of brushes available. At this point you cannot save multiple versions of the same brush as you could Draw. Maybe this feature is still coming?

You are also able to change the UI a bit to adapt to your way of working. For example, if you needed to have access to your vector brushes and wanted to decrease the amount of tapping you would have to do—you could keep the Vector brushes panel on your screen and move it anywhere you like. Now, because I am working on a smaller sized iPad Pro, this panel takes up some space on the screen. Also if I am working live and projecting my work in realtime, it is just one more bit of clutter that participants can see.

Moving your colour panel around your screen

You can place your colour panel anywhere on the screen you think would be helpful. You can also change the set up of the toolbar if you are left-handed, etc. Just take a look at the preferences options available.

(This is an aside which I discovered by accident: if you use image layers in your work and otherwise work with vector brushes—watch out! If you merge the image & vector layers, the merged layer will convert to a pixel layer. I have not found any workarounds yet, but hopefully I will!)

Choosing colours, erasing & filling
In the image below you will find a summary of some of my discoveries.
If you want to choose a colour you can:
1. use the colour wheel
2. change the opacity
3. use the HSB or RGB sliders
4. use the colour picker

At the moment you do not have access to colour themes or palettes so I have thought of a work around for the time being. See the image!

The new FILL tool
A new tool that we have did not have in Draw is the fill tool! It is super fast, but the option of pressing your brush down for a longer time to fill a space is now no longer available. Always having to switch tools causes some delay in the workflow (and some getting used to!!)

The eraser
One feature that I sorely miss is the multitasking eraser which Draw had. Now, the eraser is just an eraser. I used the delete function of the eraser in Draw quite a bit to get rid of large areas or tiny spots of colour very quickly, etc.
I have to have a think about it and am sure there must be a workaround—maybe using the new lasso tool. Regardless, the present option leaves us with using slower solutions.
However, one new feature I do like is the “Touch Shortcut circle” (that you can see in the middle bottom of the picture below). Press the Touch Shortcut and hold it down while you use your vector brush. This temporarily changes the action of the brush to an eraser. The Touch Shortcut gives you a quick way to erase with the selected brush—and without switching tools. Cool! (There are also other ways to use this tool—see the app for list of touch shortcuts.)

The lasso tool
Adobe has given us the long awaited lasso tool so we can move things around and I will go into that tool in more detail once I have made some more experiments. Basically—we can finally cut, paste and move things around—but I think there might be more uses to this tool than that.

Projecting & working live
As far as I can tell, there is no way to change the view that will be projected through a beamer or shared on another screen. So, that means whatever is on your screen or whatever you do on your screen will be visible to your audience. That’s too bad! It would have been nice to have that option that Procreate has. (You can clear all your tools away with one touch:)

Time to practice, experiment and communicate with Adobe
Like with anything new—this is going to require some learning and mucking about. I need to do some experimentation and play with the app in order to find out what it can do—that Draw couldn’t. I need to discover how this app can change the way I am working and in the process disrupt my own practice once again. Who knows what marvellous possibilities await…in between the moments of frustration…I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, there are lots of sources to learn from. People are posting amazing work on Behance, creating reviews on YouTube, discussing the app on twitter and posting about it on Insta: #AdobeFresco

When I speak to visual practitioners who work mainly on paper or boards with markers and pastels, they all say the same thing: working digitally makes me slower!

I disagree.

Of course, when you start working in any new medium there is a learning curve and it takes you a while to become comfortable with it. Don’t get me wrong, I love paper! The texture, the feel and all the other wonderful tactile supplies you can use…but I also love the options that working digitally provides!

If you have been following me, you will know that I work on an iPad Pro and I primarily use the Adobe Illustrator Draw app.

You don’t need to start using the same app as I do in order to take advantage of the 5 tips I will share here. So, let’s go!

1. Use only 2-3 colours

When you need to work quickly, you should limit everything you can. One place to start is with a limited colour palette. Not having to switch between colours allows you to be quicker and rely on a limited set of tools.

You might also want to work on a coloured background instead of choosing a white one.

