Visual thinking podcast

Tony Karrer is the CEO of TechEmpower, an E-Learning development company, and author of the E-Learning Technology blog.

Last Friday Tony expressed some skepticism about the role of visual thinking in e-learning on his blog, which started an interesting discussion. A bunch of people weighed in on visual thinking's benefits, including me.

I love the way Tony expressed his thoughts on his blog. He laid out his thoughts and asked the community to respond. Too many people, in a desire to be polite or not make waves, hold back their thoughts. I think that's a mistake. If you keep your concerns to yourself you don't give people a chance to help you understand -- in effect you close yourself off to learning.

By revealing his concerns Tony demonstrated that he is a true learner and opened a tremendously valuable conversation.

Next week Tony and I will enter into a podcast conversation about e-learning and visual thinking. I am really looking forward to speaking with Tony and hope you will listen in to this live podcast.

We'll be talking next Thursday, December 20, from 11am to noon EST. You can register for the podcast here.

Meanwhile, Tony and I are collecting any questions you have or ideas you'd like to see us cover in our conversation. So... are you skeptical about the power of visual thinking? Do you have questions about how it works, why it works, whether it works?

Or maybe you have friends or co-workers who have asked you questions about visual thinking that you found it difficult to answer.

Please share your thoughts and questions here, and I will try to work them into the conversation. I hope you will join us!

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Affinity mapping

Affinity mapping, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Affinity mapping is a way to sort large amounts of data into logical groups. Existing items and/or new items identified by individuals are written on sticky notes which are sorted into categories as a workshop activity. It's a great way to get the power of a group working for you to organize information and ideas.

Read more here.

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What do you want?

What do you want?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I love to ask the question "what do you want?" The photos above are from a session I facilitated at The Overlap. But I do this all the time. Here's a list of things people say they want:

Cohesion of ideas
To learn to connect ideas and show (linkages) relationships between concepts using visual language
To see a new idea take shape
To understand whether tablet PCs are a good investment for visual thinking
Better PowerPoint presentations
Scalable visual thinking
Pattern from complexity
Find what's missing
Get to WOW without sacrificing substance
Health
Structure
Money
Ice cream
More revenue
VizLearning
Experiences
Better communication
Inspiration
Community
Interaction
Connections
New ways to guide groups for problem-solving exercises
Continuous training in XPLANE style
Better sharing
Better organization
Ability to get to "I get it" faster!
To see how others think and communicate their thoughts
A more fun way to present ideas
Better communication with clients
A separation!
To see Dave Gray again
To meet like-minded people
To communicate clearly
To meet interesting people
The world to adopt a visual-based language
To learn about visual thinking
To get the stuff in my head out!
Node: Image + word + links
Pepsi
Insight
Illumination
Idea generation
To be creative
Learn quick, powerful icons
To explain things better
Something! NEW
Learn more about your process for developing the metaphor
To communicate to others better
To think more clearly
To be able to simplify complex processes and show that improvement
New ideas for infographics
Constructive thinking
To be able to better communicate complex ideas
New ideas
To make complex ideas digestible
To exercise my pen
To experience understanding aha!
To learn to express complex processes visually
Depth
Impact, translation, clarity through visuals
To give more but show less
Knowledge
Tips for drawing fast
Focus
To be able to achieve better, faster clarity
To communicate with others faster
Clarity
Insight
Instant impact
Clarity
To separate ideas better
Simplicity
To explain things faster
To create real time sketches
Learn process of production
Drawing emotions fast
Visualize abstract concepts
Clarity of thought
Insight
Wisdom
Knowledge
Draw to understand
Clearer thinking
To become proficient in non-linear thinking!
New perspective
To learn shapes, so I don't have to learn how to draw
Learn types of visual frameworks
To visually depict complex concepts
Mapping points of view
Visual techniques for describing things
Quick icons
To learn new techniques and tools to think visually
To improve my sense of visual design
To develop my creative visual thinking skills
To learn more about representing things visually
To understand how visual thinking works in the brain (or any other body part)
To utilize visual thinking in daily life
Drawing "tricks" (tips for visual thinking)
Tips for drawing faces
Skillz
To be better at visualizing concepts
To improve my sketchy drawing skills
Technique, skillz
To learn to draw
Mad skills
Remember who we are
Identity
Clear core values
More people like the good ones I work with
To lead, to do, not talk about it
To be recognized
Close the loop between ideas and work
To explore ecology
Do people lead or follow in creativity?
To laugh
Why business is only now recognizing many communications values
Options scare me sometimes
New paths
Go analog!
To understand what is emerging
To have faith
Not design thinking
Fresh air
Share unselfishly
Dream while awake
Turbulence
Theory
Teach myself
Us to break shit
Meet new people
Breath
To be provocative
To experience collaboration of this kind
Remember my childhood
New ideas
Fire and beer
Cozy
Overlap to be characterized by love
Frickin' sharks with laser beams
It to be terrifying
All of us to bring our authentic selves
Post-mortem of conference to share with everyone
To map ideas
To leave with ideas that are tangible not indulgent

