Wondering what an "AgMe" is?

Did someone tell you to look up my Draw Quad?

Perhaps you tripped upon my site and are curious what is happening here.

Welcome to —

Brandy Agerbeck's
Work A to Z

aka the Brandy-abecedarium*

You are in exactly the right place to scan the smörgåsbord of concepts, models, books, courses, materials, and workshops that I've developed over the years to explain and teach rich world of visual thinking.

This page is long and strong. I hope you enjoy quickly popping in find one item, or a leisurely amble through the alphabet.

Here is the TL;DR —

The Speed Intro

Your smarts, your heart, and your desire to live a life of less confusion and overwhelm and more clarity and meaning

Learning my system, the 24 building blocks of all visual thinking.

You become a buoyant, confident, lifelong visual thinker, who uses paper and pen to tackle any challenge.

Everything on this page related to learning the idea shapers are marked with a yellow square. ■

Focusing on graphic facilitation resources? They are marked with a dark green square. ■

More general concepts are an in between yellow-green.

Any questions, you can contact me here >>

* If you know the second half of that word,
you are my kind of people.

Scroll and explore, or click on a letter below to jump to a section, or use the Find function on this page to zoom to what you need.

The Agerbeck Method
Core Online Visual Thinking Course | $997 | 2018 ■

When you are ready to make visual thinking a lifelong skill, The Agerbeck Method is ready for you.

I've set out a crystal clear path in front of you. All you need to do is grab paper and pens, log in, and watch the very next bite-sized lesson.

In 'AgMe,' you learn all 24 idea shapers via video in ways we just can't cover in the book.

See details + registration >>

Module 1:
CANVAS

Module 2:
PROXIMITY

Module 3:
TEXT

Module 4:
COLOR

Module 5:
LINE

Module 6:
SCALE

Module 7:
SHAPE

Module 8:
IMAGE

Module 9:
FLOW

While visual thinking is anything but linear, it is the sequence and structure of The Agerbeck Method that makes learning clear, easy, and satisfying.

The Beautiful Asterisk
Core Values Model | 2020
The expansive shape of the asterisk has been in my logo since I launched Loosetooth.com in 1999.

Twenty-years later, I launched my annual, global, virtual event, ENVISION. I created The Beautiful Asterisk to define the kind of environment I cultivate every time we gather online. One that lets us each show up as whole human beings.

Every ENVISION, I lead you through an exercise with the model to help you tune into these six parts of yourself:

Self-Expression
Discover and develop your unique visual voice

Growth
Cultivate your personal visual practice

Wonder
Stretch your mind and fill up your inspiration tank

Integrity
Tap into your values and the value of your visual thinking

Connection
Meet our gorgeous global community

Joy
Get present and ready to play!

Beginner's Blueprint
Email Series | 2023

If you are brand new to visual thinking and struggle to see its relevance in your life, sign up for these email education course to be delivered directly to you, over the next 5 days.

Each day is chock full of real world applications of visual thinking in your life.

The Brandyfesto
PDF | 2011

I knew that before I wrote any books, created any courses, I needed to share a philosophy of my work.

November 22, 2011, I published the Brandyfesto.

This 26-page PDF certainly shares what I stand for, but is also designed as a self-reflection tool for you.

The Bridge
Concept | 2018
Visual thinking is the bridge between the abstract and the concrete. You make the intangible tangible.

First introduced in my 2018 video What is Visual Thinking? The image above is an excerpt from the PDF that accompanies the video, "10 Mindset Shifts for Visual Thinking."

Click here to watch the video and get the full PDF >>

Want more details on your choices, the sections of the bridge?
You can learn them in Visual Thinking 101.

Camp Drawmore (retired)
Online Community | 2020-2023
The first incarnation of my ongoing membership community, was a wonderful smarty party.

Thanks to the "campers" who joined me in rich discussion these first three years, I developed a series of 9 Deep Dive Days.

While the Camp format is retired, you'll see our Deep Dive replays offered ala carte across this page.

Our new membership model, The Agerbeck Method Studio, focuses on what is most effective and efficient for your mastery of visual thinking.

One of 3 key benefits of membership is access to the Deep Dive Vault.

Clarity Clover
Model | 2023
Developed for Lines of Thought, our deep dive on Module 5: LINE of The Agerbeck Method, the Clarity Clover was an instant hit!

The 4 loops represents the 4 "makings" of visual thinking:

Generate: Making a drawing
Organize: Making choices
Evaluate: Making Meaning
Take Action: Making great things happen

For a very quick overview and experience with The Clarity Clover, get The Gift.

To go into delightful depth that will have you drawing these 4 loops for countless projects and ideas, get Lines of Thought.

Clown Barf
Concept | 2017
When you use so many colors at once that color has no meaning.

See also: Use Color a lot...

Conversation Shapers and Change Catalyzers
5 Types of Visual Thinkers | 2016
All of us who use visual thinking for facilitation and collaboration. See more >>

Deep Dive Days
In-depth Visual Thinking Workshops | $497 each

A series of workshops, each one delving into details on one of the 9 module topic area of The Agerbeck Method.

