Welcome to Picture Your Meeting.
Yesterday was my first official attempt at graphic recording and custom chart work. (I took Christina Merkley’s Meeting Graphics 101 course last Thurs/Fri… more on that in another post).
I borrowed an audiobook from the library and recorded the first ten minutes of it. Right now I’m just using flip-chart paper turned to landscape, taped to the wall beside my desk. I have some big chart paper but I’m saving it for “real” work.
My first custom chart work was an attempt at graphically presenting the guiding principles for a government BPI project that I’m working on at the moment. I used Mr. Sketch markers and lots of pastel. I like the way I laid out the information but my writing was too big for the size of paper, and it ended up being really crowded. I found myself searching the web for clipart related to some key concepts that I think will come up frequently:
- business model (so far I’m using something that looks like a chemistry atomic model)
- responsibility (a rather poorly drawn person holding the world on their shoulders)
- balance (a set of scales with the concepts to be balanced in the cups being weighed)
- challenging assumptions (a head with a question mark drawn in it).
When I finished the writing and icon work, I started the colour layer. I discovered that what I find appealing in terms of colour is not always what’s best for the client – I gravitate towards brighter colours so this chart was in purples, pinks, light greens and blues. Not so good for a government ministry.
On my second draft, I used Sharpie markers (I have a wide selection of colours) in dark blue, royal blue and dark green. I highlighted with yellow and red, and then drew brown boxes around each of the principles to “pop” them out. I used similar imagery, but then my colour layer is much more subdued. I think it’s a vast improvement in terms of being presentable to the client, but I want to have another go at it on bigger paper, and come up with some better visual metaphors.
My other task for this week is to get batteries for my digital camera, bring the download cord in to the office, and also get Whiteboard Photo installed on this computer. Unfortunately that’s going to mean parting with a few hundred bucks which I can scarcely afford at the moment, but I refuse to shortchange myself in my exploration of this new and very exciting dimension of my work.
Tags: visual metaphors
