VISUAL WHAT

2011-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since i have updated, mainly cos my focus around finding a job and utilising my competencies in the world after my three year education at the Kaospilots, I think now is just the best time to kick life into a blog and subject i love so much . In quite time of this blog i have together with two classmates started Sideprojects , a project making playground. just last week the search for a job stopped as i started working with the Frontrunners a creative space for youth to flex their cultural production muscles.

So much happening, so much so that there is new governance in Denmark. It has the entire country in excitement. Closer to the ground, the founder of the Frontrunners and a key player in the education Kaospilots Uffe Elbæk has become Minister of Culture.That my friends is huge, really huge. I salute his journey and i am humbled and blessed to be part of a legacy that lives and still moves systems.

The video below is where my interest is growing, getting brainstorming sessions to a new and engaging level - Sunni Brown and Dave Gray are two of my visualizer hero´s. I love their work. My journey starts with Ole Qvist Sorensen from Bigger Picture he is to me both graphic recording teacher and fellow Kaospilot and i was lucky enough to spend my internship at his office.There I befriended and worked with Stine Arensbach.

Since then I have been shaping my understanding and use of the discipline.

One lesson that stay with me since being introduced to this Skill, is to share and teach visual literacy. So welcome to my journey.

Gamestorming from XPLANE on Vimeo.

clear and simple handwritting

2011-04-08T13:43:00.001-07:00

visual meeting, a dialogue

2011-04-08T13:38:00.001-07:00

VISUAL LEARNING

2010-12-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

The ten and a half commandments of visual thinking

View more presentations from whatidiscover.

Visual Note-Taking 101 from SXSW 2010

View more webinars from Austin Kleon.

Visual Note Taking / Sketchnotes

View more presentations from Eva-Lotta Lamm.

Visual Note-Taking 101: Sketchnoting Techniques

View more presentations from Mike Rohde.

TIME.

2010-12-02T23:49:00.001-08:00

There's More Time Than The Present

View more presentations from Bud Caddell.

webbased drawing --just fun

2010-10-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

follow link

SHORT FILMS X2

2010-10-16T03:22:00.001-07:00

An Experimental film about my visual interpretation of T.E.Eliot’s poem, The Wasteland. – Luca Schenato

The Wasteland from Studiomica on Vimeo.

MULTI USER SKETCH PAD; HTML5 ---try it

2010-10-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

LINK

BEAUTIFUL VISUALIZATION ---->>>>>David c: The beauty of data visualization

2010-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

a little on
David McCandless

David McCandless makes infographics -- simple, elegant ways to see information that might be too complex or too big, small, abstract or scattered to otherwise be grasped

BRAIN STUFF ---you should know (15 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain

2010-08-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

Via: Online Schools

FOR WHEN U HAVE TO GO solo

2010-07-11T11:33:00.001-07:00

37 Tools For Solo Brainstorming

View more presentations from Marc Heleven.

viZ NOTES AT CONFERENCES / DENMARK METROPOLIS 2010

2010-07-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

visUAL NOTES AT CONFERENCES / DENMARK METROPOLIS 2010

2010-07-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

WEBINAR ON VISUAL THINKING

2010-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Visual Note-Taking 101 from SXSW 2010

View more webinars from Austin Kleon.

back of a napkin

2010-05-29T14:32:00.001-07:00

stick peeps

2010-04-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Anatomy of a Stick Figure

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter.

OM WRITER --- great tool, only Mac for now

2010-04-16T23:35:00.001-07:00

Ommwriter from herraizsoto&co on Vimeo.

grandPAPPY GRAPHIC RECORDING

2010-04-11T06:31:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE

LOOSETOOTH --she rocks

2010-04-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

DIALOGUE visualized

2010-03-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

LEARNING BY MAKING MORE MISTAKES

2010-03-22T11:57:00.001-07:00

Make a Great Mistake

View more presentations from betsystreeter.

LET IT ALL OUT -

2010-03-22T11:53:00.001-07:00

A Drawing Adventure by Betsy Streeter Www.betsystreeter.com

How to create a concept map in Xmind 3.1.1. There are a couple of tips in this video that critical to working with Floating topics.

2010-03-17T13:10:00.001-07:00

WOW

2010-03-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

Demo of the New Version of SciPlore MindMapping, a free mind mapping software (developped with the latest version of Freemind) for researchers and students. Watch this Demo to discover the incredible utility of this tool for managing PDF's and References. You can download it for free.

goodies to know of ...

