A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do. — Leroy Eims
Leadership starts with a vision. Whether you're leading a country, a company, or simply yourself, you must have a vision. A strong one. Because the stronger the vision, the more likely success will be.
That vision, strong or not, always begins in your imagination, or the mind's eye. That's where you start to see things as you'd like them to be in the future. Or the way you wish things could be right now.
Getting that vision out of your head and onto paper makes it more concrete. That allows you to see your vision more clearly, to flesh it out, and to better communicate it to others. It also allows you to see what may be missing or what may not be necessary. A tangible drawing makes your thinking and communication much more efficient!
Drawing out your vision and keeping it someplace where everyone can easily see it, keeps your vision front and center in everyone's mind, which fuels the motivation needed to continue moving forward. A physical image also allows everyone to see how far you've already come, hopefully prompting you to celebrate those successes along the way.
So pick up those markers and start drawing! Remember, you're drawing to communicate here, not to create the next Mona Lisa!
Check out One Squiggly Line's About Visual Thinking page to learn more.
Visual Thinking: Words & Pictures Together
What grabbed your attention first — the image above or the big chunk of text below?
Odds are, the image grabbed your eye first. It's probably the main reason you're reading the text in the first place! So go back to the image for a minute. Really look at it. READ it.
Now, read the paragraph below:
Visual thinking makes complex information simple, brings clarity to confusing communication, makes the common unique, turns the passive into the active and apathy into interest. With visual thinking, the clumsy becomes elegant, the impersonal becomes personal, the dry becomes juicy, "Yes, but..." is replaced with "Yes, and...", trial and error turns to trial and learn, the cold becomes warm, and the separate become unified.
That paragraph and the accompanying image say the same thing! Most people find the information easier to absorb through the image than the paragraph. They're able to absorb that information faster and remember it longer. And, it's a lot more fun!
Check out One Squiggly Line's About Visual Thinking page to learn more.
Visual Thinking & Creativity: Visualize it Richly & Colorfuly!
There's so much more to visual thinking than doodles and diagrams! While physical drawings are a great way to help you think and communicate more clearly, there's a lot happening in that brain of yours before you even pick up a marker. The ability to see things clearly with your mind's eye, your imagination, is where it all begins.
To strengthen your visual thinking skills and boost your creativity, look at the picture above. Really study it for a few minutes. Pay close attention to the details, not just the overall image. The close your eyes and form a really clear picture in your head of the picture you were just looking at. Describe it out loud as accurately and thoroughly as possible, including as many details as you can.
To take it a step further, when you open your eyes, draw the image you just described. If you get stuck, close your eyes and try to see the image of the original drawing in your head instead of going back to the original picture.
You can do this alone or with a partner. Just remember the goal is to see the image as clearly and accurately as possible. No judging!
This exercise not only strengthens your visual thinking abilities and boosts your creativity, it also increases your observational skills, gives your memory quite a work out, and makes you a bit more articulate, too!
Visual Thinking: Live, Large-Scale Visual Notes (Graphic Recording)
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!
Visual Thinking & Creativity: From random to unified - find the link!
One great way to come up with more creative ideas is combine things in new ways. Often, the more random or unrelated the things combined, the more creative the idea seems to be. But in the eyes of the creator, those things probably aren't so random or unrelated after all. Where most people see randomness, the creator spots a clear connection, a unifying link.
Unifying links can be found between pretty much everything, if you look deep enough. Visuals can make those links much more obvious than words alone. Try it out with the ten things pictured in the image above: Apple, airplane, airstream, art, arrows, almonds, apricot, automobile, avenue, atmosphere. Need a hint? The answer is in the picture - four times!
Spot Illustration: A One Word Story
Spot illustrations are simple drawings that illustrate one simple concept or word. (That's how I define them, anyways!) Often, spot illustrations turn that concept or word into a simple story. And, as anyone in marketing, sales, communication, and pretty much any other type of business knows, stories are where it's at.
Stories grab attention and draw people in. They make people curious and give them a reason to care. They can bring personal meaning to technical explanations. Stories bring things to life. Even if only a tiny glimpse of the story is told.
That's what spot illustrations do. They bring things to life and give just a glimpse of a story. Enough of a glimpse to grab attention, draw people in, and make them curious enough to find out how the story ends.
Contact me to have some hand-drawn spot illustrations created especially for you!
Visual Thinking is Productive Thinking!
What's so great about visual thinking? Watch this quick sketch animation to find out!
Visual Thinking & Sketch Animation: One Squiggly Line
I added this quick animation to my Services page. Unfortunately, many sketch animations are confidential, created only for internal company use, so they can't be shared. But they're a great way to bring training materials, sales presentations, product highlights, or any other information to life.
Synthesis Images: What Are They?
Who would want a synthesis image and why? Any number of folks for any number of reasons! Companies, nonprofits, or businesses like them to sum up lengthy reports. Website owners like them to show what their website has to offer in a glance. Educators use them to give the big picture of their topic. Professionals use them to showcase their experience...the list goes on!
No matter who uses a synthesis image or why, social media loves them! So if you're looking to draw people into your content, try a synthesis image.
