Graphic Recording Photo Gallery
Here are some examples of my graphic recording work. This is just a small sample, because the charts I make are often full of content that's intended only for the organization I'm working for. But here are a few I made for clients who graciously agreed to let me post the images!
I know - they are a bit hard to look at!! I need to set up this website so that you can zoom in. This is what I've got for now!
I know - they are a bit hard to look at!! I need to set up this website so that you can zoom in. This is what I've got for now!
"Broadway Talks Buffy," Saskatoon 2018
I was invited by the incredible team at Saskatoon's Broadway Theatre to record a conversation between local Indigenous people, seniors, and new Canadians, as they listened to the music of Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie and reflected on her songs. These were brief but powerful conversations, and it was a privilege to listen to these courageous people finding things in common and learning about shared and different histories. Wow!
This project also gave me an opportunity to listen to Buffy Sainte-Marie's music for a few weeks, which was a treat. I'm a fan of her 1960's folk songs, but my kids vote for this one: listen and enjoy!
This project also gave me an opportunity to listen to Buffy Sainte-Marie's music for a few weeks, which was a treat. I'm a fan of her 1960's folk songs, but my kids vote for this one: listen and enjoy!
Up North on Climate Conference, Thunder Bay 2018
At this conference in Thunder Bay, I recorded a few presentations and panels about how climate scientists can be informed by local Indigenous traditional knowledge. The rest of the graphic recordings are posted on the conference website here. But here's one of my favourites, the keynote address by Ovide Mercredi.
So many talks are linear narratives, which lend themselves to linear storytelling: a path, a series of sequential panels. This talk was less of a path and more of a landscape, made up of individual anecdotes and words of wisdom. Listening to this talk, there was no path to follow: each section of the story inhabited its own space. Only after I'd listened for a little while, I began to see the way each discrete message fit into a landscape with the others. The pieces are intertwined.
I'd recommend reading this image generally from left to right, but there's no particular order: each section stands alone. However, I've tried to group messages which share a similar theme, near to each other.
Since recording this talk, I've recorded one other that took a similar form, and I'm pretty intrigued about the differences between this presentation style and what I'd consider a traditional Western (linear) storytelling style. This will have to be the subject of a blog, one of these days!
I'd recommend reading this image generally from left to right, but there's no particular order: each section stands alone. However, I've tried to group messages which share a similar theme, near to each other.
Since recording this talk, I've recorded one other that took a similar form, and I'm pretty intrigued about the differences between this presentation style and what I'd consider a traditional Western (linear) storytelling style. This will have to be the subject of a blog, one of these days!
Science + Triathlon 2017 World Conference, Edmonton
Here are just a few of the charts I made at the Science + Triathlon 2017 World Conference. For this gallery, you can click on the images to see a (slightly!) larger version.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: First Nation Housing Manager Networking Event, Saskatoon 2017
Youth Central's 25th Anniversary, Calgary 2017
Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Sportif Conference, Edmonton 2017
Killarney-Glengarry Community Association Celebration, Calgary 2017
Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (ECVO) Leadership Lab, Edmonton 2017
I was thrilled to come and take notes during a day's workshop at Edmonton's bright and colourful Skills Society Action Lab, hosted by the ECVO and facilitated by ThinkJar Collective's Ben Weinlick. The Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations invited Executive Directors of local non-profits to come for a conversation about how to be leaders in their fields... and particularly about how leaders could help to pass their wisdom along to a new generation of EDs. Being in a room full of smart and caring people talking about how their organizations could help the people of their city, was really a privilege. I just hope my visuals will help to inspire the conversations to continue!
PAGES Conference, Edmonton 2016
This poster from the October 2016 PAGES Conference, hosted by the Edmonton Public Library, might be one of the favourite pieces I've done - not necessarily because the recording was so great, but because it was a talk that touched on just about all my favourite subjects. The amazing scholar Margaret Mackey, author of 2016's insightful "autobibliography" One Child Reading, delivered a lecture that made me feel like a university student scrambling to soak up all the thoughtful information, great quotes, and highly topical scholarship that she could squeeze into 45 minutes.
Margaret mentioned Bob Dylan, the work of comics scholar Nick Sousanis (who I had the pleasure of meeting ever so briefly during his year in Calgary), children's literature, and a few other subjects dear to my heart. So - here's what it looks like when I get to take notes about my own favourite subjects. To see the other posters from this conference, visit the conference website here.
Margaret mentioned Bob Dylan, the work of comics scholar Nick Sousanis (who I had the pleasure of meeting ever so briefly during his year in Calgary), children's literature, and a few other subjects dear to my heart. So - here's what it looks like when I get to take notes about my own favourite subjects. To see the other posters from this conference, visit the conference website here.