2010-03-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/tools.php

basics---repeat

2010-03-12T12:49:00.001-08:00

I DECLARE PAPER WAR --light hearted, awesome vid

2010-02-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Papierkrieg from Makaio Tisu on Vimeo.

MAde in here, no! made in india

2010-02-15T10:09:00.001-08:00

young and brilliant, its a BLOG :CHECKIT;

2010-02-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

CLICK THE IMAGE

to explain to my parents what i do ---here is inspiration

2010-02-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

How To Explain It To My Parents from Lernert & Sander on Vimeo.

nice , i need help in this Dept

2010-02-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

Visual Thinking & The Writing Process

View more presentations from Ryan Coleman | Freelance Information Designer & Facilitator.

PROBLEM SOLVING WITH MIND MAPPS

2010-02-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

simple diagram, free download, ADOBE AIR BASED software

2010-01-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

click on image to go to website

ground breaking books - VISUAL LITERACY/GRAPHIC RECORDING(FACILITATION)

2010-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

GROUNDBREAKING BOOKS IN THE FIELD OF GRAPHIC FACILITATION AND RECORDING on Dipity.

TIMELINE

2010-01-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

GRAPHIC FACILITATION on Dipity.

beyond COPPENHAGEN --a work in progress

2010-01-05T13:24:00.001-08:00

theres something in the water

2010-01-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

MORE FROM THE BIGGER PICTURE TEAM AT COP15

2009-12-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

FOLLOW THEM BY CLICKING THIS LINK BIGGERPICTURE

DEMAND CONSCIOUS ACTION

2009-12-12T01:02:00.001-08:00

cop15visualised - by the bigger picture crew

2009-12-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.cop15visualised.com/
the above image is linked ot he blog ---CLICK AWAY

The GOOD Guide to COP15: An Introduction

2009-12-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

GOOD

The Most Important Meeting in History

In 1997, delegates from all over the world met in Japan to create a worldwide framework for reducing carbon emissions. The resulting treaty, which took effect in 2005, aimed to reduce global emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels. Since then, the Kyoto Protocol has been the watchword of environmentalists everywhere—a shorthand for the kind of international cooperation needed to fight climate change (and a reminder of the U.S. Senate’s embarrassing refusal to get on board).

read more on the website

HIGH HOPES

2009-12-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

KEEP AN EYE OPEN FOR VISUALS FROM THE VISUAL GLOBAL COMMUNITY ON THE IN`S AND OUT`S AT THE CONFERENCE
FOLLOW THIS LINK
WWW

from Cecilie Otzen and Nathaniel from 15+ KAOSPILOT:Denmark

2009-12-04T00:36:00.000-08:00

We made this --

2009-11-30T20:14:00.001-08:00

I was assistant on these different graphic recording jobs

2009-11-22T02:06:00.000-08:00

more visualizing of complexity

2009-11-22T02:02:00.001-08:00

The history of VISUAL COMMUNICATION -

2009-11-22T01:58:00.000-08:00

Click image above

HISTORY OF THE INTERNET

2009-11-22T01:47:00.000-08:00

Ten Photo-Taking Tips

2009-11-20T06:59:00.001-08:00

THE real trick to taking great photos is what happens behind the camera. Here's a list of ten tips to keep in mind the next time you're snapping away.

1. Light

Photography is all about light. You can't have a photo without it! You also can't take a really good picture unless you carefully consider the way available light falls on your subject.

A lighting source facing toward the camera usually gives poor results because it won't illuminate your subject matter and it can cause flare spots (the bright yellow dots you sometimes see in a photo or when you look through a lens). For best results, keep the light behind you or to your side.

When you're outside, think about where the sun is and look – really look – at how its light shapes your subject matter. Do the same inside by paying attention to the locations of windows and lights.

If you find that the light isn't right, move into a different position to take the picture, or ask your subject to move.

2. Composition

To get the best sense of the light, colour, focus, and the edges of the image, use your camera's viewfinder, not the preview screen.

If you find that your usual shots are landscape-oriented, play around a bit with your compositions. For example, tilt your camera 45 degrees. Take portrait-oriented images (even if you're not photographing a person). Get down on the ground to shoot your subject, or climb up on a sturdy ladder to capture the moment from above. You might see something new in the frame of your viewfinder. The results could be dramatic.

