A lot of ink blogs are just a vile mess.

But there are a few, like Sumocat, who really get it right.

Partly it is just because his handwriting is so beautiful, but also, the interesting content is there to back it up. When ink blogging is done right, the format can be extremely engaging and offers a personal touch to communication that is just not possible with text. And, of course, you can freely intermingle sketches and diagrams, since the pen is not confined to ascii characters on Cartesian coordinates.

But how can ink and sketching best be used in web design in general?

I was perusing the weblog of Richard Banks, of Microsoft Research Cambridge, where I stumbled across Richard's post about an article in Smashing Magazine on the role of sketching and drawing in web design. The article is a visual smorgasbord, with dozens of examples. The eye candy ranges from fairly traditional pages with a smattering of hand-drawn elements, to artistic web forays in sketching. Others can only be described as bizarre experiments in Flash that are not for the faint of heart. It's definitely worth checking out, both for inspiration and as examples of "what not to do!"

Not surprisingly, many of the best examples come from photographers, artists, and designers. Here is one example that I found both visually appealing, and usable as a web site that you just want to spend time at:

Not Your Average Joe

Sadly, they didn't include Sumocat's site. He does more than just pure ink posts. Sumocat recently wrote about how Build 52 can be combined with Ript to produce some cool posts. I like the results - two great tastes that go together!

 Sumocat's Scribbles

Of course, I've taken my own best crack at using ink and sketching in an effective manner. The entire InkSeine tutorial is formatted as a comic book. I found Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics to be quite a helpful resource when I was putting this tutorial together. I've gotten quite a few comments from people who tell me they (and their kids) love it.

  InkSeine Tutorial

But to be 100% objective, I also have received one comment from someone who absolutely hated it. This person wrote to me:

The comic book turned me off from ever trying Ink Seine. It was clutter ridden and didn't provide a good impression on the product.

Oh well. I guess sketchy web sites just aren't for everyone. But they're definitely for me.

Here's ink in your eye!