Visual notes and one-pagers

I believe that a pen, a pencil, some coloured markers, and the doodles that we create with them are often the best way to tell a story, to get a message through, or to make notes of something that we want to remember. I worked as a professional graphic recorder and visual facilitator for years at Grafacity with clients such as Bosch, Deutsche Telekom, Raiffeisen Bank, or universities. That is, I participated on miscellaneous conferences, team buildings and workshops where I took notes of the presentations, discussions, and debates from the most formal to the very informal – notes that combine words and drawings, structured and highlighted visually. I have seen how such documentation forms can support a consulting process, how crucial statements and problems can be emphasised and even analysed with them, or how they can serve as a concise and refreshing memo of the proceedings. I am constantly trying to incorporate that experience and its best-practices into my research and my teaching practice at the university. Firstly, because I think that even abstract topics (such as theory in humanities fields) can make use of the palpable nature of graphics and self-made doodles, as well as of the multidimensionality of the visual field where information can be freely structured in either hierarchy, parataxis or any unique pattern, as opposed to a strict linear flow. Secondly, I strongly believe that anyone may (and should) try doodle notes, either individually or in collaboration with a group, because it is not design or art skills that matter, and usually not even the end product, but the process of creating them, of thinking a little bit differently, the understanding that it triggers, and of course the fun that comes with it.