3. Rule of thirds

Every artist working in 2D media uses the rule of thirds when composing their art. This simply means that every image you compose is divided mentally into vertical and horizontal thirds, resulting in nine squares. Within this grid, you'll see four points where these squares meet. These are the "power points" or areas of a composition that tend to have the most visual weight.

Almost all successful compositions have their main area of interest at one or more of these power points. The human eye tends to gravitate towards these sections of an image. If the main area of interest falls outside of the power points, the picture just won't "feel" right.

Try it yourself – take one picture in your usual fashion, then recompose the same shot based on the rule of thirds. Review both pictures and see which one looks better to you.

4. Focus on your subject

To ensure people notice what you want them to notice, eliminate distracting details. For example, when taking a picture of a building on campus, a brightly coloured truck parked out front could draw more attention than the building. Or if you're scheduling a photo shoot with students, you might ask them to wear dark or neutral-coloured shirts, as shirts with large or busy prints could take away from the main area of interest: your subjects' faces.

5. Timing

With digital cameras, it's easy to shoot a lot of photos until you think you have the perfect one. Try different things if you can, like rotating the camera or adjusting the exposure. But you can also consider anticipating a shot.

To get your timing right in any situation, think of what a photo-worthy moment would look like, and then wait for it to happen. For example, if you're taking photos of a soccer game, a great shot would be someone scoring a goal. If you wait and watch for it, one player may make her way down the field just in time for you to take a photo of the goal.

Be patient, watch for patterns, and eventually you'll see the perfect shot coming your way.

6. WWAAD

WWAAD stands for "What Would Ansel Adams do?" I've taken this tip from Making Something out of Nothing, a presentation by Frank Fortune at Georgia Southern University.

While you might not like Ansel Adams' work, the point of WWAAD is to look at lots of photos and make note of the ones you admire. What is it about these images that you like? What catches your eye? What makes you wish you'd taken that picture? The answers to these questions will inform your own photo-taking.

For inspiration, Photography Served and daily dose of imagery are two sites that feature great photography.

7. Resolution

Every digital camera can take photos for posting online and for printing to high-quality photography paper. However, printing requires a much higher level of digital information (resolution) than web-friendly images.

Before you take your photos, think about how you'd like to use them, then adjust the settings of your camera accordingly. While every camera's settings are different, you should look for "large" and "small" quality jpeg settings. If you want to print your photos, choose the largest image size your camera offers. The smaller the size, the lower the photo resolution.

8. White balance

An often overlooked but very important feature of all digital cameras is the white balance setting. This controls how your camera determines the pure white in every picture you take. It's a bit technical but worth the effort to figure out how to adjust it.

Different types of light – sunlight, cloudy days, fluorescent lights, the reading lamp on your night table – affect how we perceive colour because they each have a colour too, known as colour temperature. Your brain can look past a particular light's colour temperature and see white for white, red for red, and black for black, but your camera can't do this trick.

By adjusting your white balance to shoot for the available light source, you'll help the camera do what you do automatically: see colours as they are. Try it! You'll be surprised at how this simple adjustment will affect the appearance of your photos.

9. Avoid the flash (if you can)

Most camera-mounted flash units don't produce flattering light, so turn yours off whenever possible. In many situations, existing light will be sufficient to correctly expose your subject.

If the light is low, try using a tripod or setting your camera on something stable, such as a table, a shelf, or the floor. Press the shutter button halfway to allow the camera to set the exposure and focus, and then press it all the way down. If you don't get results you like, try playing with some of the exposure presets for low light settings. Or, if your camera allows, play with the shutter speed and aperture settings. Be creative!

10. Portraits

Not everyone likes to be a model. To make people feel more comfortable when they're having their photo taken, try asking them to sit down, lean on something, or hold an object. Don't just hide behind your camera: talk to your subjects too. Ask them if they have any ideas about how they'd like their portraits to appear. Also, if a particular setting isn't working, don't hesitate to go somewhere else. Settings greatly inform the mood of portraits.

I hope these tips will help you take your photographs to the next level. If you try any of them out, feel free to post a comment and let me know the results!

Great hope this helps, when documenting the Graphic recordings, and the facilitated sessions u might have now or in the future.