TEDSummit/BMWi, Banff, 2016
Here's a picture I drew at a really amazing event - the 2016 TED Summit at the Banff Centre. This workshop on the future of mobility was hosted by BMW i. In my job, I get to listen to a lot of creative people talking about innovative ideas - but this room was filled with creativity, to a degree I haven't often experienced. I tried to do justice to the ideas I heard. And more than anything else, I'm looking forward to what BMW i does with these suggestions - they'll have an impact on the future of transportation as we know it!
University of Calgary's Faculty of Environmental Design, 2016
The four pictures above were done for a 2016 workshop hosted by the University of Calgary's Faculty of Environmental Design. EVDS invited experts from a range of fields to talk with them about suggestions for a new Graduate Certificate in Heritage Conservation. Due to some scheduling challenges, I wasn't able to attend the actual workshop, but the amazingly accommodating folks at EVDS sent me the workshop notes and I used them to create these graphics based on the day's conversations. The illustrations were used in the workshop report, which you can see online here.
"Green Line" Transited Oriented Development Charrettes, Calgary, 2016
It was a privilege to work with the amazing team of folks who carried out a series of Transit Oriented Development design charrettes for the City of Calgary, in 2015 and 2016. Calgary is planning for a really cool new LRT called the "Green Line," and even if I didn't have a transit-obsessed seven-year-old, I'd still be excited about this idea. The City worked hard to engage with community residents up and down the length of the planned train route, and I took notes. One of the best things about this project was that, because there were multiple sessions over a long time, I really had a chance to learn what would work well and what wouldn't. I like my 2016 posters much better than the ones I drew in 2015: here are two examples (above).
Learning Through The Arts, Calgary 2016
Learning Through the Arts is an educational partnership designed to transform the teaching and learning processes in Canada'a public school systems. What would happen if the members of Calgary's LTTA community put their heads together with members of the Calgary Board of Education? That's what this 2016 conversation was about.
Indigenous Partnership Development Program, Edmonton 2016
I was proud to be invited back to record a three-session course offered by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Native Studies in partnership with the Alberta School of Business. The second annual Indigenous Partnership Development Program is for organizations that are interested in understanding how good partnerships with indigenous communities can translate into good results for their business - not just from the financial point of view, although that's certainly part of the story - but from so many other perspectives, as well. This completely inspiring program has been an honour to record, not to mention very educational in many ways for me, personally. This is the first 2016 chart - stay tuned for more.
YWCA of Calgary, 2016
Above: Not a graphic recording, but definitely a fast-paced artistic creation. I had one day to paint this mural at the YWCA of Calgary!
Green Drop, Calgary 2015
Above: This chart was made at a retreat attended by the senior staff of Green Drop, a pretty cool family-owned local business. Their discussion was about their customer's "journey" through the services they provide and how they could make it a spectacular experience at every stage of the journey. The subject matter was just asking for a path alongside a beautifully manicured lawn! Since this was an internal conversation, I blurred out the text, but you can get the general idea. I wanted to share this image because I really liked the way it turned out - and I also really enjoyed this event with an innovative group!
GeoAlberta Conference, Edmonton 2015
I completed this graphic recording at the 2015 GeoAlberta Conference in Edmonton. It was three days long... and 13.5 feet long!
Farris Wealth Management Group, Priddis 2015
This chart, which is about 10 feet long, was one of the most stimulating projects I've had the opportunity to work on. The client organization held a retreat for their staff: exactly five people. Their unstructured discussion about some pretty specialized subject matter flowed across two days while I listened, filtered, and tried to capture the points that summed up the conversation in a way that might create something intriguing for others to look at. What do you think? It took me two days to colour it in afterwards!
City of Calgary Community & Neighbourhood Services, 2016
Above: a very fun, messy image from a short talk I gave for the City of Calgary's Community & Neighbourhood Services "Learning @ Work Week!"
Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, 2015
A picture I drew at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo featuring a panel discussion by some stars of a show called "Once Upon a Time."
Alberta Museums Association, Edmonton 2015
Alberta Museums Association Future Coalitions Summit (Image copyright Alberta Museums Association, 2015)
2013 - 2014 Gallery
Federation of Calgary Communities, 2014
Federation of Calgary Communities "Beyond the Four Walls" Conference (Image copyright Federation of Calgary Communities, 2014)
To find out more about my graphic recording process, take a look here. To ask about how I could contribute graphic recording to your event, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you!