One Squiggly Line

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

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

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alan.kay

Visual Illustration: Live Graphic Recording

melinda carpenter November 17, 2019

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, How to be More Visual, Lettering, Visual Notes Tags graphic recording, Design Thinking, design, illustration
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onesquigglyline_visualthinking_danharris

Visual Thinking Words & Pictures Together

melinda carpenter July 31, 2019

Hand-drawn visual created in real-time
increase an event's impact by:

  • allowing the audience to see what they just heard — increasing engagement and retention.

  • literally showing the audience the big picture of each talk and, when displayed together, the event as a whole. (Great for social media!)

  • providing a visual document of the day that can be shared during and after the fact...for years and years to come!

  • bringing underlying themes and patterns to the surface and deepening conversations.

  • piquing curiosity or spurring action when gaps in information or next steps become apparent.

  • Book me for your next event!

In Lettering, Graphic Recording, How to be More Visual Tags graphic recording, visual notes, Mr. Sketch Markers, Conference
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onesquigglyline_visualthinking_netapp

Visual Thinking: Real-Time Illustrated Visual Notes

melinda carpenter July 24, 2019

I had the pleasure of drawing for the wonderful NetApp folks at their Insight conference in Las Vegas. Instead of drawing the keynotes or break-out sessions, they placed me in The Cube, a live-stream video platform.Check out the replay!

As you can see above, I was positioned near the speakers. I drew while they talked and was pretty much finished when they stopped. While the focus of the live-streaming was the speakers, I appeared in the background and during breaks.

The visual notes were then displayed where people could continue to discuss the content throughout the conference.

These were drawn on 40"x60" foam core board with Neuland markers.

onesquigglyline_visualthinking_netapp

Here's another image I created at NetApp Insight last month. I was given a quote from the press and asked to make make it visual. There was no pre-planning — I just picked up a marker and started to draw it out...in front of the camera!

This was drawn on a 30"x40" foam core board and took 23 minutes to draw. The final video is on their blog where you can watch me draw it in 26 seconds.

This is just another way hand-drawn visuals can help bring information to life!

Schedule me for your next event!

In About Visual Thinking, Graphic Recording Tags visual thinking practive, graphic recording, Graphic Recording, visual notes
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visualthinking_onesquigglyline_resolutions

Visual Thinking: Simple is Powerful

melinda carpenter June 9, 2019

Friendly hand-drawn visuals can breathe new life into an old message. The topic of New Year's resolutions has been covered time and time again. So much so that people stop really paying attention to it. In effect, it becomes invisible. 

 

When that happens, a new approach is needed. Something to break the pattern and grab people's eye. No need to make it fancy or complex. Simple can be very powerful. Plus, when you keep things simple, they're less scary so you're more likely to follow through.

 Bring Visual Thinking To Your Next Project Or Event

In Lettering, How to be More Visual, Creativity, Graphic Recording, the creative process, Tips & Tricks, Visual Notes Tags creative thinking, creativity, visualize, visual notes, Visual Notes, sketchnotes, graphic recording, Graphic Recording, doodle, Conference, simplicity, keep it simple
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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
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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
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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
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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
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VisualNotes_GraphicRecording_DemosPitches_OneSquigglyLine

Visual Thinking & Live Visual Notes (Graphic Recording): Demos & Pitches

melinda carpenter June 8, 2016

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. 

In Graphic Recording, Creativity, Visual Notes, Visual Thinking Examples Tags meetings, presentations, demos, pitches, venture capital, graphic recording, visual notes, visuals, illustration, live illustration, corporate work, corporate meetings, corporate events, ideas, inspiration, visual thinking
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Visual Thinking: Live, Large-Scale Visual Notes (Graphic Recording)

melinda carpenter March 15, 2016

Awesome. Passion. Both very powerful, positive high-impact words. Notice the difference between reading those words in standard print here and seeing them used in a hand-drawn illustration above?

If you look closely at the above drawing with an analytical eye, you'll see there's really not much drawing there at all. Just a big orange heart and two smaller black ones. Plus a few lines here and there. That's it! Nothing fancy at all, yet much more powerful than those exact same words printed out in a computer-generated font. And even more powerful yet when you actually watch someone write them.

That's just a small sample of how powerful live, large-scale visual notes and graphic recording can be. Curious to learn more? Check out the One Squiggly Line's "Services" page for a lot of examples. Just imagine how much more powerful those images would be if you were right there, watching them being created live, right before your eyes!

In Graphic Recording, About Visual Thinking Tags doodle, conference, events, meetings, graphic recording, sketchnotes, visuals, visual thinking, visual notes, live illustration
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One Squiggly Line:

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


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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.



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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

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