What do you want?

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What do you love?

What do you love?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I love to ask the question "what do you love?" The photos above are from a session I facilitated at The Overlap. But I do this all the time. Here's a list of things people say they love:

Laughing
Internet
Jim Woodring
Gutsy weird people
Elvis
Money
Starting companies
Networking
Ping Pong
Gardening
Laughing till I cry
Pirates
Humor
Zings!
Children laughing
Drawing challenging or cool stuff
Bright colors
Free post-its
Design
Contemporary marbles
Cool shoes
Paper
Old comics
Coming up with wild ideas for comics
Information design
Optigan keyboard
Art
Handmade album covers
Shoes and handbags
Woodworking
Magic erasers
Energy
Dancing
Couches
Calvin and Hobbes
Drawing comics
Music
Dance
Ted's super skull drawing
Cottage interiors
Martha Stewart Living
Comics
Whole Foods
High-concept mix CDs
Creativity
Drawing
Design
Writing
Furniture
Chaos and change
Cooking
Our house
Chocolate
Wine and cheese
Italian food
French fries
Trailer trash dinners
Nachos
Breakfast on the front porch with the New York Times (waffles)
Rafennelli Zin
Cake
Cheese
Coffee! Mostly Latte's
Learning about cooking
Sailing
Lunch
Food and drink
Iced tea
Snow skiing
Live music
Comics
Interweb
Jack and Rexella Van Impe
Sales
Marker fumes
Toronto
That there may be waffles
That a company like this [XPLANE] exists
Refining concepts without "talking" them through
Dave Gray
Breaking out of linear thought
The open door policy
Ideas and burrito boyz
Burritos
Getting outside
Pepsi
Ryan Coleman
Comfy seats
Insight
Iconography
That you're here
Sunshine
Growing things
Cycling
How engaging visual information is
Pen and paper
Flowers
Visual thinking
Drawing
Love
Sketching
Photography
Smiling
Clarity
Emphasize important concepts
Learning from others
Learning about new ways to incorporate art with business
The power of visual language... tell me more!
See concepts from a distance
Flexible, "unplanned" agenda
Simplicity
Clarity
Accuracy
Easier to understand
Easy communication
Conversation
Communicating
Writing
Add depth and insight
Learning
Sharing my own experiences
The collective desire to learn
Having fun
Engaging, interesting presentations
The peanut gallery
The community
Community
Novelty
Connections
Socializing
Collaboration
Meeting different people
Sense of community
Brainstorming, exploration
That I don't get to do this 9-5 pm
Sharing of tools, concepts
Knowledge sharing
The physical environment, location
The beer and conversation that follows
Kewl doods
People looking for a different way to do stuff
Expressing complex ideas
Experiencing a creative process
The community "vibe"
Getting inspired
Identity
Sharing of ideas
The people
Not having a clue why people are here and what they bring to the table!
Community
Pretty pictures
Simplifying complexity
Simplicity
Simplicity
Information design
People
Customers, friends
Relationships
Passion, vision, fire
Cool people doing cool stuff
Clarity
Not thinking
The scientist diagram intro game
Communication without language barriers
Cool ideas coming together
The prospect of helping clients "get it" quickly
Risk
Learning
Participating
Juxtaposing ideas
Learning
Effectiveness
Being inspired
Process
New paradigms
Changing the way people think
Changing the way I see things
Making an impact
To draw more better
Pictures
Being exposed to new ideas
Learning new ways to do things
The ideas
The learning experience
Innovation
Organizing my projects visually
To combine words and images
To collaborate
Wrestling with what's not quite known
The way my name tag moves up and down
Mess
My tribe
To observe how people exceed their own expectations when participating in a good conversation
ASILOMAR
The diversity that exists at the borders
Freedom to rethink conventions
Consistent inconsistency
On Monday I get to return to changing the world
Post-its
I do not love the name "The Overlap." I do love the ideas it seeks to find a name -- and a habitation delightful -- for.
Opportunity
Cold? Beer Wine? Use the garbage can in your room + ice machine
Opportunity to explore the future
Getting people drawing
Opportunity
Open source thinking
Getting away from a chilly San Francisco "summertime."
Sharing and learning from others
Community
Cross-pollination
[Infinity symbol]
[Torch symbol]
Smart people acting silly
A messy desk
Community
Toggling between abstract frameworks and concrete solutions
Personal growth
Clarity through language