For example, in Module 1: CANVAS, on D ays 7-9, you learn The Stack, the idea shaper about making your thinking modular.

But in Stack Magic, we spend 4+ hours getting into all the glorious ins and outs of the process.

You will see this deep dives across this page.

Each online course is available ala carte, or...

... you gain access to The Deep Dive Vault with active membership in The Agerbeck Method Studio. Enabling seamless learning with the world's most comprehensive visual thinking curriculum. Learn more about the Studio >>

Draw in Your New Year (renamed)
Guided Exercises | 2017

A series of four guided exercises designed to help you reflect, ground yourself, and look ahead in your life.

Since these popular videos are absolutely not limited to New Years, I renamed the set Life Shapers: Reset Bundle.

Click to grab the bundle, or purchase one exercise at a time here.

The Draw Quad
Model | 2011
One of the very first obstacles to making problem-solving drawings is having too narrow a definition of drawing!

Based on Ken Wiber's Four Quadrant model, the Draw Quad gives us four exceedingly useful reasons to draw.

Three ways to learn this model:

In the Brandyfesto
On pages 11-24 in The Idea Shapers
With me at my next live Q+A, Drawing as a Verb

Drawing as a Verb
Monthly Q+A

Once a month, I go live for an hour to share the Draw Quad above, and answer your questions. The session is always free, but registration is required.

Drawing Bees
Community Practice ■
Think quilting bee, not spelling bee.

A monthly group process exclusive to members in The Agerbeck Method Studio, there is no better way to accelerate your development as a visual thinker than a Drawing Bee.

Click here for a special behind-the-scenes of parts of a Drawing Bee >>

Drawn Together Through Visual Practice
Book | $29.99 | 2016 ■
Co-edited alongside Kelvy Bird, Sam Bradd, and Jennifer Shepherd, this anthology brings together 27 contributors from all corners of our field of visual practice.

My own article is "Making Room for Making: In praise of imperfect drawings and the humans who make them."

My most often recommended articles are by Martin Haussmann, Anthony Weeks, and John Ward.

Click for more information >>
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ENVISION Visual Thinkers Virtual Expo
Annual Virtual Event | $297

Our global gathering of all types and all stripes of visual thinkers.

It's not a workshop, and it's certainly unlike any zoom meeting you've been to. Three can't-miss days to explore visual thinking, recharge your creative batteries, and meet the delightful folks who join our smarty party every fall.

Click here for event dates and details >>

The Essential Eight
Model | 2007 ■
First taught at Graphic Recording 101 at the International Forum of Visual Practitioners Conference 2007-2009. To not neglect your listening and thinking skills live, this model helps you prioritize what to draw.

Read the first pages of the Essential 8 chapter in The Graphic Facilitator's Guide here >>

First Rate Flipcharts
Facilitation Workshop | 2019
Learn my system of 10 field-proven flipchart formats that changes meeting culture in your organization and with your clients forever.

Not currently offered publicly, contact me to bring this workshop into your organization.

Gold Star Graphic Facilitation
Core Online Graphic Facilitation Course | $1997 | 2019 ■

Developing your work as a graphic facilitator or graphic recorder?

Eliminate all of your "what-ifs" and painstakingly slow, incremental growth.

The Graphic Facilitator's Guide brought to life, this comprehensive online course covers:

Module 1: Guiding Principles
Module 2: Listening
Module 3: Thinking
Module 4: Drawing
Module 5: In the Room

The last module alone will erase self-doubt while working live with clients.

Details + Registration >>

Graphic Facilitator Confidential
Core Online Graphic Facilitation Course | $1997 | 2019 ■

While Gold Star Graphic Facilitation is all about the work in the room with clients, Graphic Facilitator Confidential teaches you how to build your busienss as a professional visual practitioner.

Module 1: Shaping Your Practice
Module 2: Finding Leads and Landing Gigs
Module 3: The Field Guide to Graphic Facilitators (life on a project)
Module 4: Your Place in the Field
Module 5: The 5 Touchpoints for Impeccable Professionalism

I bottled 20 years experience into both of these courses.

Details + Registration >>

The Graphic Facilitator's Guide: How to use your listening, thinking and drawing skills to make meaning
Book | $29.99 | 2012 ■
Author of Mapping Inner Space, Nancy Margulies nailed the prediction that my book would become the bible of the field.

Frustrated by misconceptions that this professional work was all about drawing, I wrote the more complete, realistic, and obtainable How-To guide.

Gold Star Graphic Facilitation above mirrors the sections in the book.

Learn more >>

Hello, Inner Critic!
Past Pop-Up Workshop | 2024
Time to shine a light on that inner bully show them who is in charge with the full replay of Hello, Inner Critic! >>

is for Ico, my everyman,

and for...

The Idea Shapers!
Model | 2012 ■
My goal: Break down the complexity of visual thinking into learnable pieces.

My test? Each one sounds so simple, it kind of feels like "Duh."

BUT learn each one and start combining them and you are doing darn sophisticated visual thinking.

