Graphic Recording

A horse of a different colour…

Graphic recording is the process of visually capturing content, in real time, using a combination of words, shapes, symbols and imagery.

It’s not merely about drawing pretty pictures. Graphic recording is the art of active listening and rapid synthesis. It’s about distilling complex concepts into visual elements that are both easy to understand and impossible to forget. It’s the process of turning abstract ideas into tangible, shareable, and actionable insights.

While it’s often thought of as a new industry, the roots of visual facilitation date back to problem-solving methodologies of the 1970s, and the International Forum of Visual Practitioners was launched in the USA in 1995.

Graphic recording is most commonly used in workshops, conferences and presentations of all sizes (in-person and virtually) as a tool for audience engagement, enhanced comprehension, memory retention, and emotional connection to content.

It is both a process (the act of live drawing and capture of content to aid engagement and facilitation) and a product (the artefact / output that is created and utilised for ongoing communication). It etches ideas into memory, making them more accessible, shareable, and actionable. It turns fleeting moments into lasting knowledge.

People see their ideas and others’ being brought to life in a common visual language – accessible across teams, business units, industries, regions and cultures.

What’s the difference between graphic recording and illustrations / infographics?

Graphic recording is the live illustration of content captured in real-time at workshops, conferences and presentations, whereas illustrations are created in the studio from a brief.

LET’S TALK GRAPHIC RECORDING
DOWNLOAD PROCESS OVERVIEW

“Jessamy Gee is literally the best graphic storyteller, visual storyboarder I have seen, anywhere.” – Jan Owen AM

How it works

  1. Prior to your event, we’ll set up a briefing call to ensure we’re aligned on your goals and objectives for the session, and how you’re planning on using the output post-event, to help us capture your content in the most useful way for you.
  2. We encourage our clients to share their agenda and any briefing materials as early as possible. We do not require detailed content, but some general context for the event, themes and presentations is useful. Think about the amount of information participants might receive in a conference program.
  3. Think in Colour’s graphic recorders work digitally using an iPad Pro, and can project their work live by either plugging into an existing screen, or using our own projector to project onto a white wall or other surface. Our team is also very experienced at working virtually via a range of platforms (e.g. Zoom, Teams, Webex) to service your virtual events and webinars.
  4. On event day, we start drawing when you start talking. We’ll be capturing the key points of the presentation or conversation in real time for the room to see and follow along.
  5. Illustrations can be projected as a slideshow during breaks, and/or used by the facilitator to summarise the day’s work.

Outputs from digital graphic recording include:

  • Still jpegs
  • Time-lapse mp4s
  • Summary PDF

The amount of outputs will differ from event to event, but typically there will be one jpeg and one time-lapse per agenda item.
Suggested uses for graphic recording outputs:

  • Share with participants via email
  • Share via social media / intranet (time-lapses are particularly good for this!)
  • Disperse throughout your event summary report
  • Create a gallery or blog post on your website
  • Use them in your presentation decks
  • Make it into your screensaver or desktop image
  • Print as posters, wall decals or canvasses for your office
  • Make a calendar
  • Make a printed summary booklet
  • Print onto mousepads, postcards, t-shirts or mugs

  • Share your agenda and event briefing early
  • Involve your graphic recorder in your event design – we have lots of experience and ideas for how to make your event engaging and harvest ideas.
  • Have a plan for how you’ll use the outputs, and share it with your graphic recorder
  • Introduce your graphic recorder (or invite them to introduce themselves)
  • Let your audience know how they’ll be able to access the graphics post-event
  • Be strategic with where and how you display the illustrations during the event 
  • Share the outputs quickly post-event to maintain momentum, and/or have a relevant social media strategy
  • Ask what else you can do with the outputs so your content lives on
  • Share feedback with your graphic recorder – we love learning and improving!

Graphic Recording Case Studies

“Participants were able to use the live graphic recordings to more meaningfully (and speedily), reflect on and revise their thinking.”

“We recently engaged Think in Colour to perform graphic recording duties at a two-day strategy workshop and were delighted with the results.

It’s often difficult to record the outputs of sessions in a manner that captures the content and spirit of the conversation. Jessamy did this expertly and her work enlivened the event, as participants were able to use the live graphic recordings to more meaningfully (and speedily), reflect on and revise their thinking.

The artefacts produced by Jessamy subsequent to the event have given us the hard data we need for planning purposes, whilst also providing strategy visuals that can be shared with those not at the event.

Having always been keen to try this method, the experience had solidified our thinking that this is actually a really smart, engaging and cost-effective way to produce workshop outputs. The value of what we can produce for clients is greatly enhanced through this partnership.

I’d also like to say that Jessamy is extremely capable and a pleasure to work with.”

Kieran Murrihy – Co-Founder, Foresight Lane