SHARING IS CARING

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Marjolein Visser in photography, strategies, tools + tech

I found this great blog post here, and thought i had to share.If u know the basics u can always rely on IMPROV

Google meets Graphical(assistance) facilitation -its as easy as 123

2009-11-20T01:24:00.000-08:00

the girls and inspiration -

2009-11-18T23:46:00.000-08:00

Loa next to here first session recording

a quick pictionary session with other org in the homebase in KBH

if org change is your thing give this free download a looksee

Visualizing empires decline -- by Pedro M Cruz

2009-11-18T23:38:00.000-08:00

This is mainly an experimentation with soft bodies using toxi's verlet springs.

The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent. The visual emphasis is on their decline.

More on that project http://mondeguinho.com/master/visual-experimentations/visualizing-empires

UPDATE – some minor fixes: no flickering and more robust simulation.

its a bit late, But last week at DDC, DANISH DESIGN CENTRE

2009-11-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Lessons One can Only Learn--DOING THE WRONG THING

2009-11-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

time for reflections on the time spent between two cities, On Århus(Home)and Kbh(internship) ---My wife and i are new parents, the past couples of days i have been so stuck in the running(s) of school that i forget that i have responsibility with My family( My wife and Son) ---Its all new and i thought i would of had a grip around letting go of work when at home, but in the construct of an internship --things get blurry ------------will step up to the plate.

I have to create balance and let go of work when at home, and be ``present``
this to will pass -

learning every day

Delta 7

2009-11-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

Two masters of their craft exchanging words on the climate conference.
twas very interesting to listen to , and see his huge water colour illustration.
check out www.delta7.com

LOOKSEE

2009-11-14T09:59:00.001-08:00

H2oil animated sequences from Dale Hayward on Vimeo.

PROOF

2009-11-14T09:49:00.001-08:00

GIRLS OF VISUAL FACILITATION AND RECORDING

2009-11-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

STINE FROM BIGGER PICTURE DENMARK

SUNNI BROWM -HOUSTAN TEXAS

Visual Recording and Graphic Facilitation: Helping People See What They Mean by Nancy Margulies and David Sibbet

2009-11-13T02:18:00.001-08:00

Visual Recording and Graphic Facilitation: Helping People See What They Mean by Nancy Margulies and David S...

Austin Kleon: How to draw faces

2009-11-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

Designing For Influence: Cataloging examples of Influence online.

2009-11-05T06:07:00.001-08:00

Designing For Influence: Cataloging examples
of Influence online.

Posted using ShareThis

Some Developments at KaosPilots -Visual Assistance

2009-11-04T02:50:00.001-08:00

A project , from the 15+ team ----- visuals to help
inform us about saving and utilizing energy better.
when u in the building again look out for them.
35 Mejlgade Århus Cemtral ---------Kaospilot

CROSS-CULTURAL ANIMATION and WE CANNOT NOT CHANGE THE WORLD

2009-11-03T23:54:00.001-08:00

Everything we do changes the world, whether we are aware of it or not.
That would make each and every one of us a SOCIAL DESIGNER!

both these videos made by - Gloria Costa 2009
who studied Communication Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Lisbon University,

NEW TECH FOR OLD FASHIONED ACTIVISM

2009-11-02T13:39:00.001-08:00

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
click it

Info Activism from Tactical Technology Collective on Vimeo.

great paper ---for the readers

2009-11-02T05:18:00.000-08:00

Wilson, B. (1988). The Artistic Tower of Babel: Inextricable Links Between Culture and Graphic Development. In G. W. Hardiman & T. Zernich (Eds.), Discerning Art: Concepts and Issues. Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing Company.

In this article, Wilson focuses on the argument against the belief that the Romantic view that children develop an inborn "artistic" capacity and that external influences are bad for it. He compares this in part to a sort of "Tower of Babel" phenomenon, where everyone has a universal inborn "language of art" that develops uniquely suited to each individual.

His theory against these claims is that graphic symbolism is a language that is transmitted through cultural patterns imitatively. He cites numerous evidence for this from numerous countries and time periods.

Pertaining to Japanese children though, he has a fascinating note that nearly all of the 6-year old Japanese children they studied could draw coherent sequential stories, compared with other countries where only about half of some groups of 12-year olds could. He also notes that Japanese children use increasingly more complex methods of graphic narrative as they age, (examples from 9 to 12), though they are all imitative of manga techniques.