Play with the opacity options and layering as a way to create different colours: dark green, lighter green, etc.

This allows you to minimise the need to use different colours while drawing. And that will help you work quickly.

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2. Fill images quickly with one quick fix

In the examples shown here, I have mostly limited myself to images that are filled with white colour.

How do I do that quickly?

Colour people & objects quickly by using a colour layer under your drawn object. Then merge them. Erase or delete any of the extra you don’t like.

(If you are working in Procreate, you cannot use the eraser to delete things quickly—so remember to erase the parts you don’t want to be coloured in when the colour is still on a separate layer.)

Browse through the examples and reflect on how I might have used this colour fill strategy.

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3. Create connection quickly: use colour to group or chunk thoughts together

Project live & large with digital solutions!

This is so easy when working digitally!

Just create a new layer under your drawings and draw “blobs of colour” that will group or chunk thoughts together.

I use this strategy a lot (maybe too much?!), but it creates unity, clarity and connection when you are working quickly.

As I said earlier, play with opacity and you can have a larger range of colours—without sacrificing speed!

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4. Create a collection of predawn images

Never want to have to draw a soccer ball, globe, bicycle or moose again? Create a bank of images you either dislike drawing or you find time-consuming to draw live. Create stamps or shapes that you can use in Adobe Illustrator Draw without having to draw them from scratch each time.

There are many apps for capturing images and different solutions for different apps. Adobe users can use the Adobe Capture app. Here is an illustrated workflow of using Adobe Illustrator Draw & Capture.

First, choose to draw whatever image you want to avoid drawing from scratch in the future. For some it may be the dreaded car or animal—my nemesis has always been the “soccer ball!” Follow the numbered steps below and you will be on your way!

Procreate users, cannot use the workflow outlined above, but you can create a “stamp brush”. Basically you create a new brush where the tip or profile of the brush is your desired image. Watch this video to learn how to create one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgCm668xApM

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5. Always hack your app!

There is no perfect app out there for us to use as visual practitioners! You need to embrace the mentality that you can always find a workaround. Invent your own tools or workflows! Ignore what things are called or labelled. An eraser is not just an eraser—it can be an additional pen!

Think: limitation is inspiration!!! Just say to yourself “Hmmm…I wonder if…what if I try this…” And then TRY IT! (Undo is your greatest friend when you try new digital solutions!)

Make sure you stay on top of the app updates, be in contact with the creators of the apps and tell them what features you need—and keep searching on a regular basis to see if someone somewhere has figured out how to make the app do what you want it to do!

If you want to dig deeper, find out how you could be working differently or more about the digital possibilities you haven’t considered yet, then join me in Chicago October 7 & 8th for an immersive 2-day workshop: The Thriving Digital Visual Practitioner.❤️

This was my latest digital visual capture of a panel discussion co-hosted by the Institute for the Future (Palo Alto, California) & Business Finland (Helsinki)

This is my year of doing things differently. Is it yours, too?

Among the many ways I shook up my life this year, I made 3 bigger changes—
1. I left my university teaching position.
2. I began sharing my knowledge & experience as a visual practitioner by organising workshops in different parts of the world, by reaching out to colleagues for possibilities to cooperate & by sharing more online—and now by blogging & creating newsletters.
3. Aaaand I welcomed a puppy into our family!

I will perhaps write more one day about leaving my university post & getting a puppy, but for now I will focus on sharing my experiences and knowledge—specifically when it comes to working digitally. I recently gave a one-hour workshop on Adobe Illustrator Draw (including some bits on Adobe Capture in the Digital Scribing Fireside Chat Series sponsored by the IFVP and hosted by Heather Leavitt Martinez. Here are some of the thoughts I shared around the gear & planning that goes into working live.

Working live: My gear

I love to work live on my iPad Pro, using the Adobe Illustrator Draw app. You can of course use any drawing app you feel comfortable with, but I have enjoyed the simplicity of Draw. The only thing that I recommend when working live with any drawing app is that you stick with a specific app for several months. You need to develop muscle memory so that you are able to use the app without thinking. I have been beta testing Adobe’s new app Fresco that offers a lot more range and possibility.