What do you love?

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More VizThink ideas

I have added some more session ideas for my workshops at VizThink.

If you have time I would appreciate it if you would take a look and let me know your thoughts. New ideas are at the top of the post.

Thanks!

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Two versions of Google's master plan

Click the image to see the plan.

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Back in Helsinki

I'll be back in Helsinki this week, leaving Thursday morning. Please send me an email at dave dot gray at gmail dot com if you want to connect.

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Mapping the future of conferences

Eileen Clegg of Visual Insight has posted an interesting map of the future of conferences. It's not just the map that's interesting, but you can also click on various parts of the image and listen to the dialogue that the image summarizes.

I think there's a lot of potential -- combining visuals with dialogue has always been a challenge online, and this map is a great prototype of what's possible.

I also think there are some great ideas here that we should be applying to VizThink 08.

Take a look.

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Coding and decoding

Coding and decoding, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

We code and decode information all the time -- it's part of the process of living.

Coding -- or encoding -- is the process of making a concept or idea understandable to others. It could be an email, a scrawl, a napkin sketch or a sign.

Decoding is the process of interpreting information that was coded by someone else. How many things do you think you encode or decode in a given day? How well do you code information?

Can you interpret all the codes you see above? If you can you might want to take a try at the codes in this Flickr photo set.

1. go, 2. Left, 3. CAUTION, 4. Walk, 5. Sign, 6. Crosswalk, 7. Danger, 8. Lock -->, 9. Visual language, 10. Pringles in Abu Dhabi, 11. Green light, 12. Arrow

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Picturing the VizThink community

VizThink Community, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Tom Crawford of VizThink started a conversation by asking people to visualize the visual thinking community. There's an interesting thread of comments here and some images here.

Some of the commenters said that it's a mistake to try to segment the community. I don't know if I agree but I do think it's difficult. In my opinion visual thinking is like a lens -- it can be applied to anything.

So here's my attempt to picture the community -- it's a small sample of the visual thinkers I have met and connected with in recent months. Do you see yourself?

