Visual Thinking Supplies: Prismacolor Markers

When choosing the best drawing supplies, you've gotta keep the end goal in mind. If you're drawing to think, you can use pretty much anything. If you're drawing to create great art, you've gotta use something that will last.

I've been using Prismacolor markers since high school. I never use them for live graphic recording, though. I have a special set of supplies set aside just for live graphic recording work. But I do use Prismacolor markers for studio work sometimes.

Prismacolor markers are art markers. You'll need to go to an art store to get them or order online. So they're more expensive than Crayola or Mr. Sketch markers. Way more expensive. But they do go on sale sometimes, usually around the start of the school year.  They occasionally offer pretty big rebates, too. And Prismacolor markers do last a long time.

I like the broad range of colors offered. Also, because they're permanent, they don't smear. You can color over things drawn with non-permament markers without smearing. And there's nothing worse than outlining a drawing only to have it smear when you color it in!

Unfortunately, they do bleed through paper. And they do smell a little. But they are nontoxic, so they're safe. 

To see a sample of some work done with Prismacolor markers, go to this blog post.

Visual Thinking & Lettering: Variety is Key

Visual thinking is all about using visuals to help you think better. And if you're going to think about something, it's got to hold your attention. Maybe even grab it in the first place.

Great big blocks of text can be pretty boring visually. And if you're not interested in the content, your mind will probably wander. Probably far, far away from the content, too. And that doesn't help you get stuff done.

If the text is a bit more visually interesting, though, it will hold your attention. When there's stuff to look at, people will look! And if they're looking at words, they'll read them, too. Even if they're not interested in the content. The visual appeal draws them in.

Visual Thinking: Have a Supreme New Year!

Want to be a more visual thinker by this time next year? More creative? More productive? More confident? And a better communicator, too?

Then make this the year you dive into visual thinking! By visual thinking, I mean drawing out a picture to help you think better. Not drawing to create a great picture to hang over the couch. Physically drawing out the idea in your head makes it much easier to work with. Then, you can really flesh it out because you can see what's missing. And what you can get rid of. Or maybe you'll decide it's not such a great idea after all. If it just stays in your head, you'll always wonder.

The act of drawing your ideas can help you think more creatively, too. It makes you look at things in new ways. And figure out how things fit together. When there are gaps in your drawing, you'll naturally brainstorm ways to fill them.

Once you have a clear picture of whatever you've been thinking about, you'll be much more confident about doing something with it. You'll be able to explain your idea or information to others much better. And they'll understand it more quickly because you've explained it so clearly. If you're fuzzy about it, they will be, too.

Not sure where to start? Email me and I'll give you some options!

Visual Thinking & Synthesis Images: 2014 in Review

The brain likes to keep things simple. Then it knows just what to focus on. And remember. When there's a ton of information, it's far too easy to get distracted. Or confused. Or just plain tired.

That's one reason synthesis images are so helpful. They make things simple so you can easily understand and remember them. Because they're visual, you literally see the whole picture. That means you get to see how things are connected or related. And new ideas and insights are more likely to occur.

Here's a super simple synthesis image of a few major headlines and topics of 2014.

Visual Thinking & Drawing: There's Power in Numbers!

This is by no means the most exciting drawing out there. But it's a great example of how simple shapes and lines can turn into something far more powerful.

The entire city is made of rectangles. Simple lines make up the windows. The stars in the sky are just the letter x. That's it!

The way everything is put together is what makes those simple lines and rectangles turn into a city. They fill the page. That creates far more impact than one building alone. And the dark colors make it clear it's night time.

Next time you want to make a simple drawing more powerful, try filling the page with the simple things you do know how to draw.

Visual Thinking & Lettering: Use What You Have!

There's a myth floating around that creative people are not so practical. Truth is, the most successful creative people are really highly practical. They think about what can be accomplished with what they already have. And then use what they have in new ways.

One of those things is time. The great thing about visual thinking is that it doesn't take much time. It's quick and simple. And that frees up your time to really accomplish things.

Even one little picture makes a huge difference. And there's no need for it to be fancy. Just keep in mind: The simpler the drawing, the more you'll have time to draw. And the more you practice, the faster you'll draw!

Visual Thinking & Lettering: Designing Lowercase D's

There's more than one way to draw pretty much everything. Especially letters!

For some great visual and creative thinking practice, pick something and try to draw it as many different ways as you can. If you set a time limit, you'll actually work a lot faster. It also helps you to not focus on whether or not you like what you just drew.

Here's my 2 minutes worth of lower case d's, drawn on a white board.

Graphic Recording: Great Drawing is not the Secret!

Graphic Recording is all about communication. There's definitely an art to it. But it's so not about art! Knowing a few things from the art world can certainly help, though.

Look at the graphic recording above. There's barely any drawing in it - some generic buildings, a few arrows, and a star. That's it! This image is mainly text. And some of that text is even a bit sloppy.

Yet, the image has impact. The impact comes from a few bold words and the bright orange color. Even with a lot of text, there's a sense of movement and balance. Thanks to how things are arranged on the page (the composition).

Bad composition makes people uncomfortable. Good composition draws them in. That's why great drawing is not the secret to creating great visuals. Great composition is really where it's at.

This graphic recording was created while listening to a pre-recorded TED talk, using one black and one orange marker.

Visual Thinking & Lettering Design: Fill the Space!

Hand-lettering has a certain charm computer generated letters just don't have. The letters are never perfectly formed. Spacing is never 100% uniform. And lines are never perfectly straight. All those little imperfections are where that charm comes from.

Take a look at the quote above. This was done rather quickly, with a permanent pen straight from the start. So obviously, things aren't perfectly planned out. Or perfectly drawn in. But it's safe to say, the text is far from boring.

That's partly because pretty much all of the white space is between the letters. To make the words fit the page, I had to get creative with the spacing. It's unpredictable. It breaks the rules a bit. And that's what makes it interesting.

Big blocks of text can be very boring to the eye. So the next time you're faced with a big, boring block of text, let the words fill the space. And forget about making everything perfectly uniform.

Visual Thinking & Creativity: Surprise!

Hiding a surprise in a visual is a great way to make them more fun. The surprise can't be hidden so much it would take hours to find. It needs to be hidden just enough to be missed on the first glance. But easy enough to find in a minute or two.

Discovering a surprise gives the same sense of satisfaction as solving a problem. And that's what people will feel after discovering the surprise in your visual. And because they really looked at it, they will be much more likely to remember the visual, too.

So what's the surprise hiding in Santa's sleigh? Here's a hint: He's the one wishing everyone Merry Christmas, not Santa!