One Squiggly Line

A visual thinking business that uses hand-drawn pictures to make things clear, simple, & fun
  • Welcome!
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Classes
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Welcome!
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Classes
  • Shop
  • Contact

One Squiggly Line Blog

Hand-drawn pictures can make things clear, simple, and fun in blogs, too!

  • All
  • About Visual Thinking
  • Animated GIFs
  • Creativity
  • Drawing
  • Graphic Recording
  • How to be More Visual
  • Lettering
  • life
  • Sketch Animation
  • Supplies
  • the creative process
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Visual Notes
  • Visual Notes: Sketchnotes
  • Visual Thinking Examples
  • Visual Thinking Tips
  • Visuals in Use
VisualThinking_GetitGrabitGoforIt_OneSquigglyLine

Visual Thinking: Get it! Grab it! Go for it!

melinda carpenter June 24, 2016

While visual thinking makes things simple, it certainly does not dumb them down. Part of the simplicity comes from removing unnecessary parts, leaving behind only what you need to work with. That allows you to really see exactly what it is you do have to work with. This often leads to that, "Oh, now I get it!" moment when everything finally seems to fall into place and make sense.

Once you can see things more clearly, you are able to make better decisions. Sometimes, things become so obvious it doesn't even really feel like you're making a decision at all. The right choice just jumps right at you. Or if you do need to think about it for a minute, it's much easier for you to grab it and run with it.

Check out One Squiggly Line's About Visual Thinking page to learn more.
 

In About Visual Thinking Tags decisions, visual thinking, leadership, tips & tricks, vision, template, planning, imagine, stories, education, live illustration, Conference, events, Workshop, illustration, action, synthesis image, productivity, basics, drawing, inspiration, pictures, doodle, visuals, conference, Events, success, visualize, creative thinking, efficiency, design, Innovation, visual notes, meetings, goals, innovation, imagination, implementation, thinking, story, Visual Notes, summits, progress, impact, creativity, conferences, ideas, simplicity
Comment
VisualThinking_LiveIllustratedNotes_OneSquigglyLine

Visual Thinking & Visual Notes: Live Graphic Recording

melinda carpenter June 22, 2016

 Hand-drawn visuals are far friendlier than standardized fonts and stock photos. And hand-drawn visuals are even more inviting when created live, right there where everyone can see.
The drawing above was created during the opening remarks at the Women in Cyber Security conference the end of March. It was then displayed near registration to welcome late-comers. Not a high resolution file shown here, just taken with my iPhone in the moment.

To see the whole set of visual notes from the Women in Cyber Security conference, check out this Flickr album.

In Graphic Recording, Visual Notes, Creativity, About Visual Thinking, Visual Thinking Examples Tags posters, creative thinking, leadership, illustration, conferences, visuals, synthesis image, design, meetings, doodle, Workshop, pictures, Scribing, innovation, ideas, Graphic Recording, visual notes, sketchnotes, stories, Visual Notes, pre-event, basics, imagine, summits, live illustration, Conference, art, scribing, conference, impact, graphic recording, organization, visualize, simplicity, post-event, thinking, visual thinking, success, planning, events, inspiration, scribe, creativity, Innovation, drawing, imagination, Events, social media
Comment
VisualThinking_LiveIllustratedNotes_OneSquigglyLine

Visual Thinking & Visual Notes: Live Graphic Recording

melinda carpenter June 18, 2016

People often think I do a lot of drawing while taking live visual notes. If you really look at the image above, you'll see there's really not much drawing there at all. Just some squares, a couple of circles, and an arrow. That's it!
When you write words inside simple shapes, those simple shapes start making your own notes a bit more visual. They become more dynamic. More interesting. The image and the message become more unified. And far more powerful. 

A great way to make your own notes more visual is to write some of your words inside simple shapes — circles, squares, triangles, arrows, etc. Give it a try!

The image above is a close-up of a 4'x8' drawing, created live, in real-time during a Design Thinking workshop. Be sure to check out the entire image!