Links to the photos:

1. Overlap 07, 2. Overlap 07, 3. Overlap, 4. Gabe, 5. VTS, 6. VTS, 7. VTS, 8. VTS, 9. VTS, 10. VTS, 11. VTS, 12. Jeff Wilson, 13. Bill Keaggy sketching, 14. Susie Robison, 15. Drew Crowley, 16. Nick Main, 17. Overlap 07, 18. James Macanufo, 19. Overlap 07, 20. Overlap 07, 21. Overlap 07, 22. Overlap 07, 23. Overlap 07, 24. Overlap 07, 25. Overlap 07, 26. Overlap 07, 27. Overlap 07, 28. Overlap 07, 29. Overlap 07, 30. Overlap 07, 31. Overlap 07, 32. Overlap 07, 33. Overlap 07, 34. Overlap 07, 35. Overlap 07, 36. Overlap 07

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Visual thinking practice: How to draw a stick dog

stickdog, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

One of my most popular posts, according to Google, is one I wrote some time ago about how to draw a stick figure. Recently a reader named Jade posted this comment:

"I've got the person thing going, but how would you do a dog...?"

I drew this at InkGram, a very interesting new tool by Loren Heiny. It's very new, in beta and it's still a little buggy, but very cool. And unfortunately it doesn't work in Firefox.

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My sessions at VizThink: What do YOU think?

I'll be giving a workshop at VizThink, and also a special pre-session (limited to 50 people) on the Sunday before the event. I would love to get your input about what I should cover. Here are some of my starting thoughts:

Who are we? Understanding the VizThink Community. A special workshop where several facilitators work with the group to define the community. What is the change we want to make in the world?

Visual Thinking toolkit. A tour of the visual thinking toolbox used by XPLANE consultants and designers. Part facilitation techniques, part drawing, all fun. Includes ways to engage groups and get them thinking visually, plus drawing and design tips.

Envision your Vision. Every large organization these days has a "vision statement" -- IT'S A VISION PEOPLE! In this hands-on workshop you'll learn how to develop a vision for your company, department or group -- and learn how to do it the right way: visually.

The Elements of PowerPoint Style. Take your PowerPoint to the next level. Tools, tips and tricks to make your PowerPoint clear, cool and compelling.

Goals and metrics. How to set simple but clear goals and metrics for your communication, so you can know when it's working and when it's not.

From "boxes and lines" to rich pictures. How to represent abstract ideas and concepts visually.

Visual thinking practice. Practice and coaching drawing and visualizing your ideas. Practice presenting your ideas to others.

Visual thinking tools. What are the best tools for visual thinking? Analog tools like sticky notes, software and online tools for organizing ideas, technology like digital cameras. What are some of the best ways to use the tools as part of a systematic approach to visual thinking?

PowerPoint makeovers. Bring a presentation that you want to improve. We'll break out into small groups, and each group will take a presentation, break it down into its components, and re-create the story to make it more clear, visual and compelling.

Selling visual thinking. How to explain visual thinking to "non-believers." Why they should care. Why it's important. What it can do for them. What to call it.

Engaging your organization. Getting people in your company to think and deliver ideas and content more visually. How to build alignment with brand teams on some of the unique requirements of information visualization.

Changing the world. A group session on the visual thinking community, who it is, what we can do together.

Personal action plan. How to incorporate visual thinking into your life as a daily/weekly habit. Things you can do on an ongoing basis to hone your visual thinking skills.

I want your thoughts, whether or not you plan to attend VizThink or the special pre-session.

These are just starting points. I want your feedback and ideas.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to see in visual thinking training. In your comment it would help me if you'd say whether or not you plan to attend the events.

Thanks!

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What can visual thinking do for you?

What's the value of visual thinking? Who should go to VizThink? I speak with Rodolfo Carpintier of Baquia TV about the importance of visual thinking for strategy, clarity, and organizational alignment.

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What is VizThink?

What is visual thinking? Why should you care? Rodolfo Carpintier of Baquia TV interviews me about the visual thinking revolution and the upcoming VizThink conference.

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How to draw -- Comic strip artists' kit

I found this over at the Seven Camels blog -- it's a great 7-page quick-course in drawing comics by Disney artist and animator Carson Van Osten.

He drew these sketches in 1975 for a presentation to his boss, and they went over so well they printed 2,000 copies and sent them to all the Disney offices.

It's a clear, concise set of tips and tricks for making great comic panels and stories.

If you dare to draw, you could apply a lot of these ideas to help make your PowerPoint presentations more compelling.

Worth a look.

