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In the era of hand-drawn drafts, one landscape designer remembers: “I was creating a piece of art”

In the first installment of our series “My Analog Life,” a landscape architect reminisces about drafting by hand.

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A hand-drawn landscape design by Eric Weishaar in 2001. The project was for a client whose son was in a wheelchair and wanted an accessible landscape on their home.
A hand-drawn landscape design by Eric Weishaar in 2001. The project was for a client whose son was in a wheelchair and wanted an accessible landscape on their home.
Courtesy Weishaar

My Analog Life looks back at how technology has changed the way we work. 

Eric Weishaar, president of Breckenridge Landscape in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin has a framed, hand-drawn design above his desk that recalls an earlier era for his industry

“I remember being at my home office in my apartment in Denver in the late ’90s, and just sitting there at night with some music and just drawing these sketches out,” he said. “It wasn’t mechanical, it wasn’t, you know, just producing a product or something, I was creating a piece of art.”

Today, it’s rare for designers like Weishaar to draw by hand — most drafting happens on computers. That said, technology has brought plenty of positive changes to his business, like making communication to the field via ham radio obsolete. 

Use the audio player above to hear Weishaar’s story.

Write to us using the form below and your story may be featured in a future edition of “My Analog Life.”

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