What gear do I take with me when working live? Here is an image that helps to explain what I need.

I work on a 2nd generation 10,5¨ Ipad Pro. I haven’t upgraded to a newer iPad Pro as I did not see any real value in the latest upgrade except for the Apple Pencil update. (But that wan’t enough to make me switch)
I started working digitally on a 1st generation iPad, my finger and a rubber-tipped stylus—so I am not complaining as nowadays I think almost everything is possible on today’s tablets. I originally purchased a large 1st generation iPad Pro when they first came out, but I chose to purchase a smaller 2nd generation iPad Pro because I felt that the larger iPad was too heavy and my arm would cramp when holding it up.

When working live I always have the following with me:
- 2 apple pencils—after one traumatic experience with one just malfunctioning completely!
- 2 HDMI adapters (as sometimes they can be finicky and stop working. Always store them flat and do not keep them folded in your bag.)
- 1 VGA adapter in case there is an old school canon onsite
- 1 Apple TV, only if there is tech support, as I have had some issues with instability—but love the freedom!
- 1 extension cord to make sure I can charge my device close by
- 1 power bank—go to a computer store and ask them for one that can charge an iPad Pro & your phone at least once before it becomes depleted
- 2 chargers—one to charge my iPad, 1 to charge my phone/Apple Pencil

Co-operation with tech personnel & planning beforehand

The tech personnel on site are your best friends and needed for larger events (although they are not always so happy to see you show up with an iPad!)

There are so many ways to organise your work flow in cooperation with the audio/visual tech personnel or alone if you know your way around the equipment being used.

You must first decide:
1. Will your visuals be shown real-time? If so, will the speaker’s slides be projected on one screen and your visuals on another screen/display off to the side?
Or will your visuals be projected in place of the speaker’s slides?

2. You have many choices with how you can organise this.
a. You can be show your work the entire time as it emerges (via HDMI, VGA or Apple TV)

b. You can have your work shown only during the Q&A, in between talks and during the coffee/lunch breaks.
- The low-tech option is to only attach your iPad to the canon when you want to share your screen, leaving it unattached while you are drawing.

You can also take a screenshot and send the image quickly via Airdrop, email or Dropbox to the tech help and they can project it at the right moment.
Or you can send it to your own laptop which is plugged into the system and share your laptop’s screen.
These two last options free you to work on your iPad while the image is being projected.

Merge analogue & digital methods

For multiday events, you can merge the analog & digital worlds. Project your work throughout the day and have the images printed on the same day or overnight in a large format (A1/A0) to create gallery spaces in order to support double loops of information. 

This is an example from a multiday event with The Finnish Post & Singularity University

You can also use quick onsite printing possibilities and have your digital captures printed in colour in A4 size, giving them to participants as handouts to support their process.

This is a photo of a multiday event held by Sitra and supported solely through inspirational talks, dialogue circles and visual capture—all ways of capturing and feeding knowledge back into the room.

There are so many possibilities to explore! I think that both hi-fi and lo-fi methods can offer so much. I am a both/and thinker, not either/or.

Start with WHY

Regardless of whether you are working hi-fi or lo-fi, the important place to start is the goal of the event/group process and the reason why you would like to use visual methods or graphic facilitation/recording. Then you can start considering which methods would best support the process and if it would be better to work digitally or analogue…or some hybrid version.

Educate your client and inform them beforehand about the possible configurations. Clients need to be sent more instruction when working digitally.

It is all about continuous development

I am committed to doing things differently this year—maybe you are too? Try using digital methods or if you are comfortable working digitally, then maybe try a different workflow or way of projecting your work live. Let me know how it goes!

If you are interested in learning more in person, I will be in Chicago 7-8th of October giving my “Thriving Digital Visual Practitioner” workshop where I will be openly sharing all of my digital tips and tricks—and pushing you to the next level!

Next time, I will be sharing my tips on how to be quicker when working live & large—and digitally! Until then, you can check out my portfolio for some ideas on how you might do things differently.