One way to make your ideas more visual and entertain your people.
Most of this past week of slashed prices and overeating, I was in my basement cuddling my new baby chicks, and binge-watching Glee (finally) with my kid. And definitely eating a LOT. I needed the rest and the nourishment! I hope the week has been similarly good for you.
This piece is meant to be the usual inspiration bomb: don't tell us, show us.
This is a yummy subject. It's based on this simple truth: if you can think it, you can draw it.
Next time you are working out an idea in words, in a social media post, in an email, for a blog post or essay, ask yourself this:
How can I make this visual?
Better than asking yourself about it: grab a pencil and try it. Don't be a genius: be a human playing with pencil and paper.
(the image above is by the delightful artist Emmy Bright. These next two are from Feldenkrais practitioner, artist and community builder extraordinaire Tiffany Sankary.)
You might think:
Well, I'm not an infographic expert. Or: I'm not an artist. Or: this concept is too complex. Or: it's not translatable to some kind of rational, organized, smart infographic.
Guess what? Irrational, nonsensical, intuitive, quickly-drawn, even sloppy infographics ARE THE BEST! They contain an entertaining, surprising magic for both maker and viewer. TRY IT.
Let this quote from William Kentridge give you permission to play:
"I am an artist, not a lawyer. My job is to make drawings, not to make sense."
The simple task of repeatedly making stupid infographics for every random idea really strengthens your visual storytelling toolkit as a brand maker.
It helps you find new ways to communicate thoughts, feelings, connections.
If you make this a practice you are going to delight yourself AND your audiences, guaranteed. It's endless fodder for social media posts. Could this be a new creative practice for you?
"If you can draw a relationship, it can exist. The world keeps opening up, unfolding, and just when we expect it to be closed — to be a sealed sensible box — it shows us something completely surprising." --David Byrne
Have fun this week. And remember: being a great visual storyteller and improving your visual brand doesn't need to take more time - it just needs you to take more regular simple actions of creative micro-bravery - like making your idea visual, right there in the moment of it's conception.
This was originally published (December 2, 2020) for the Bureau of Tactical Imagination's email subscribers. To receive our weekly free education and inspiration for your business and brand building efforts, sign up here.