IFVP Austin 2015 | Joel Garreau's Opening Keynote

"Radical Evolution: The Future of What It Means to be a Human" was our opening keynote given by futurist Joel Garreau at this year's IFVP (International Forum of Visual Practitioners) conference.

Later in his speech, Garreau used the acronym GRIN to cover 4 future trends: genetics, robotics, information technology, and nanotechnology. 

The great coincidence is that the two graphic facilitators for this session was me, GRINnell College class of 1996 and Anthony Weeks, class of 1991. 

For the attendees, this was a fantastic view of two colleagues both with tons of experience and radically different styles. My work is super diagrammatic.  Anthony's work is far more narrative. 

^{Image source: Steve Weinstock}

My completed graphic facilitation:

I love the vibrancy of chartreuse, turquoise, olive green and black as my color palette.

Also very pleased with how I built out the acronym. I don't think I have ever used this particular format before. I spread out the four letters first, in blue block letters. 

As Joel spoke about each topic, I added the label and a main point below. I had the space above to add the examples for each. 

^{Image source: Steve Weinstock}

Applying the same visual choices across all four topics creates a crystal-clear set of information on the chart.

[2022 Note: This is exactly the kind of visual organization I teach in Pyramid Power.]

Because the topic was about time, I began with a favorite device: a basic timeline. When I do this, I never know how much or how little will be attached to it. It is a flexible structure. 

Garreau spoke about "The Curve" and its 3 possible routes. These aligned perfectly with the timeline and I was so happy to have space both above and below it to place Heaven, Hell, and Prevailing in appropriate places. 

^{post header image source: Steve Weinstock}

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