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63 Understanding spatial relationships Are there any designers who still sit at their drawing boards to draw by hand? Can't drawings all be made by using dra ing so ware on any good computer? And what about model making – why would anyone want to work with glue, scissors, sticky tape, cra knife, card and paper to make a model when they could use that very same piece of dra ing so ware to produce a digital model of the space that can be rendered and lit an infi nite number of ways? Isn't it sensible to tap into the power and freedom that computers give us for all our design work? e answer is both yes and no. ere is no question that computers allow us to work smarter, more effi ciently and with more freedom than is o en the case when using manual techniques, but this argument misses a vital point about the relationship between old and new methods that can more than compensate for the effi ciency that computers bring. Manual dra ing and model-making is a cra that gives you a real connection with the project. ere is a wonderful link that allows ideas to fl ow through you and your pencil on to the paper which means you to engage more fully with the project. All the decisions about placement of lines and so on belong to you, and not a computer, and you are forced to think carefully about what you are drawing. ere is no doubt that working manually leads to a be er understanding of drawings, what they represent and how they work. e manual process allows for a more expressive and spontaneous approach that computer-based design o en lacks; a sweep of the hand across a sheet of paper which leaves a unique and eloquent pencil line is not something that can easily be reproduced by a computer, for example. On the other hand, computers give us the opportunity to copy and edit work quickly and easily. Simple functions such as 'Copy / Paste' are incredibly liberating – no more laborious hand drawing of 30 tables and 120 chairs on a restaurant plan, for example. Instead a er just a few keystrokes, the designer is free to concentrate on the design, rather than the act of drawing itself. Drawing with the computer also means that ideas can be exchanged quickly and easily by email or other means of fi le transfer. So, computers give us freedom and versatility throughout the design process, which is very appealing. But you should remember that the CAD (computer- aided design) so ware is essentially only a pencil, a tool to aid the dra ing process. It has functions that enable some of the tedious aspects of working on drawings to be automated, and it can put lines on to a virtual sheet of paper where you tell it to, but CAD so ware cannot create a drawing by itself, nor is it able in most instances to decide if what is being drawn is sensible or logical in construction or space-planning terms. It is, therefore, important that the operator understands what it is that is being drawn and how it should be represented on the page. e computer cannot add creativity to a project: that is the sole responsibility of you, the designer. inking point Manual or digital? A typology of technical drawing