Bullet Journal

Organize your time, tasks, and thoughts in a systematic way using a grid or dot grid journal. Developed by Ryder Carroll.

Commonplace books, Building a Second Brain

Caricature

Cartoon portrait that both captures a person's likeness and exaggerates specific characteristics. 

Cartooning

Line drawings that simplify and stylize the subject. Often humorous. 

Charrette

A collaborative planning and design process often used in architecture, urban design, and community planning to involve residents, business owners, and other stakeholders in the design process.

Read more: "What is a Charrette?"

Charts

Visual representation of how sets of data relate to each other. 

Graphs

A type of chart plotting one set of data on the X-axis, another set on the Y-axis.

Classical Drawing

Traditional techniques of representational/realistic drawing emphasizing composition, proportion, anatomy, and the use of light and shadow. 

Comics

Stories told panel-by-panel through images and text. As short as a comic strip, or as long as a series of graphic novels.

Comic strips, graphic novels, graphic storytelling, sequential art

Data Visualization

Graphical representations of data in the form of charts, graphs, and maps. At its best, data visualization makes patterns, trends, and relationships in data easier to understand, leading to new insights and aiding in decision-making.

Flash Cards

A memorization and learning tool of small, individual cards, often with a question on one side and the answer on the reverse. 

Flip Charts

A large pad of paper mounted on a easel used to display or capture information. A speaker can draw out their concept live. Simon Sinek's Start with Why being the flipchart seen millions of times.

Alternatively and more commonly, facilitators and participants use flip charts to capture their work live.

Flipcharts, easel pads

Flowcharts

A diagram of a process or system that uses shapes, symbols, and arrows to illustrate the flow of steps or decisions.

Flowcharts make complex processes visual leading to:

• Delineating sequence
• Mapping decision points
• Spotting bottlenecks
• Identifying gaps and complications
• Improving efficiency

Common use cases: project management, business process, and software development.

Gantt charts, swim lanes, process diagrams, process map, flow diagrams

Diagram

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Graphic Facilitation

Large-scale, live capture of a group's conversation or a speaker's presentation. 

Graphic recording, scribing, visual facilitation, visual recording

How do I build my graphic facilitation portfolio?

When should I work for free?

Blog posts about graphic facilitation

Graphic Organizers

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Illustration

Imagery created to help tell a story, add dimension to a concept, enhance text, convey an idea. 

It can range from general imagery that makes a page more appealing or reinforces a brand, to specific scenes of an action to tell a story. 

Editorial Illustration, Character Design, Medical or Scientific Illustration

Index Cards

Making your thinking modular with 1 idea per card, slip, or sticky note. 

The Stack, Pile of Index Cards (PoIC), or zettlekasten

Deep Dive Course: Stack Magic

What is Zettelkasten?

Information Graphics

Visually clear and compelling compilation of data, tips, information. An infographic can contain combinations of:

• charts
• graphs
• images
• timelines

Widely used in advertising, journalism, education, and social media.

Infographics

Maps

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Empathy Maps, Journey Maps

Mind Maps

Developed by Tony Buzan, mind maps are hub-and-spoke diagrams expanding on a concept or theme.

Starting with a central question or idea. Lines radiate from the center like neurons or branches, capturing words, phrases and images related to central concept. 

Concept Mapping, Idea Mapping, Mind Model, Visual Mapping

Modeling

Use of physical materials to map out relationships within a complex system. 

Kinesthetic modeling, LEGO® Serious Play

Presentation Design

Visual support of presentation or lesson through a sequence of single slides. 

At its worst, it is "Death by Powerpoint." Poor design can be created by any tool, but the least effective use of this tool is putting people in a dark room and reading from your slides. 

At its best, projected images and text support what the speaker is saying, keeping the audience engaged, and helping make the messages memorable. 

Sketchnotes

Visual notes drawn in real-time. Coined by Mike Rohde in 2007, his original format was pocket-sized moleskin notebooks that forced him to distill, organize and illustrate what he was hearing and seeing. 

Sketchnotes have also expanded to landscape formats of A4 to A5 scale  (letter, and half-letter) paper. 

Visual notetaking, Real-time visual journaling

3 Tips for Sketchnoters

Blog posts about sketchnotes

Sticky Note Clusters

Spatial organization of sticky notes on a wall, desk, or other flat surface. 

This flexible format allows for: 

• Timelines and sequences
• Groupings of similar points
• Columns by category
• Selection and prioritizing
• Color-coding by area, team, topic

Storyboards

Storyboards are a sequence of drawings that can better plan out a narrative (film, video, animation) or process (user experience). Storyboarding helps clarify decisions and problems in the planning phase and creates a common vision when shared with others.

Thumbnails, visual scripts, animatics

Technical Drawings

Precise and detailed illustrations used to communicate design and technical information in various fields, including engineering, architecture, manufacturing, and construction.

Technical drawings can be created throughout a design process: concept phase, planning, manufacturing, dosumentation.

Drafting, Mechanical Drawing, Architectural Drawing, Electrical Drawing, Engineering Drawing

Urban Sketching

Observational, on-site, live drawing that focuses on capturing the spirit of a place and people, through the sketcher's perspective.

Plein Air sketching is the broader term for sketching outdoors, often in nature. 

Street Sketching, Urban Drawing

Visual Journals

Hybrid of a diary and a sketchbook, visual journalling is a broad term for capturing your experience in words and images. 

It can range from annotating one's diary with observational drawings to expressionistic mixed media books with few words, if any. 

Art Journaling, Creative Journaling, Mixed Media Journaling, Visual Diary

Visual Thinking

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What is Visual Thinking?

Whiteboarding

Collaborative group process using a whiteboard, or similar surface to work through concepts, problems, or planning.

With multiple people at the board, a team can get their ideas out quickly. The temporary medium allows for quick revisions. 

Q: How do I get my team up at the whiteboard with me?

Wireframes

What blueprints are to architecture, wireframes are to digital products (sites, apps, software, etc).

These drawings are skeletal frameworks of navigation, layout, interactive components are a communication tool for feedback, validation, and development.