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What's the difference between theory and practice?

In theory they're the same.
In practice they're not.

(Overheard at work. Thanks Stephen!)

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VizThink takes off!

VizThink, also known as Visual Thinking School, has been taking off lately. What started as a series of posts on my blog, and an informal get-together at XPLANE, has now blossomed into a series of regular events in Toronto, St. Louis, Portland and Madrid, as well as an international conference that will be kicking off this January.

To support this activity we've got several community sites going:

A Facebook group, started by Ryan Coleman in Toronto, where you can see and contact all the people who consider themselves members of the community.

An email discussion group, where you can ask questions (For example, how to start your own Visual Thinking School), share best practices and ideas.

A group blog where you can post the results of your VizThink sessions and see what others are doing.

A Flickr group where you can post and view photos of VizThink sessions around the world.

Perhaps most exciting is the first international VizThink event which will be happening this coming January in San Francisco. I'll be doing a workshop there and there's a stellar list of presenters. I am proud to be associated with them and I hope you can join us.

It's not going to be your traditional "speakers on a podium" event. There will be plenty of hands-on workshops and opportunities for open dialogue with the speakers and other attendees.

XPLANE is a sponsor of the event and as such we can offer you a special discount of $100 off the early registration fee. Click here to register and use the code PCX01 (that's P-C-X-Zero-One).

I'd love to see people joining the email discussion group, as I think it may be one of the best ways to get a dialogue going in the community.

Join us!

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Dave in the heart of Helsinki

Spain in the heart of Helsinki, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Anyone reading this blog from Helsinki? I am here for a couple days. If you want to connect, leave a comment, send me a text message at +34-670-783-657, or email me [dave dot gray at gmail dot com] with your contact info.

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Announcing VizThink 08

VizThink 08 lineup, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I'm pleased to announce that I will be facilitating at VizThink 08, a new event that's kicking off this coming January in San Francisco.

Here's some information from the VizThink home page:

"Who are visual thinkers? Visual thinkers are people who use graphic design, images, pictures, video, animations, sketches, and other forms of visual art for communications and learning.

VizThink will bring together several hundred participants from the best of the best in our industry with participation by trainers, marketers, presenters, executives, planners, strategists, and managers, just to name a few.

While each approach may be different, the attendees all share the same philosophy in the power of visualization for learning and communication. We believe that by bringing these diverse groups together, we'll create a community that can take the industry to a new level and invite you to take part."

Here's a list of the speakers that have confirmed so far. I'm excited that I will be facilitating workshops and dialogue with them. Click the links for more information.

1. Christine Martells, 2. Neil Cohn, 3. Nancy Duarte, 4. David Sibbet, 5. Nigel Holmes, 6. Eileen Clegg, 7. Robert Horn, 8. Stephen Few, 9. Dave Gray, 10. Karl Gude, 11. Scott McCloud, 12. Dan Rose

I'm also helping to organize the conference, so if you have ideas for speakers or sessions, please let me know in the comments section.

I'll be posting more about VizThink in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

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How to make beautiful charts in Microsoft Excel

Chris Gemignani of Juice Analytics shows how to recreate a New York Times chart using Microsoft Excel.

Take a look.

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Visual thinking exercises at Overlap

Find more videos like this on Overlap 07

This summer I led some visual thinking exercises at Overlap 07, a small gathering of design/business thinkers. The video above will give you a bit of a feeling for how visual thinking can make meetings and events more collaborative, conversational and engaging, and how visual thinking can spark creativity and insight.

Here are some of my photos from the event.

Please share your thoughts and comments here.

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50 Designers x 6 Questions | Developer's Toolbox

50 Designers x 6 Questions | Developer's Toolbox: "Some months ago we’ve selected 50 prominent designers and design companies, contacted them and asked to answer five design-related questions, sharing their knowledge and experience with fellows developers. 35 designers have responded then. For each of 5 questions we’ve received 5 precise answers. The result was 175 professional suggestions, tips and ideas from some of the renowned web-developers all around the world."

