Grab pen & paper, start the video and follow along as I uncover the art & science of expressing meaning, using simple figures.
In 2015 I stopped giving “Drawing training”. We would give our students 5 (!) different ways to quickly draw a human figure telling them ‘you pick which one works best for you’. The result? Nobody could draw a figure or anything useful at work. To complicated.
This is different. This method emerged from the workplace. From scribbling at whiteboards, doodling in the margins of pdf documents and on the back of napkins.
Perfected throughout the years here it is, for you to use.
Cartoon - the one step that brings it all together
With the Simple Figure Level 1 you can quickly and clearly show a person, doing something with an emotional expression. Now here comes the magic. Add a text bubble and all of sudden you’ve made a simple cartoon. People can relate to it. This is what makes it meaningful.
Cartoon = Simple Figure + Text = Meaningful
Let’s go over the examples as shown in the video above. My comments and tips are now written in red. 👇
1. You Show Your Plan to a Co-Worker
2. Your Team Presents On Screen to the Board
3. Customer Central
Customer Journey
4. Trusted advisor
Yes, it is very simple to listen to the words of “trusted advisor”, draw two figures with one yelling: ‘trusted advisor!’ But what does it mean?!
This is where you bring in a very powerful tool: questions.
Remember:
"The quality of your questions determine the quality of your visual."
Ask ‘what do you mean with trusted advisor?' and listen to the answers.
Beware:
If they start projecting forward - stop them! This is called future casting and will not help you. Instead ask to think back of examples that are practical and specific.
One of the objections you’ll get is ‘but this is too specific and it doesn’t cover it all.’
Great, then ask for more examples! And visualize all of them.
Conclusion
- Draw simple figures, from left-to-right as you hear them spoken. The informal explanation is the gold you’re looking for! 🌟
- Don’t know how to draw a particular item? Give it a simple form and add text. Done. ✅
- The power is in the relationships you visualize. Therefore ask for ‘verbs’ and ‘feelings’. What are people doing? What emotion do they express?
- Make it simple for yourself, so it’s fast. You’ll know you hit the nail on its head when co-workers start pointing to your work, with excitement.
Good job!
On to the next lesson!