I just want my data to mean something

Er… hello?

This is a blog of openly licensed thinkery. They are doodles, thoughts and ideas of Bryan Mathers – little curious tidbits which have emerged from juicy conversations. Also, this is a dumping ground for abandoned artwork. But one man’s dump is another’s treasure trove – amirite?

You can include artwork from this site under a Creative Commons CC-BY-ND licence.

  • Blues Brother, Soul Sister

    Blues Brother, Soul Sister

    As my head hasn’t really returned from holidays yet, the rest of me is very susceptible to falling down a rabbit hole on the interwebs… Internet > Twitter > Aretha Franklin > The awesome “Think” scene from The Blues Brothers movie >  The full movie on Netflix … Truth be told though, Aretha Franklin has…

    Read more >>

  • Stand in their shoes

    Stand in their shoes

    “We’re going to start issuing digital badges.” Great. Make sure you stand in the shoes of the people you intend to be the recipients of your badges, and understand why they might want to earn badges from your organisation in the first place… Created for the recent IDB Digital Credentialing Workshop run by We Are Open Co-op

    Read more >>

  • Our tools shape us

    Our tools shape us

    A library of code, a palette of brushes, a diary of thoughts, a schedule of plans, a smorgasbord of apps, a myriad of processes… Quote: John Culkin – “A schoolman’s guide to Marshall McLuhan” – via Doug Belshaw’s Thought Shrapnel.

    Read more >>

  • The Starfish Model

    The Starfish Model

    I’ve come across a few versions of the Retrospective Starfish, but I saw it being used via twitter, and wondered why there wasn’t a likeable little starfish in the middle. So I drew one. Hello little fella… If you’re wondering what this model is all about – check out this blogpost: The Retrospective Starfish

    Read more >>

  • OER19 revisited…

    OER19 revisited…

    I’m already looking forward to OER19, and I’m delighted that it will take place in the motherland. Aye. Of course, I couldn’t resist this little remix of the flyer when I first saw it. This is a product of Mathers third principle of Visual Thinkery – Curiosity must not come back empty-handed…

    Read more >>

  • Problematic Portraits

    Problematic Portraits

    It seems that practically the whole of the known internet (more than 5 people) is busy doodling portraits of Colin Madland, who has very graciously offered up his face to artists for the purposes of visual experimentation, and thus inspired this comic strip. I try to stay away from portraits, as it has often led…

    Read more >>

  • Sparks of Openness

    Sparks of Openness

    Working in the open – it often feels counter-intuitive. What if someone criticises my half-baked idea? What if they make it stronger? What if someone dislikes the thing I’ve created? What if they really like it? What if they pinch the idea? What if they’re able to use the idea, or add theirs to it?  Inspiration comes…

    Read more >>

  • Embed Practice

    Embed Practice

    Whilst prepping for a design-a-thon for a digital literacies MOOC for teachers with my We Are Open colleagues, we talked briefly about the importance of embedding practice…

    Read more >>

  • GD;PR

    GD;PR

    Did you need some GDPR artwork to brighten up your life? No, I didn’t think so…

    Read more >>

  • Moodlenet user testing

    Moodlenet user testing

    I’ve been participating in a Moodlenet design sprint (based on this process) all week facilitated by the wonderful people at Outlandish. It was lovely to be on the facilitated side for once, allowing me to focus on the visualisation of concepts. By day 3 we had collaboratively turned our words into wireframes and hacked together…

    Read more >>

  • Distribution of Innovation

    Distribution of Innovation

    Together with Doug Belshaw and WeAreOpen Co-op I’ve been working a micro-credentialing project with the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C. On the second day of workshops we put together, we organised a succession of badge project “surgeries”. I captured some of the dialogue using live drawing – which we then evolved into the Credential Project Blueprint. Here’s one of the many doodles…

    Read more >>

  • Adventures in Blockchain!

    Adventures in Blockchain!

    Anywhere there’s innovation being touted, good ol’ Blockchain won’t be far away. There’s no end to the possible adventurin’. Embrace the future!

    Read more >>

Send a Message
If you'd like to ask about an image, or you have a project for Visual Thinkery - please drop me a line using the form below.
Send