Crackerjack Visual Thinking

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  • Graphic recording of Fulfilling Lives event #visualthinking #multipleneeds

    Earlier this week I graphic recorded the Fulfilling Lives Conference for CFE Ltd (one of Crackerjack’s existing clients). The event focussed on bringing together stakeholders with an interest in multiple needs (individuals who are experiencing at least two of the following: homelessness, reoffending, substance misuse and mental ill health) to share learning and reflect on the Fulfilling Lives programme and the sector more broadly.

    Here’s the graphic I created during the conference:

    Fulfilling Lives 27th June Conference Small v2

    To find out more about the work of Crackerjack Visual Thinking, please visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com.

  • Graphic recording value that keeps on giving! #visualthinking

    Great to see that elements of a graphic recording Crackerjack created at last years Institute of Quarrying (IoQ) Conference are being re-used by the IoQ on their stand at this years Hillhead 2016 Event (the biggest Quarrying, Construction and Recycling event of its kind in the world).

    IoQ Hillhead 2016

    Being able to re-use elements of a graphic recording for various purposes further increases the return on investment organisations receive from working with visual thinking partners such as Crackerjack Visual Thinking.

    To find out how visual thinking assets can be created and designed to provide on-going value in your organisation, contact us or email info@crackerjackvisualthinking.com

    #visualthinking #graphicrecording #IoQ #Hillhead2016

  • Great client feedback for Crackerjack #visualthinking

    Crackerjack Visual Thinking is very pleased to be able to share this feedback received from Geraldine Walsh, President of the Institute of Asphalt Technology:

    “John of Crackerjack Visual Thinking was employed by the Institute of Asphalt Technology to create both a rich picture of our new vision and a graphic recording of our 50thanniversary conference. It is evident from the quality of his work that he has a true talent not only in terms of creating the actual artwork itself but also in terms of listening, understanding and interpreting our requirements. His work is outstanding on many levels. Never before have I received such positive commentary on any project.  Thank you John – it was a pleasure to work with you.”

    Here’s what we created for Geraldine:

    IAT Vision 2016 Small
    Institute of Asphalt 5 Year Vision Rich Picture
    Institute of Asphalt Technology Smaller
    Institute of Asphalt Technology 50th Anniversary Conference Graphic Recording

    To find out more about the work of Crackerjack Visual Thinking, please contact us or visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com

  • Sneaky Peak! #visualthinking

    Sneaky Peak! #visualthinking

    Just thought I’d share a few small elements of a much larger rich picture I’m creating for a client to help them communicate their new vision and engage their target audience in their work.

    Sneaky Peak-01 copy

    The staring point for the rich picture was a powerpoint presentation containing outline bullet points for each element of the new vision. I then worked with the client to really understand and explore the vision and identify the real-life impact this would have on their target audience.

    From this exploration I’ve been able to create a rich picture that visually shows how their vision will enable their target audience to make a real impact to the lives of the general public.

    I’m hoping to be able to share the whole graphic with you in June once it’s been launched at the organisations annual conference (where I’m also creating a live graphic recording of the key themes, thoughts and ideas emerging from the event).

    To find out more about our work, please visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com or contact us.

  • House of Fraser chooses Crackerjack Visual Thinking’s Scribble Lab™ 1 to help develop its #visualthinking skills!

    Crackerjack Visual Thinking is very pleased to have been asked to deliver a bespoke version of our Scribble Lab™ 1 visual thinking training workshop to House of Fraser’s learning and development team later this month.

    Scribble Lab™ 1 enables participants to draw great graphics and use simple visual tools in the meetings and events they lead (ideal for learning and development teams).

    To find out more about Scribble Labs™ click here or visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com

    Include Visual Thinking

  • Now that’s a novel use for black insulation tape and a whiteboard! #visualthinking

    Just spotted this advert for a new TVR sports car which uses just black electrical insulation tape and a whiteboard to visualise a teaser image of the new car.

    Just shows that you don’t have to stick to pens and paper to communicate your ideas visually!

    For more ideas on how to visualise your ideas and drive communication in your organisation visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com or contact us.

  • NEW Scribble Lab™ Visual Thinking Skills Workshops

    Crackerjack’s Scribble Labs™ are designed to help you explore and develop the skills you need to use the power of Visual Thinking in your work.

    Power of Visual Thinking.png

    We currently offer three different Scribble Labs™ and all are facilitated by John Ashton (owner of Crackerjack Visual Thinking). Available as both open and in-house workshops, we ensure that:

    • All of our workshops are run using best practise visual thinking and graphic facilitation principles.
    • No more than 8 people attend each workshop, so you can be sure you will receive plenty of direct coaching and support from John during your chosen Scribble Lab™.

    To find about each of our Scribble Labs™ and decide which one is right for your needs, please read the overview of each workshop below and then click on the heading for more information:

    Scribble Lab™ 1: Get Scribbling!

    Get Scribbling.png

    Enabling you to draw great graphics and simple visual tools that you can use in the meetings and events you lead.

    Scribble Lab™ 2: Listen, Think, Scribble!

    Listen Think Scribble.png

    Introducing you to the art of creating real-time visual records of meetings and events (often referred to as Live Scribing or Graphic Recording) as they happen.

    Scribble Lab™ 3: Including Scribbling In Your Event Design!

    Include Visual Thinking.png

    Helping you unleash the power of Visual Thinking in your meeting, workshop and event designs!

     

    If you have any questions about our Scribble Labs™ then please do contact us or visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com

  • Friday Road-Roller! #visualthinking

    For no other reason than it’s Friday afternoon, here’s a picture of a road-roller I drew earlier this week as part of a rich picture for a client! Have a good weekend! 🙂

    Roller
    www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com

  • Visual thinking: a key element of the people engagement and change process

    It’s been a busy few months for Crackerjack Visual Thinking since the start of 2016!

    Crackerjack’s work has included:

    • Designing and developing hand-drawn animations
    • Designing rich pictures for clients including Westmill Foods
    • Live scribing (graphic recording) for the NHS and Google UK
    • Creating an interactive PDF improvement guide for one of Crackerjack’s key clients

    The common theme amongst all this work has been that clients are wanting to really engage people (whether it’s their own team members, their own client’s or their customer’s) and see visualising all or some elements of what they are trying to communicate as key to this engagement.

    I see visual thinking as way to enhance people engagement and change initiatives by shortcutting the time it takes people to take in and process important and sometimes complex information. Looking at the ‘Resistance to Change Model’ below, it can been seen that ‘understanding the change’ is a vital part of people being able to move towards ‘new beginnings’:

    Resistance to Change.png

    So, if you are wanting to engage people or introduce a change in your organisation, think about how you can visualise the important information you need your people to understand. And don’t forget, you can also encourage your people to visualise how they feel and what they do and don’t understand about the change.

    Things you could do include:

    • Creating a one page image of what the future will look like…
    • Create an ideas and thoughts wall where people can draw or write their feedback, thinking and ideas about the change…
    • Create a board game that helps people understand the journey they will be going on…
    • Capture the conversations as they happen in meetings about the change as visual notes and encourage people to photograph them with their smartphones as an immediate easy to understand record of the event…

    For more ideas and support with using visual thinking approaches in your organisation, feel free to contact us, call us on 0775 282 6227 or visit our website at www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com.

    John Ashton
    Crackerjack Visual Thinking