A quick guide to graphic recording
(literally a quick guide to graphic recording)

At a meeting the other day I was asked how did I do that?

I had graphically recorded (or sketchnoted) a gathering of trustees for ALT, the Association for Learning Technology. In my response, I found myself listing some do’s and don’ts, and issuing the usual skills-related tropes the more you do it, the easier it gets. Honestly though, when I think about it, I’ve made up the rules as I’ve gone along, and so have become a self-appointed authority in the matter. The graphic above is my attempt at quickly gathering some of those pointers together in a visual landscape, so if it’s something you’d like to get in to, this may well be of help. However if you’re anything like me, the biggest barrier to learning a new skill is always getting over one’s self…

ALT Assembly meeting - sketchnote
ALT Assembly meeting – sketchnote

I’ve used this graphical recording method as the starting point on a whole bunch of creative exploits: 

  • working with activists to create visual campaigns around plastic pollution
  • interviewing stakeholders across an organisation with regards to a fairly large tech project the org was about to embark on
  • creating a visual language with groups of people from a membership organisation
  • capturing the progress of a number of recipient organisations as part of a social funding journey

In fact, most projects that involve harvesting insight from groups of people, the people who know.

SocMedHE18 - sketchnote
SocMedHE18 – sketchnote

Every conversation is different, with different insight to discover. Thar’s insight in tham thar conversations… Listening intentionally with a pen in hand, you’ll hear different things. And to others it often looks like magic.

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