Sketching has always been an important part my team’s creative process at clevermethod. Therefore, when tasked with adding a new page to the ever growing ninjakitchen.com website my colleagues and I decided to quickly sketch out how to move forward and regroup. After completing the first sketch Brian, the account manager on the project, asked if he could draw on my original legal sized sketch to share his ideas and provide feedback. I hesitated and scanned it with my phone first.
Behold the scan:
We made a list of what needed to change for the next version of the sketch. I wanted the next version to be tighter than a loose sketch, in case the client needed to see it, so I reached for a clean sheet of 8.5×14 and my steel ruler. After drawing a few lines it hit me. I recalled an episode of The Big Web Show where Khoi Vinh explained the concept behind Adobe Comp.
The app store description
Quickly wireframe ideas for print, web and mobile using actual assets like images, shapes, text frames, colors and professional fonts. Finish developing your project in Adobe Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC and InDesign CC.
You know something is good when you wish you had thought of it. That is the feeling I got when using Adobe Comp for a few minutes on my iPhone 5s (which was still an elegant experience despite the small screen size.) Since the App is centered around using gestures to quickly draw a layout there is a bit of a learning curve. Luckily there is a rich help system the interrupts you at the right moment to help you along. The app also performed nicely on an iPad Mini as was especially delightful on the iPad Pro.
iPhone 5s Screenshot
The auto snapping and smart guides in Adobe Comp make the experience feel surprisingly precise. This is important because drawing on a touch screen often does not feel this good. The gestures allow the screen to be free of icons and tools. Khoi Vinh and his team really got the touch experience right. Thank you!
At clevermethod we are always looking for new tools to use that help us keep up with the fast moving train of web design and development, Adobe Comp helps while making it fun. This is NOT the end of a pencil and paper for me. Let me put it this way, hokey apps and shiny screens are sometimes no match for a good sketchbook at your side…kid.