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Dave Gray Q&A

Matt Alland recently interviewed me for HostNews.

Read the interview.

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Visual dictionary

Visual dictionary:

" ...with concise and rigorous texts, bilingual, the Visual Dictionary will become a academic resource. [It's] different from an encyclopedia or from traditional online dictionaries, thesauri and glossaries, because the images replace the words."

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Neil Cohn on visual language

Neil Cohn of Tufts University takes a deep dive into visual language.

Highlight, from the Q&A session after the talk:

"Art is used in very specific cultural contexts... Language? We use language for everything. Language is used in all sorts of different contexts. Why not use visual language in all sorts of different contexts?"

His talk is 45 minutes so check this out when you have time. In the meantime, Neil's website and blog are worth a look.

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XPLANE republishes Visual Language by Bob Horn

I am proud to announce that XPLANE will be republishing Robert Horn's landmark book, Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century, which has been out of print for several years.

Robert Lucas, in a review on Amazon says:

"People seem to either love Bob Horn's book "Visual Language" or they hate it. Look at the reviews here on Amazon! The key questions is: Why such a polarizing? To me it means that Horn has written a paradigm-busting, pathfinding, boundary-crossing, far-out book -- one that removes our blinders from a phenomenon that is happening all around us, namely a new international, auxiliary language that is emerging. No wonder it arouses controversy."

You can read more of the Amazon reviews here.

Here's an interview where Bob talks about the ideas his book, and a pdf file where Bob practices what he preaches -- using visual language to explain visual language -- to Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points.

Bob is a personal friend and the book is a groundbreaking one. Not only does it explain visual language, it employs visual language on every page. It's a true classic and I am glad we are now able to make it available once again.

Buy it here.

If you are familiar with the book I would love to hear your thoughts on it here.

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New technology for smart image resizing

Adobe just hired the co-inventor of this image-resizing technology.

It's fascinating to watch, and it also has interesting implications for content creators.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts.

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Infomania: Why we can’t afford to ignore it any longer

Infomania: Why we can’t afford to ignore it any longer: "The combination of e–mail overload and interruptions is widely recognized as a major disrupter of knowledge worker productivity and quality of life, yet few organizations take serious action against it. This paper makes the case that this action should be a high priority, by analyzing the severe impact of the problem in both qualitative and quantitative terms. We attempt to provide sufficient supporting data from the scientific literature and from corporate surveys to enable change agents to make the case and convince their organizations to authorize such action."

Read the paper.

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The City Wall - Helsinki

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Generalist and specialist approaches

Generalist and specialist approaches, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

This is an update to a previous diagram, based on numerous comments and feedback.

More conversation here, here, here and here.

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The mind map as a concise visual summary

Click the image for a high-resolution version.

Author, artist and educator John Clapp posted this beautiful mind map on his website. It's a summary of Vision + Art: The Biology of Seeing.

What is especially interesting is that the map represents roughly 60% of the book's content -- on a single page!

See more on John's website.

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Free online mind-mapping tool

Click the image above to see a larger version.

Mindomo is a free online mind-mapping tool. I have only spent a little time there but it appears to be full-featured. You can create maps, share them, and search for maps on any topic. Worth a look.

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Alignment

Alignment, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Some people think of organizational alignment as "getting people to buy in" with an idea that is already formed. This may be useful sometimes but I don't think it's optimal.

Alignment is the process of synthesizing varied opinions and viewpoints on a subject.

Getting alignment on "why we're doing this is not about getting everyone to see "the right answer" so much as incorporating everyone's viewpoint into a "shared vision" of what that means.

Cultural alignment can mean "same thing" as in, "we are all driving toward the same goals" (true north) or it can mean "same way" as in, "we do things consistently."

A flock of geese does both -- can a modern organization work in the same way without stifling creativity?

What does alignment mean to you? What does it mean in your organization? Please share your thoughts.

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What's the best tool for communication?

It depends on what you are trying to do. Click the diagram at left for a larger view.

How to Save the World: "What are the reasons we use faulty judgement, and use the wrong technology for communications?

