Penmanship

A traditional ideation tool is the pen or pencil - as in the proverbial pencil sketch on paper. Penmanship in the digital age, however, and the pencil sketch can be hand-drawn either on paper or a digital tablet. Still the underlying art, technique, or style of drawing, or writing by hand using a writing instrument reveal traditions and school curricula. For example, the traditional brush calligraphy, which is a fine visual art form is commonly prescribed in Asian schools although the curricula separate everyday handwriting from artistic brushwork. Yet to integrate calligraphy into their mandatory national curricula, Asian schools are said to preserve cultural heritage, build patience, and teach proper character structure. Interestingly, in UK design education, which attract many international students, Asian students often stand out in their artful penmanship, and certainly compared to their British-schooled peers who often lack the skills of using pen and paper artistically during their grades, from junior school to high school. But the use of digital tools is growing in Asia too, a trend which favours keyboard proficiency. And so, in China, for example, regular calligraphy education is being reduced in the age of screen-based teaching and learning and social media.