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!

Sketchnotes: Make online learning much richer!

Sketchnotes keep people engaged with your content in a whole new way. They can literally give students the big picture of each lesson or the course as a whole. Presenting information in new ways allows people to think about that information in new ways, too. And that's often when real learning takes place. 

The sketchnote above was created from an audio file from one lesson of The Business Soul Sessions by Beth Kempton and Kelly Rae Roberts. They packed a lot of info into a very short talk! With the sketchnote displayed where students can look at it while listening to the file, students are much more likely to remember much more of what they just heard.

Nine Ways to Draw a Handshake

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!

Graphic Recording: Use those visuals after the event!

Graphic recording happens live, in real-time and on a large scale right in front of everyone. That's part of what makes it so powerful, engaging, and memorable. But those images can be quite powerful, engaging, and memorable after the event, too. So how do you put them to good use? Shop.Org had a great idea, as shown above in this Twitter screenshot. 

Graphic Recording: TEDxBerkeley ~ Steve Wozniak

Graphic recording is full of surprises. You never know who you're going to run into or what they're going to say.  But no matter the speaker or the topic, the process remains the same - listen and draw! 

This image was created just a few days ago at TEDxBerkeley by the last speaker of the day, Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computers Inc. He had a lot of great stories to share about his times on the Cal campus as a student. He talked about all kinds of random things - shaving cream, pay phones, saltine crackers, and typing, to name a few. All great stories in and of themselves, but far too many for me to capture visually in such a short time. But that doesn't matter. His overarching message was crystal clear - find happiness.

That's what graphic recording is all about - making the big picture clear for everyone, even those not in the room.

Visual Thinking & Graphic Recording: Is Bigger Better?

Part of the power of graphic recording is that it is done live and at a large scale. The most common size is eight feel long by four feet high. Even when given the dimensions, most folks don't realize how large that is. A Smart car is about nine feet long by five feet wide - roughly a foot less in length and width than the average graphic recording surface!

Obviously, working at a scale that large is not the best option for a small meeting space. But just because the event venue is humongous doesn't meant a ginormous board is the best option. There may not be enough space to display those great big visuals for people to discuss later. And that's where a lot of the magic happens!

The image above was created on foamcore board roughly the size of flip chart paper.  It's large enough for a small group to look at and discuss. Yet small enough to be easy to carry and display afterwards.  

Pre-Event Visuals: Why Bother?

 Email vs. a handwritten note. Wonder bread vs. homemade bread. Spaghetti-O's vs. homemade spaghetti. Clothes off the rack vs. clothes tailored to fit.

There's a difference. A big one. And people notice. Handmade things with a personal touch are almost always preferred to the mass produced.

Hand drawn pre-event visuals (like the one above) are much warmer and friendlier than the standard computer generated visuals most folks use. And they can support your branding just as much as those slick and glossy computer generated prints.

Graphic Recording: What is it?

The most common sizes for graphic recording are 40" x 60" or 4' x 8'. Flip chart sized paper or boards work better in some cases, though. Regardless the size, everyone benefits the most when the graphic recording is done where everyone can see. And displayed where folks can talk about the content after the fact.

Visual Thinking & Graphic Recording: Wedding Showers

Graphic recording is most common in business meetings, conferences, and other events. It's great for more personal occasions, too. Like weddings or wedding showers, as this drawing shows. Not only is this a great way to remember an important day, but the advice of friends and family, too!

Graphic Recording & Creative Lettering Design: Word Clouds

Word clouds are pretty common these days. They're usually computer generated with standard fonts. If you want your word cloud to really have impact, hand lettering is the way to go!

Hand-lettered word clouds can be created from print materials before or after and event. Or for a report or website, for example. They can also be created live as a different way of graphic recording. No pictures, only words. Words that are carefully drawn and designed to create an impact greater that just a list or something computer generated.

If you relate better to words than pictures, a hand-drawn word cloud can be a great bridge to reach those who are more picture oriented. Experience the impact yourself - contact me to create one for you!