In Graphic Recording, Visual Notes, About Visual Thinking, Visual Thinking Examples Tags posters, creative thinking, The Product Summit, leadership, illustration, conferences, visuals, synthesis image, design, meetings, doodle, Workshop, pictures, Scribing, definition, innovation, ideas, Graphic Recording, visual notes, sketchnotes, implementation, Visual Notes, Design Thinking, basics, imagine, summits, live illustration, Conference, scribing, conference, impact, graphic recording, organization, visualize, simplicity, action, education, thinking, visual thinking, success, events, inspiration, scribe, creativity, Innovation, imagination, drawing, Events, social media
Comment
VisualNotes_GraphicRecording_TechInclusion_OneSquigglyLine

Visual Thinking & Visual Notes: Live Graphic Recording at Events

melinda carpenter June 15, 2016

There's never just one way to create visual notes, especially when they are created live. And at a large scale. That can make capturing a panel talk more of a challenge for some people. It takes a bit more flexibility than a clearly defined presentation.

I tend to capture panel discussions in a way that highlights the key points of the discussion as a whole. Not a series of summaries of what each person contributed. Since discussions tend to be rather fluid, the final visual makes much more sense that way. Speakers tend to like it better that way, too. So often key points build on what another speaker said, so there's no chance of misattribution when you capture the discussion as a whole.

The visual notes above were created during a panel discussion at TechInclusion last fall. You can see the whole set of visual notes created live, on-site there in this Flickr album. 

In Graphic Recording, How to be More Visual, Visual Notes, Visual Thinking Examples Tags basics, Conference, conferences, design, doodle, drawing, events, education, graphic recording, gift idea, thinking, impact, Innovation, inspiration, illustration, ideas, imagination, live illustration, meetings, posters, Workshop, pictures, planning, success, summits, synthesis image, social media, sketchnotes, visuals, visualize, visual thinking, visual notes, Events
Comment
AlanKay_StanfordUniversity_VisualNotes_GraphicRecording_OneSquigglyLine

Visual Thinking & Live Visual Notes: Graphic Recording

melinda carpenter June 12, 2016

When working live, you never know what's going to happen. I usually only have the same information the people in the audience have, which is a basic agenda. So I know the speaker's name, title of their talk, and how long they are scheduled to speak. That's it!

It's not uncommon for talks to go longer as planned, like the one above. That's usually a good sign, as it means the audience is really engaged. But it can be a challenge to capture all that extra content on the same page. 

Color is a great way to keep things organized when there's not much space available. Grouping concepts and thoughts according to color allows you to have completely different ideas right next to each other without things getting confusing. 

See more visual notes created live at One Squiggly Line's graphic recording page.

In Graphic Recording, Visual Notes, Visual Thinking Examples Tags academic, Conference, conferences, Design Thinking, design, doodle, drawing, ideas, events, education, graphic recording, imagination, thinking, Innovation, illustration, impact, innovation, inspiration, Workshop, live illustration, meetings, organization, pictures, success, synthesis image, visuals, visual thinking, visual notes
Comment

Visual Thinking: Visual Notes & Graphic Recording - Short Talks in Tight Spaces

melinda carpenter March 8, 2016

Having a graphic recorder create large-scale visual notes at your event can create quite an impact and make the content way more powerful. Sometimes, there's just not time or space to work at a super large scale. But size alone is not what makes the images so powerful. The power comes from the magic that happens when words and pictures are used together - like carrying a big box with both arms instead of just one.

The image above is one of eight created at TEDxBerkeley last month on 20"x30" foam core board. While much larger than a sketchbook, this size is still much smaller than the standard 4'x8' boards many graphic recorders use. Yet, the image is still quite powerful and creates quite an impact - and the smaller size is much easier to carry around!

Check out the whole set of visual notes from TEDxBerkeley 2016!

In Graphic Recording Tags events, graphic recording, visual notes, visuals, conferences, TEDxBerkeley, TED Talk, TEDx
Comment

One Squiggly Line:

A visual thinking business that uses pictures to keep things clear, simple, & fun...in blogs, too!


  • Animated GIFs (1)
  • Supplies (1)
  • Visual Notes: Sketchnotes (1)
  • Drawing (2)
  • Sketch Animation (3)
  • the creative process (8)
  • Visuals in Use (9)
  • Visual Thinking Tips (16)
  • life (19)
  • Visual Notes (30)
  • Graphic Recording (41)
  • Lettering (44)
  • Creativity (46)
  • Visual Thinking Examples (46)
  • Tips & Tricks (48)
  • About Visual Thinking (53)
  • How to be More Visual (60)

Visual Thinking:

Words and pictures used together to engage the whole brain and turn information into knowledge that can lead to wisdom and action.