These examples support that drawing ability is learned, as well as that imitation boosts abilities rather than hampers it.

I found this article on the Visual Inguist blog(click <<<)

lookout for this little gem as well

Somethign from Home -South Afrika that Is

2009-11-02T02:26:00.001-08:00

Joao Orecchia - Falling Out from shukry adams on Vimeo.

THE ALPHA BET

2009-11-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

ON A PERSONAL NOTE - exploring KBH

2009-10-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

coming and going

The first place that reminds me of Home, DIN NYE VEN in Kbh central
cool spot to check out ---the art on the walls reminded me of an Author i forgot about
Aldous Huxley --was a humanist and pacifist, and he was latterly interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism. He is also well known for advocating and taking psychedelics.
I did not find the artist name who made the works on the wall, but who ever it was sparked some really good thoughts in my head.

This is Kaspers Pad, KBH N --wesselsgade

The three Lakes -Early Morning

VISUAL EXPLANANTION 101

2009-10-30T02:11:00.000-07:00

heres the link to learn genetics

THe BRAIN ---Random Sources.-----Some funny tings

2009-10-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

TED2009: Brain Visualization from Tom Wujec on Vimeo.

Consider this

2009-10-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

LINK
footnote: consider replacing amerika with your country*

Can anyone draw? ---article from DELTA7

2009-10-27T08:02:00.001-07:00

Can anyone draw?

Can visual thinking be learned?

I’m always being told how lucky I am to “be able to draw”. Everyone seems to assume that any artistic ability – musical, visual, poetic or whatever – is an innate skill and that you either have it or you don’t. Harder edged skills – reading, writing, arithmetic – on the other hand, are basic abilities that everyone should be able to develop. Now in my work I get the opportunity to blur the edges between what’s hard and what’s soft. Every day I structure information, solve problems, tell stories and make new discoveries for clients by translating their concerns into visual form. It’s incredibly powerful. It’s so powerful, in fact, that I sometimes wonder what it would be like if they could do it for themselves rather than relying on people like me. So, is drawing a freak skill or something anyone can do?

Now let’s be clear from the outset that for a normal, healthy human brain, drawing should be difficult, because we don’t see things in 2D. When you look at a table top, you are conscious of its rectangular shape, even though the retinal image received by your eye is probably a trapezium or a rhombus or something. The brain is more concerned with what your environment is good for (its affordances) than what exactly it looks like, so to be able to draw anything you have to “unlearn” the way you know things are in order to re-create the way they appear.

One group of people who are very good at this is autistic savants (think Dustin Hoffman in Rainman). The Economist last week had a report into savant-skills, and referenced one of the most famous autists, Temple Grandin, who has (with a lot of effort) written books about what it is like for her to “think in pictures”. The thing I found interesting in the report was a reference to new findings that suggest a lot of these skills may be learned rather than innate. My understanding was always that savant-skills were already there in everyone’s brains, but were normally “masked” by other abilities; in autists these abilities (empathy for example) were somehow “switched off”, allowing the brain’s incredible computational powers to run riot. But what if this “switching off” wasn’t “unmasking” unlearned skills, but rather freeing up time for practice? To quote the article, “the child with autism who would happily spend hours spinning coins, or watching drops of water fall from his fingers, might be considered a connoisseur, seeing minute differences between events that others regard as pure repetition.” So perhaps the visual savant who can draw photographically from memory has developed this skill because his/her pathological disinterest in other more “normal” human concerns has freed up time to observe the appearance of things with microscopic precision.

This is all very well for prodigies and geniuses, but what about the rest of us? Well I think there’s an interesting comparison to be made with the everyday skills we take for granted. Just stop and think for a moment how complex a task reading and writing is – the ability to learn from scratch an (almost) completely abstract system for notating spoken language. Yet whenever we pick up a newspaper or start writing a note we aren’t at all conscious of alphabets or grammar or syntax – it all just flows naturally. It’s a skill we take for granted because we were all forced to learn it over many years from infancy. What would happen if primary school children were forced to spend the same length of time learning to notate music, for instance, as they currently spend learning to read and write? Everyone recognises (and most people can hum) melodies, but no one can write them down because no one was ever taught. We all know when someone is singing out of tune, even if we don’t know how.

