#digitalsketchnotes

By sharing our vision with others, we multiply the ideas, resources and opportunities possible than just by living our vision alone. I experienced this first hand as a publisher for the arts and continue to seek out learning opportunities in every person and situation I have the good fortune to find myself with.

The recent EuViz conference in Berlin was a space created for those working as visual thinkers, practitioners, and facilitators to come together, share their visions, and connect the dots—across the industry, within the practice, and inside ourselves.

It was a powerful experience, heightened by the opportunity to learn from the elders: Ulric Rudebeck, Lynn Carruthers, Reinhard Kuchenmueller, and David Sibbet.

  “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

–Isaac Newton

This idea has also traced back to the 12th century French Neo-Platonist Philosopher, Bernard of Chartes.

  Pictured above is a digital sketchnote I created it on my iPad mini (compliments of Rocketpics) using Adobe Ideas—a vector-based drawing app. Luckily for this one, I had a front-row seat.

I find digital sketchnoting a very fulfilling technique. Sketchnoting itself heightens listening and retention. Practicing on the iPad increases the rate of creative problem-solving by engaging both sides of the brain at a rapid pace. But for me combining the two forces me to be acutely aware of what is happening in the room energetically and noticing what’s going on with me physically—noticing body posture, repetitive motions, energetic reflexes and responses. The best way I can describe it is that I’m connected viscerally, intellectually, and energetically with what is happening within and around me. David Sibbet sometimes simplifies the analogy to simultaneously patting your head and rubbing your belly. A challenge for sure, but also a intense experience when you practice being in the flow.

These leaders have carried the work for decades through their practices and advocations. It’s up to all of us working with visuals to carry it forward and to keep connecting the dots.