It's about communication, not art!


Graphic Recording:

Large-scale visual notes drawn live, in real-time, usually in color.


Visual notes:

A catch-all term for notes of any size created with a mixture of words and pictures, and may or may not be created live.


Sketchnotes:

Small-scale visual notes drawn in real-time. They may be created live or from audio or video files. My sketchnotes are usually black & white.


Graphic facilitation:

Facilitation of a meeting through the use of visuals. Often involves the use of templates and worksheets. Popular for problem solving, brainstorming, goal-setting, and strategy sessions.


Synthesis images:

Illustrations created to simplify complex information, drawn in the style of graphic recording or sketchnotes. Synthesis images are usually in color and generally created from print materials (like a company report or brochure).


Graphic Illustrations:

Simple, stylized drawings (including icons) created to represent an idea, concept, or information.


Other Illustration:

Drawings done in a variety of styles with varying degrees of complexity for a variety of reasons to depict pretty much anything.


Lettering:

A variety of unique, original lettering styles drawn by hand and designed to complement and add impact to the words.


Sketch Animation:

Short animations made from hand-drawn illustrations, generally to inform or educate.



  • July 2023 (18)
  • June 2023 (1)
  • November 2022 (2)
  • October 2022 (4)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (6)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • July 2019 (9)
  • June 2019 (5)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • June 2016 (20)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (4)
  • March 2016 (3)
  • August 2015 (5)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (4)
  • April 2015 (6)
  • March 2015 (4)
  • February 2015 (3)
  • January 2015 (24)
  • December 2014 (31)
  • November 2014 (20)
  • October 2014 (6)
  • September 2014 (1)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • May 2014 (1)
  • April 2014 (5)
  • March 2014 (4)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (1)

  • One Squiggly Line ~
    Thanks so much @reverentgeek So glad you like the #visualnotes. And I am sooooooo excited about how much you have b… https://t.co/QAGSb9bHUX
    May 28, 2022, 11:12 AM
  • One Squiggly Line ~
    Love this creative logo 💖 https://t.co/BT2hh56tbo
    May 20, 2022, 11:14 AM
  • One Squiggly Line ~
    One squiggly line amidst wildflowers 🌸🌸🌸 #wildflowers #beautiful https://t.co/4K6NsifAbu
    Apr 30, 2022, 10:44 AM

  • abstract
  • academic
  • action
  • art
  • basics
  • block letters
  • blog
  • books
  • bubble letters
  • cheerful
  • color
  • composition
  • Conference
  • conference
  • conferences
  • Crayons
  • Creative Connections Network
  • creative lettering
  • creative thinking
  • creativity
  • decisions
  • definition
  • design
  • Design Thinking
  • diagrams
  • doodle
  • downloads
  • drawing
  • education
  • efficiency
  • Events
  • events
  • Experience
  • experiment
  • free
  • gift idea
  • goals
  • good mood
  • Graphic Recording
  • graphic recording
  • happy
  • ideas
  • illustration
  • imagination
  • imagine
  • impact
  • implementation
  • Innovation
  • innovation
  • inspiration
  • leadership
  • lettering
  • live illustration
  • markers
  • meetings
  • organization
  • pictures
  • planning
  • post-event
  • posters
  • powerpoint
  • practice
  • pre-event
  • productivity
  • progress
  • quotes
  • San Francisco
  • scribe
  • Scribing
  • scribing
  • simplicity
  • sketch animation
  • sketchnotes
  • social media
  • stories
  • story
  • success
  • summits
  • surprise
  • synthesis image
  • TED Talk
  • TEDx
  • template
  • The Product Summit
  • thinking
  • tips & tricks
  • travel
  • video
  • vision
  • Visual Notes
  • visual notes
  • visual thinking
  • visual thinking practive
  • visualize
  • visuals
  • website
  • white board animation
  • Workshop
  • World Creativity & Innovation Week
  • writing

“The soul never thinks without a mental picture.”
— Aristotle

instagram-unauth youtube pinterest email
  • FAQ
  • Copyright Notice
  • Blog

 

I’m raising money for Fighting Blindness through CharityMiles! Click to support/donate.

 

One Squiggly Line

A visual thinking business that uses hand-drawn pictures to make things clear, simple, & fun

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

instagram-unauth youtube pinterest email