Black and White Drawing

Hand drawing is often preferred over digital imaging for the following reasons:

It has a romantic quality that evokes an emotional response.

Hand drawing can focus on the story, the big idea of a project while selectively using detail.

It can be reductive; abbreviated storytelling.

It can be fast.

It can cost less than digital imaging.

Less brain damage for the designer in communicating with the illustrator.

Hand drawing is the language of TRANSLATION. It is different than photo realistic illustration which is a language of TRANSCRIPTION.

A trend over the last 3 years for Bondy Studio is the big increase in black and white illustration over color. Today, more than half of my work in black and white only. To choose hand drawing over photo realistic digital imaging is a way of sidestepping the early process design decisions that have not yet been made by the time of presentation. It moves the focus from the DETAILS to the STORY. It’s not that one tool is better than another…it’s about using the right tool at the right time.