See the icons representing each above. ☝️

Defining these 24 idea shapers felt like a three-year wrestling match with a bear. But all of that hard work was entirely worth it to make learning visual thinking easy.

How to learn the idea shapers:

Get a quick overview in the article What are the idea Shapers?
The Idea Shapers is the rich reference book.
Absolutely nothing beats The Agerbeck Method for mastering all 24 techniques. We take the tools off the page and I demonstrate each one via video.
Each Deep Dive course delves into different idea shapers.

The Idea Shapers: The power of putting your thinking into your own hands
Book | $29.99 | 2016 ■
This is it, Friends. The visual thinking codex.

422 pages packed with clear, accessible, and practical instruction of all 24 idea shapers.

Part I | The Case for Drawing | 38 pages

The Draw Quad
Properties and Powers of Drawing

Part II | The Idea Shapers | 344 pages
All 24 techniques organize in a 5-step process:

Chunk
Sort + Group
Connect + Contain
Scale
Grasp

Part III | The Image Iceberg | 22 pages
The last sliver of the book addresses iconography, separate from all the rich visual and spatial thinking techniques

Click here for details and many very kind and smart people sharing their kind words about The idea Shapers >>

The Idea Shapers Steps
Model | 2013 ■
First introduced in my TEDx talk, Shape Your Thinking, these are the 5 steps to visual thinking... as much as a synapse-fast, spatial reasoning can be put in a linear order.

These steps are the structure for the bulk of book, The Idea Shapers.

I describe the steps in the video below. 👇

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Image Iceberg
Concept | 2016 ■
A misconception of visual thinking is that it is all about drawing.

Nope. Pictorial imagery is the tip of the iceberg.

Below the water line are all the visual and spatial ways you organize your thinking with words, lines, color, scale, proximity.

The idea shapers teach you visual THINKING.

Read about the Image Iceberg in The Idea Shapers on pages 394-416.

Knowledge Seekers and Lifelong Learners
5 Types of Visual Thinkers | 2016
All of us who use visual thinking for learning and teaching. See more >>

The Lab
Looking for a small-group environment with loads of hands-on practice and get direct, constructive feedback from me?

The Lab is your answer.

With 6 'lab partners,' I lead my three-day immersion, alongside 6 'lab partners,' in Chicago and online. Check dates and details here >>

LibLab
Concept | 2013
I closed my TEDx talk, Shape Your Thinking, with this idea of blending the best of libraries (learning through reading) and laboratories (hands-on learning).

Watch now >>

Your Library
Every course you purchase on this site is added to your Library. You can always find the Login link the upper right corner of your screen.

Life Shapers
Guided Exercises
Of course I want you to learn the idea shapers, so you can use any blank sheet of paper to shape your life.

Until then, there are the Life Shapers. Each one is a guided visual thinking exercise to help you tackle a specific life challenge.

See all available Life Shapers >>

Life Shapers and Action Takers
5 Types of Visual Thinkers | 2016
All of us who use visual thinking for personal development, productivity, as a tool for reflect and to envision your next actions. See more >>

Lines of Thought
Deep Dive Course | $497 | 2023 ■
Our deep dive into Module 5: LINE of The Agerbeck Method. The crash course on how to organize complex ideas with very simple lines.

You can purchase this deep dive ala carte. Or enjoy access to all 9 deep dives as a Studio member.

Not quite ready for AgMe and Visual Thinking 101 is too 101 for you? Choose Lines of Thought.

In 4 hours, you learn the best first idea shapers and a life-shifting model, the Clarity Clover.

If you are a Mess Wrangler and Complexity Tackler, you will love this one. Click for details >>

LUCID Listening
Deep Dive Course | $497 | 2022 ■
Create greater meaning for yourself and those you listen to, becoming a legendary listener. LUCID Listening makes this precious but intangible life skill concrete.

Discerning WHAT to capture as you listen and learning HOW to distill the point is the focus of this deep dive into Module 3: TEXT of The Agerbeck Method.

You can purchase this deep dive ala carte. Or enjoy access to all 9 deep dives as a Studio member.

Visual Listening, the other listening skills deep dive pairs perfectly with LUCID Listening.

Meaningful Mascots
Deep Dive Course | $497 | 2022 ■
In our deep dive into Module 8: IMAGE of The Agerbeck Method, you learn how to:

Capture a wide range of emotions with the simplest faces
Develop your own personal everyman/avatar/mascot.
Learn how to use a human figure to structure your work.

You can purchase this deep dive ala carte. Or enjoy access to all 9 deep dives as a Studio member.

Message Makers and Communication Shapers
5 Types of Visual Thinkers | 2016
All of us who use visual thinking to improve our communication skills, writing and speaking. See more >>

Mess Wranglers and Complexity Tacklers
5 Types of Visual Thinkers | 2016
All of us who use visual thinking to find clarity within complexity. See more >>

Messy Mel
Concept | 2017
Unlike her sibling Tidy Tilda, Messy Mel does not need all of her ideas to line up or be in even groupings. She's comfortable with being uncomfortable, cuddles up to the fuzzy front end, and feel at home in the messy middle.