* Habit: We tend to use the tools we're most familiar, comfortable, and in the habit of using, even when they're not optimal. It takes some practice to train ourselves to think 'what's the best medium to use for this?' before we start or respond to a communication.

* Personality: Some people (e.g. those who are shy about face-to-face meetings) hide behind e-mail even when it's not the right medium. Sometimes it's up to use, the recipients, not to get drawn into time-wasting e-mail threads, and walk down the hall or pick up the phone and talk it through in real time.

* Physical layout: Having people who need a lot of face-to-face contact in offices far apart just to pay homage to the organization chart can obstruct the use of optimal communication technologies.

* Ignorance: If people don't know communication technologies are available, or if they're hard to learn or remember how to use, or too complicated, they won't be used.

* Unavailability: Some organizations refuse to allow IM, blogs, wikis or free collaboration tools or 'free' tools that need to be downloaded to each PC, for security or centralized management reasons. Obviously, if the tools aren't available, less appropriate tools have to be used."

Read more here.

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Specialist or generalist?

Specialist or generalist?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

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Interesting interface

Musicovery is an interesting interface that lets you browse music by mood and genre, and then listen to it. Imagine integrating something like this with iTunes.

"Kind of like Pandora meets the Visual Thesaurus meets a 70's mood ring." -- Matt Homann.

Thanks Matt!

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Slidecasting by Slideshare.net

How to Change the World: Reality Check: Slidecasting by Slideshare.net: "Slidecasting by SlideShare.net enables you to synchronize PowerPoint slides and audio files. To create a slidecast, you upload slides to SlideShare.net. The audio file is hosted anywhere on the web. Then you link the slides and audio by using an online synchronization tool. When you play the slidecast, the audio is streamed from its location and plays with the slides. The service is completely free."

Thanks Guy!

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How to Draw a Giraffe

WHOLPHIN DVD � Film: How to Draw a Giraffe

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16 Awesome Data Visualization Tools

16 Awesome Data Visualization Tools: "From navigating the Web in entirely new ways to seeing where in the world twitters are coming from, data visualization tools are changing the way we view content. We found the following 16 apps both visually stunning and delightfully useful."

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What are you reading?

A comment by chap got me curious: What are you reading? I am especially interested in magazines and books.

Please share your favorite magazines, most recent books you have read/enjoyed, and if you don't mind, your job title -- I imagine that if you're a CTO you might be reading different things than if you are a product manager.

I'll start: I've been reading Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. My favorite magazines are Business 2.0 and the Economist. Job title: CEO.

Also I'd appreciate your vote:

If Time Inc. does shut down Business 2.0, which magazine(s) should we seek to partner with, so we can continue to publish visual explanations of business technology issues?

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Visual communication - an interview with Dave Gray

I was recently interviewed on the User Experience Podcast:

Visual Communication - an Interview with Dave Gray

"Dave talks about giving ourselves permission to draw, about how the printing press led us to communicate in a particular way, and about how that can limit our communication in a digital environment, about how PowerPoint can be both inhibiting and comforting, and about how where we are with video today is where we were with PageMaker 20 years ago."

Would love to hear your thoughts.

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Time Inc. threatens to shut down Business 2.0

The next generation of search engines, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

As many of you may know, XPLANE has worked with Business 2.0 magazine since its initial launch in 1998. Over the last nine years we have worked closely with the magazine to develop visual explanations of technology and business issues. I believe it's a truly special publication and I have never seen another magazine quite like it.

If you want a trip down dot-com memory lane, I have posted a few of my favorite Business 2.0 XPLANATiONs here.

Time Inc., the parent company, is about to drop the axe on Business 2.0 magazine because of a decline in ad revenue. Actually, according to a recent New York Times article, this is largely due to a recent move by Time to consolidate the sales forces of its finance and business publications:

Aside from the overall downturn in the magazine business, current and former Time Inc. employees point to what appears to have been an ill-advised move this year to combine the advertising sales teams of Time Inc.’s finance and business publications, which include Fortune, Money, CNNMoney.com, Fortune Small Business and Business 2.0.

