"A good sketch is better than a long speech"
Napoleon Bonaparte
Graphic Recording
That’s right - pictures are powerful! Primal. They can bring ideas to life. They help us communicate better.
And I happen to love making them.
Graphic Recording (or Live Illustration/Scribing) is a big chunk of my freelance practice.
Here is some of my recent Graphic Recording work:
New around here?
Welcome to the world of
Live Illustration + Graphic Recording + Visual Facilitation.
How can Graphic Recording bring ideas to life?
Graphic Recording is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool that can be harnessed to great effect. I’m always exploring new ways of capturing, refining and presenting ideas.
Some common ways I’m engaged to use Graphic Recording with my clients are outlined below. But it’s a creative medium, so please get in touch if you’d like to discuss your ideas!
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A SEQUENCE
A linear visual record of an event, such as stories shared by key note speakers at a Ted Talk, an organisation’s historic journey mapped by employees,
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A SYSTEM
A systematic overview of a complex process or system from end to end, such as a customer experience, or product life cycle, or focus areas of roles and expertise.
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A SOUP
A more fluid, creative, expressive ‘mind mapping’ of ideas explored during a workshop session, such as brainstorming new products, services, or ways to solve a problem.
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A SUMMARY
A comprehensive visual overview of dense, hard to access content, such as a company annual report, strategy or action plan. Captures the gist, highlights key content and easier to access and share.
THE PROCESS
1 - CATCH
I specialise in extracting and capturing words and ideas (“data”).
This requires active open listening (or watching/reading) and asking smart questions.
2 - CONSOLIDATE
I compile, refine and play with the data, composing it into clear, impactful visual blueprints or story boards that link together content in meaningful ways and present useful insights.
3 - CREATE
Finally, I apply key principles of design and narrative to create compelling, one-of-a-kind and (perhaps most importantly) hand-made visual assets that are memorable and shareable.
Visual storytelling saves time, space and money.
And it can help you connect on a deeper level.
Let’s chat about supercharging your content with visuals!
Long, text-heavy reports are a thing of the past.
Who actually reads them?
This is a new, better way.
Why is everything Hand Drawn?
In one word, it’s about Authenticity.
I don’t use clipart or fonts in my Graphic Recording process (or in much of my freelance work). Every mark made on the page/screen is hand drawn, usually live on paper. The brain-pen connection is lightning fast, and for me, live sketching is the most enjoyable part of the job, so that enthusiasm comes out in the energy and insights of the work.
Also, keeping my unique hand-made style in the final piece emphasises the human effort involved. It shows a real, individual person made it, and that creates a powerful connection with audiences.
Hand lettering and illustrations are a cue that time, energy and money have been invested by you in the content. It sings “I am not AI or Spam” and signals that the content can be trusted.
To magnify this huge benefit of graphic recording, I am also very careful and selective about what projects and clients I lend my style of illustration to. I make sure that our values and motivations align. I have turned down some seriously huge international companies who wanted me to use my style to sell their products. It just didn’t sit right for me.
In some way I feel that my principles are imbued in my graphic recording style, and that with each job I weave a kind of connective thread through projects and clients, and as my body of work grows, it is an aspect that I increasingly protect and nurture.
What is all the fuss about?
And why does Graphic Recording work?
Clarity…
Take time to synthesise and share ONLY the best bits!
Give your audience the gift of effortless connection, without sifting or time wasting.
Aim for a quick, shared understanding that sticks!
Generosity…
Share something special that shows you invested in them.
Engage your audience with generous, joyful, time saving content!
Tip: They are more likely to share it and talk about it with others.
Book a chat today
Let’s talk about how authentic, smart, hand-made visuals can bring your ideas to life!