the pen(cil) is mightier than the... darn, where's that cap?

why the digital illustrator's new best friend needs to be sharpened up in version 2.0

Apple Pencil is a beautiful device to hold. It is perfectly weighted, quick to pair and charge, and is a joy with which to draw. Alas, the Apple Pencil is not perfect in design. Perhaps Sir Jony was busy. Odd seeing how writing instruments enjoy a rich history of innovation and design. A host of little design features that give delight alongside practicality. Whilst glorious to hold the new Apple Pencil invokes fear when put down. The beautiful slender, perfectly cylindrical design, means it rolls. With no means to attach it to its parent iPad Pro, that baby can go walkies quickly. At ￡79, that could be an expensive disappearing act.

capped off nicely

Unfortunately it is not just the self transportability of the Apple Pencil that leaves it less than perfect. The cap hiding the lighting charger wobbles and although held by magnetism is a prime candidate for finding its resting home within a vacuum cleaner. There is simply no place the cap will go when its host is on charge. It has to sit between your lips or be lost forever. 

Any illustrator or deep thinker will no doubt be placing the end of the Pencil in their mouths. It has a funny metal bit at the very tip that is scratchy. Dare I say it feels ‘cheap’? Unlike the rest of the design entirely. It also allows a little air to pass through. Don't suck, you'll get a mouth full of some funky chemical taste and you might swallow the cap too - perhaps the reason bend the vent.

my little friends 

The charging, whilst quick, does require the Apple Pencil to protrude from the iPad Pro for a short while. Precariously enough that if accidentally knocked, I have no doubt damage will occur. Likely more to the Pencil than the iPad. Leaving it charging via the iPad does not feel at all right. The cable requires an adaptor - a playmate for the cap whilst flying about in your vacuum cleaner. And strangely, the Pencil becomes unresponsive when on charge. Not that it lends itself to an ease of use, but for the opportunity to affix one permanently to allow for demonstration would be off the cards. 

don't make me think

The remaining frustration comes from the software that supports the Apple Pencil. Even the coveted designer apps that are recommend by Apple themselves, have their quirks. But, I will leave this to being only but an update or two away. What would suit Apple greatly, is if it ensured that every app provided the same set of responses to every interaction from their Apple Pencil. So far, so good, yet it takes a little getting used to. Certain quirks where you instantly expect the Pencil to perform a colour of stroke, yet somehow you’ve inadvertently done something with the software itself and now you’re left furiously scribbling wondering why it is no longer working. A classic is employing an eraser, and then switching back to drawing - but still having the eraser switched on.

This should be said. The Apple Pencil is a phenomenally delightful tool. Paired with the iPad Pro it has renewed my love of illustration. Something that the iPad did return to me once before, but soon lost due to the fiddly nature of fat nibbed styluses and inability to always reject my palm. The shear joy of being able to work with fine detail, a lightness of touch, aggressive colouring in, switching between stroke types, working with layers, and the godsend and perpetrator of experimentation - the undo command. The Apple Pencil is to be heralded as the digital illustrators must have tool of choice.

this fanboy's wishlist for 2.0

What could Apple do differently to make their move into providing craftsmen with their ideal tools? 

a pencil that has two ends

A pencil can be imagined by most, and usually includes two functions. To draw, and to erase. Nothing would delight me more if I could flip the pencil over to complete an ‘undo’ or function as an eraser. 

now you see it

The cap is going to get lost. A mechanical design that with a little twiddle of the end could expose the lighting connector, or rethink the design to allow it to be charged by the cable - just like every other device Apple sells. Or better still, wireless charging. It’s a thing you know, Apple?

magnetic attraction

I assume Apple are holding out for third party manufacturers to come up with a case that has space for the pencil, which is fine, to a point. But if it could just grip hold of the Pencil for the short-term. When you’re putting the Pencil down for a moment.

white is so last century

Writing instruments are very personal devices. With all the hype around the Apple Watch, you would kind of hope some of this would rub off on to the Pencil. But no. Possibly again holding out for the aftermarket to come to the rescue. Although I wouldn’t enjoy the added bulk of yet another case. 

Apple Pencil 2 Concept Illustration by Matt Jones
App: Procreate; Hardware: iPad Pro, Apple Pencil.

what’s up dock

A rather cheap accessory that could be bundled with the Pencil and replace the need for a double female lightening adaptor - a Pencil docking station. An ode to the old inkwell. However, this would require the charging to be at the Pencil’s pointy end. Oh dear - you mean ‘not a lightening connector’?

less roll and more rock

How about an optional clip so that it can reduce roll, and also be attached securely to the iPad Pro’s cover or pocket? 

use your indicators

This could be left to the software developers, or could be an extension of the Pencil itself. Either a clear indicator within the software of which tool is in use - a standardised icon rather than a plethora of user interface stylings. Apple are good at owning the ecosystem making it easier on the user, this is one such opportunity it should own. Or, a small OLED display on the Pencil itself. Indicators to say whether the Pencil is connected or not; low battery; the type of writing instrument being emulated; perhaps even the colour in use.

An OLED display and/or touch area could allow for additional interactions on the Pencil. Increasing the volume of the ink flow, increasing or decreasing the nib size, or to tap between different brush heads.

go wild

There’s nothing stopping Apple from creating a few styluses to support a range of different drawing aids. The ability to flip between tools is quite intuitive to illustrators, with the weight and shape of each providing intuitive support that no all-in-one device can really achieve. You will often see illustrators holding multiple pens and pencils flicking between them whilst using them. Alternatively, the option to add to the Pencil, items such as brush heads, to allow for the feel of paint strokes. Perhaps supporting more than one stylus, so that changing between them is picked up by the application. Then there is the finger itself. We artists do occasionally like to get paint and ink all over ourselves. Smudging and blending with our digits.

Apple, you did get it right. You gave artists a brand new canvas with the iPad Pro and you gave us a really good tool in the Apple Pencil. There remains room for innovation. Your willing digital artists are waiting in eager support of what the future of the Apple Pencil holds.

If you would like to learn more about Matt and illustrations for storytelling, bringing your business ideas to life, then reach out to us at [email protected]

Cover image: Matt Jones self-portrait in the style of Futurama. App: AstroPad; Software: Adobe Illustrator; Hardware: iPad Pro, MacBook Pro 15" Retina, Apple Pencil.

This article was written by Matt Jones - Experience Consultant for Uservox Limited - all rights reserved ? 2016 Copyright Uservox Limited UK