One Squiggly Line Blog
Hand-drawn pictures can make things clear, simple, and fun in blogs, too!
Here’s a little create Halloween fun. Print out this DoodleBlocks sheet or put it into a drawing app on your ipad. Then fill in the blank boxes following along with the Halloween theme. Be sure to spend no more than 2 minutes per block. Also, be sure to continue any lines that touch the boundaries of the block — remember creativity is all about making connections. And be sure to color!
More DoodleBlock fun and a 30 day challenge available in the One Squiggly Line Classroom.
Demos and pitches are a pretty common part of the business world. Actually, they're a big part of every world, even if you don't formally use the term "demo" or "pitch". At the heart of both demos and pitches is a quick, concise presentation of key points. Hopefully, that presentation is both entertaining and memorable.
Hand-drawn visuals are a great way to make your presentation more entertaining and memorable. The drawing above was created live, in real-time as the speakers gave their demo or pitch.
To see more examples of visual notes create live, in the moment, visit One Squiggly Line's Live Graphic Recording page. Or for visuals created to highlight key points, created before or after a presentation or from print materials, see One Squiggly Line's Synthesis Images page.
Take a cold shower
This will likely be an unfamiliar experience, allowing you to create new neural connections.
Make a new meal without a recipe
This will force you to be comfortable without all of the answers in front of you
Try a new hairstyle
A new change could inspire you!
Create a new outfit that you’ve never worn before
Mixing and matching will help you form new styles. A new outfit can give you a new vibe, which can inspire confidence.
Journal about your day
This reflection time will allow you to absorb what you’ve learned throughout the day. Journaling will also allow you to look back on old memories and see patterns in your life.
Take a new route that you haven’t taken before
This will give you a new perspective. This will take you out of auto-pilot mode, and force you to think in different ways.
Rearrange your room or living space
This can create a fresh environment and get you out of a routine feeling
Ask more questions
The more curious you are, the more you will learn.
Limit or eliminate social media for a day
You can use the extra time gained from eliminating social media to be more productive. You can spend this time in silence. It will likely be an unfamiliar experience.
Exercise your body and mind
Whether working out, doing yoga or meditating, this will allow your body and mind to relax and take a break from life.
Giving your mind a break allows creative ideas to flow naturally.
Visualizing things richly and colorfully leads to more creative thinking. You probably visualize things more than you realize, without really thinking about it. So you already have some visual thinking skills. But how do you become better at visualizing things on purpose?
Try this:
Go to a hardware store or someplace that sells paint. First, pick a paint sample color card that matches your shirt. That's a warm-up, starting with something very concrete and right in front of you — your shirt.
Then, look for a paint sample color card that matches something at home. It could be a different shirt, a piece of furniture, your walls. Whatever you choose, you will need to picture it very clearly in your mind so you can "see" the color.
Paint sample cards are usually free, so you can take home the ones you think are the closest and see how well you did. The more you practice, the better you get!
Check out One Squiggly Line's About Visual Thinking page to learn more.
Hands can be hard to draw sometimes. Handshakes can be even harder. Mainly because you can't shake hands with yourself to see what a handshake really looks like! When doing live graphic recording, there's no time for that anyways. You just have to draw!
Here are nine different ways I tend to draw handshakes when graphic recording. I've found it really helps to have a number of different ways to draw something - some super simple, some more complex. That way, if you only have a few seconds to draw something, you've already found a way that works.
It's also good to do experiments like this behind closed doors, instead of waiting until you're standing in front of a big bunch of people or on stage!
One of the most powerful things about visual thinking is that it makes things simple. When things are simple, they're much easier to remember. And the more often you see something, the more likely you will be to remember it, too.
That's why simple posters are so powerful when working in person. And why simple online visuals are so powerful before and after events, or when you can't be face-to-face.
A super simple way to keep your visuals super simple is as easy as 1-2-3. Choose 1 central image. Use no more than 2 colors. And limit yourself to only 3 words. That's it!
That formula doesn't always work for everything, but it's a great place to start. Even if you have to sneak in an extra word or two, your visual will still be pretty simple.
When people look at things, they generally think about whatever they're looking at. So if you want to be sure people focus on certain things during your meeting or presentation, visuals can really help.
Posters are a great way to keep that info front and center in everyone's mind. Your posters don't need to be fancy. But they do need to be clear. Very clear. So clear people can get the info in a glance.
The poster above was created for a workshop I taught about thinking styles. It was used during a hands-on group activity to remind each group to try out all four thinking styles. The thinking styles are color coded, so it's easy to focus only on one square at a time. Yet, it gives a clear picture of the whole process. That way, people can move about the process at their own pace and see how they're connected.
When it comes to innovation and creativity, it's common to think you need more. More ideas. More resources. More people. More money. More, more, more!
Truth is, more is not always better. In fact, the more you have, the more confusing things get. Striving for more can prevent you from taking a good look at what you already have. And putting it to good use.
When you pull apart what you do have and look at each part individually, it helps you see things in new ways. When you see things in new ways, you think in new ways. Use things in new ways. Do things in new ways. And that's what leads to creative and innovative breakthroughs.
Visual thinking can help you get a clearer picture of what you already have to work with. And think about how you might use whatever you have in new ways. Because there's always more than one way to build a snowman...or anything else!
Graphic recording involves taking notes with a lot of pictures. Sometimes, especially with shorter presentations, there's simply no time for a lot of pictures. A lot of pictures may not be needed, either. One large central image can be mighty powerful. And it may be all you need.
There's more than one picture in the graphic recording above. There are some musical notes, a couple of light bulbs, and some simple people at the bottom. Then there's a big face in the center, towards the top. Notice how that face really grabs your eye?
If you're pressed for time, pick one thing to draw. Draw it big and bold. That alone will make your notes or poster much more visual. That one drawing will catch people's eye and bring them into the content more than just words alone.
Fancy lettering is great. Simple lettering can be great, too. If you think about each letter as a part of a design instead of just a plain old letter.
One way to turn simple letters into a design is to switch up the sizes. Make some of the letters bigger than normal. Make others smaller. Switch up upper and lowercase, too.
The only rule here is that whatever you end up with is visually interesting. And you'll most likely want to be sure people can actually read the message, too!
Hand-drawn visuals to make things clear, simple, and fun so you can understand more deeply, communicate more clearly, and act more confidently. Visual Notes ~ Illustration ~ Sketch Animation ~ Graphic Recording ~ Other Creative Services.
One Squiggly Line | San Francisco Bay Area & beyond!, California, USA