This story is one of many about potatoes, available in this delicious zine:
Category: #thinkery
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How you made them feel
I was listening to a politics podcast at the beginning of last week (weren’t we all?) and a cursory reference was made to this quote by Maya Angelou. It nibbled at the back of my head until I was prepping for a workshop mid-week. I drew it up and used it as the focal point for discussion on visual communication, and why it matters.
Every communication has an aesthetic, whether or not it’s intended. A printed font feels a certain way. A hand gesture lifts the words being spoken. Certain colours transmit a cultural code.
And this is all happening subliminally…
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Permission Slip
I was giving a public talk at a Life Sciences museum in Göttingen, Germany earlier this year. Over a hundred people turned up to hear about my journey with Visual Thinkery – A picture says a thousand words. People were encouraged to bring pen and paper and we had plenty on hand to give out just in case they had forgotten.
In any audience I’ve had, some are comfortable with picking up a pen and having a go at drawing something. But most people are not. Maybe, like me, they decided “I can’t draw” at the age of 12 or 13, something to do with school or peers or siblings. Whatever the reason, that barrier remains exactly where we put it.
Until one day we decide to something about it. So I include this little exercise in every talk or workshop I give these days. I take people through the process of drawing a permission slip featuring a little self portrait cartoon.
A professor and his partner came up to me after the talk at the Museum.
“When you got out the paper and pens, he told me he wasn’t going to do any drawing.”
“But he decided to give it a go and now he really wants to show you his drawings…”So when it comes to drawing, embrace the child within and give yourself permission to create something. It’s liberating!
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Facepalm
I created this thinkery in June 2016. That’s probably all you need to know.
<cough> Brexit <cough>
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Insight, in sight, incite!
I was reminded this week whilst running a Visual Storytelling workshop with a group of Social Entrepreneurs in Lewisham, the power of insight. We all stand in a different place and see the world through our lens of previous experiences. What you see is all there is. It’s impossible to reach conclusions based on things you’re not aware of. And so we need to be able to listen to each other and learn from one another.
And so the ability to communicate one’s insight is pretty important – in plain sight.
h/t to Frans Masereel who’s woodcut graphic novels are a thing to behold.
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We shape our tools
I was speaking recently at a gathering of Social Entrepreneurs – most of them early in their startup journey. In their changemaker programme, I’ve been asked to run a Visual Storytelling workshop. To date, I have (a little accidentally) founded/co-founded and run three companies (sold two), a social enterprise and a cooperative. Let’s just say I’m a curious experimenter.
“How do you find a good name for your start-up?” someone asked.
“Hold it lightly – don’t overthink it. In the beginning you don’t even know what it is. As it starts to take shape it will start telling you what it wants to be called”, I said, almost sounding like I knew what I was talking about.
And it reminded me of this saying, sometimes attributed to Marshall McLuhan.
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Venerable Diagrams
You can remix this cartoon here on the fabulous Remixer Machine.
I’m a fan of Edith Pritchett’s Venn Diagrams that appear in the Saturday Guardian (UK). Who would have thought Graphs could be laugh-out-loud funny? I think every visual has the potential to reach in and tickle a different armpit.
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Meaningful online
“We need to build an app.” Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t. Take a few steps back and think about what would work best for your user. Chances are, whatever you create will need to be meaningful, bring value and be online.
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
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The Wizard of Pollution
We often don’t associate plastic with the oil industry. But it’s a massive market, and one that Big Oil is pumping billions of dollars into. Plastic is a substance with magical properties alright, but when it’s washed up on a beach, we see the dark magic for what it is.
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
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Big Plastic
I hate single-use plastic, and how its waste is a problem pushed down to the consumer. It’s where legislation is so important. One of my biggest Brexit fears is that UK standards will lag behind the EU, because in a small capitalist state, big businesses call the shots. This is the path of least resistance, and we’ve been here before. Illustration originally created for #breakfreefromplastic
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
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Big Oil Playbook
Our energy supplier Green has gone bust. So we’ve been automatically assigned as a new customer to… Shell. I’m not happy. This illustration was originally created for #breakfreefromplastic
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.
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Keeping Afloat
It’s easier to keep your idea afloat when you can see others working to keep their ideas afloat too. You are not alone. (Phew!)
This Thinkery was captured live during a series of workshops by We Are Open, for Catalyst.