Similarly, everyone knows when a drawing someone else has created is wrong, but very few people have learned how to correct the mistakes. I saw a presentation a few years back at the RSA about the experience of some schools who brought in an artist to teach primary school children how to draw. The results were astonishing – within a few weeks of being taught the rudiments of proportion and perspective the children were creating imagery that would have shamed most adults. What was more astonishing was the reaction of some of the parents, who were upset that the lessons seemed to be “corrupting” their children’s innocence, on the basis that “real” children draw people with eyes at the tops of their heads and houses with windows in the corners. This seems strange, because I don’t know any parents who encourage their children to carry on making spelling mistakes and adding up wrong because it’s sweet and adorable and childlike.

So, can anyone draw? I think the answer is yes. Obviously it comes much more easily to the naturally gifted than to the rest of us, but then that’s true of everything. I think the reason people can’t draw is because they aren’t taught, and the reason they aren’t taught is firstly because there’s no one to teach them and secondly because no one sees any real need to. Which is a whole new article …

by: Steve Whitla on Friday, April 24, 2009 ·

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One othe oldies again - restored history

2009-10-27T07:06:00.001-07:00

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

From the discovery of the 1898 International Dictionary to linotyping the entries to printing the last print on the vandercook to cutting the fingertabs of the deluxe edition, this video gives a quick overview of the process of creating the Pictorial Webster's fine press edition.

from Japan with simplicity( ) eye candy

2009-10-27T07:01:00.001-07:00

AS ONE from makoto yabuki on Vimeo.

I found a Good little article --on Xplane site :5 live sketching tips every designer should know

2009-10-27T03:23:00.000-07:00

The Designer’s Desk
By Drew Crowley, XPLANE designer

This is the first in a series of tips, tricks and recipes for designers, artists and other visual thinkers working in meetings and other sessions where large amounts of complex information need to be collected and visualized. It’s a peek into how XPLANE approaches discovery and uses visual thinking to communicate key ideas.

Why we do it:
Live sketching gets people engaged in the discovery process and leads to ideas that may not have presented themselves via normal note-taking. The response to visuals being created before a clients’ or colleagues’ eyes is energetic, and that leads to a natural desire to fill in the picture, completely. The result: Understanding and alignment, quickly.

Materials you’ll need:

* Whiteboard or giant stickies
* Variety of small, colorful stickies
* Markers
* Digital camera

How to do it:

1. GET STARTED | Start drawing as soon as you can. The earlier you start drawing in a session the better. It will get the momentum going in the room, the energy level will jump and you’ll start getting real content.
2. VISUAL NOTES | The key to live sketching is understanding that it isn’t “drawing” in the traditional sense. It’s visual note-taking. Instead of writing “there was a room with a couch and a lamp,” you draw a couch and a lamp and label it with the word “room.” This simple distinction between drawing and note-taking helps alleviate the fear of drawing in front of people.
3. MESSY IS OK | Yes, sloppy is good. The sketches don’t have to be pristine. The sketchier they are the better. By keeping things fast and loose you’re subconsciously telling the audience that these are just notes and not final images. What’s drawn in session isn’t necessarily going to show up in a final XPLANATiON or another visual communication piece. Keeping things sketchy will help drive that point home, and allow everyone to feel like they can add to the pictures themselves.
4. ASK | Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification or detail. If things are moving too fast, and you aren’t catching everything, let your partner — or the group — know. If the description doesn’t make sense, ask more questions. If you’re not sure whether you’ve captured something correctly, ask your client or colleague. It’s better to ask and be sure, than to assume you’ve got it and have to fix things later.
5. LABEL | Remember that you’re the one that will have to make sense of these notes after the fact, so annotate/sketch/label in a way that makes sense to you. Label people, label scenes, label arrows, label labels! Live sketching can be fast and sloppy, as mentioned above, and the squiggle you draw in a session might make complete sense to you at the time — but two days later it will just be a squiggle. Labels make the difference between a “centralized supply chain database that everyone has access to” and a bunch of mysterious boxes, lines and stick figures.

When you’re done, document everything with a digital camera being careful to avoid window and flash glare on the whiteboards. It’s a good idea to organize and annotate all of the relevant captured info soon after the session.

Live sketching can be done remotely too, using software like Webex or Adobe Acrobat Connect — but that’s a whole other article.

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