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Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is Annica Lydenberg and I run a small design studio called Dirty Bandits that specializes in hand-drawn typography. My work ranges from logos and branding, to food packaging, to sign painting, to t-shirt graphics.

What hardware do you use?

Typically I start using mechanical pencils for sketching, which I do mostly on graph paper. Then I scan in my sketches and manipulate them on the computer. I work on my iMac whenever possible and avoid my 4 year old laptop at all costs. Once I have my layouts and letter blocked out the way I want them I print it out. I just have a cheap-o printer/scanner combo thing that does the job just fine.

Then my process differs pretty greatly. If the final piece is digital I use sharpies and a light table to redraw the lettering and then scan again. When working on my iMac, I use my Wacom Tablet - I don't even know where my mouse is, it's all tablet all the time over here. If the final piece is chalk lettering, I'll move on to transfer paper, chalk, poster paint markers and China Markers. If the final piece is a hand-painted sign then I move on to transfer paper, Mack lettering quills and 1 shot.

You'll also find brushes, acrylics, brush markers, india ink and chopsticks, rollers, quills, and X-Acto knives in my drawers.

And what software?

Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign for book layout, FontLab for font making, Cocoapotrace for auto tracing drawings, and Image Capture for scanning.

What would be your dream setup?

Got it! I couldn't ask for anything more - I have a studio where I can paint, draw and do design work with some very talented and fun artists.

Although I desperately need a new camera, laptop and iPhone if we're talking "dream setup"! I used a friend's Canon9000 printer and it was excellent! I also used a friend's Canon D600 camera and it made me drool.