Consolidated under a single banner, Time Inc.’s Business and Finance Network (or Tibfin, as it is known inside the company), Time sales representatives stopped pitching the distinct appeal and audience of Business 2.0 to focus on the larger titles like Fortune.

That often turned Business 2.0 into an afterthought; big advertisers like Microsoft and Intel were offered discounts on other Time Inc. business titles if they would also buy pages in Business 2.0.

Adage reports a grassroots movement to save the magazine, and today readers started a Facebook group to convince Time Inc. to reconsider:

Please join the fun and let's see if we can save the magazine! Join the Facebook group here.

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New job openings at XPLANE

Are you a visual thinker? We have some new job openings at XPLANE. Read about them here. Maybe you can join our gang!

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A blog is a way to change a company from the inside

... but not the way you think. A blog is a way of getting support and affirmation from the outside, for the things you are trying to do on the inside.

A blog is a way to keep your faith alive.

As always, please share your thoughts.

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Did You Know 2.0

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

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What is language?

What is language?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

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WikiMindMap

1. It's a mind map program
2. It's 100% online
3. It searches any term on Wikipedia and automatically creates a mindmap

Yes it's true and it's very cool. Check it out.

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Visual thinking

Great presentation on visual thinking by Ryan Coleman.

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What makes a place great?

Corner nook, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

"It's surprisingly simple.

Over the past 30 years Project for Public Spaces has evaluated more than 1,000 public spaces, and informally investigated tens of thousands more. From all this we have discovered that most great places--whether a grand downtown plaza or humble neighborhood park--share four key qualities:

1. It is accessible and well-connected to other important places in the area.
2. The space is comfortable and projects a good image.
3. People are drawn to participate in activities there.
4. It is a sociable place where people like to gather, visiting it again and again."

Read more.

Can we do this in our common (shared) office spaces? What makes for a great shared space?

Please share your thoughts.

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Ice breaker

Ice breaker, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Here's a simple but effective way to break the ice and introduce people at your next meeting or event. It's a good way to get people into a brainstorming/creative mood and sets the tone for a creative meeting.

1. Give everyone an index card and a colored marker (it's better if everyone has a different color).

2. Have each person fold the card in half to make a table tent.

3. On the front, have them write their name and draw their "supermask" (as in, if they were a superhero, what would be their mask?).

4. On the back, have each person write their "supername" and "superpower."

5. Go around the room and have each person describe their card to the group.

Variations:

1. If everyone more or less knows each other: After writing their name, have each person pass their card to the person on their left or right. The person receiving the card fills it out and passes it back. Then go around the room as before.

2. Instead of "supername" and "super power" you can try other things, like "wrestler mask, name and secret move."

3. Corporate version Have each person draw a self-portrait on the front of the card, and on the back write something others are unlikely to know about them.

We did this at a recent edition of visual thinking school and it really livened up the meeting. Here are the results.

Give it a try, and post your cards to the vizthink! pool.

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The most important technique of presenting

Index card sketches from Meshforum 2006, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

"Look your listener in the eye. Most inexperienced speakers lose the attention of their audience by looking up at the ceiling to collect their thoughts, looking at the floor, or darting their eyes around the room.

Whether you are addressing a small or large group, lock your gaze on one person, and keep it there for about five seconds - long enough to complete a thought. Then look at another person, take a breath, and continue with your next thought.

If you are talking to only one person, you'll want to break eye contact once in a while to avoid staring. But looking at one person per thought, and pausing slightly between each thought, is the most important technique of presenting."

-- From How to shine at presentations by Kevin Daley, founder of Communispond.

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How to support play

LIFT notes, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

More notes from the LIFT converence in Geneva.

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Drawings are conversations

Help me write a story!, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

"A drawing is a conversation with yourself."
-- Vitor Higgs, infographer

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Sketches of Morrocco

Beautiful sketches of Morrocco by Enrique Flores Here's another one.

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Website on a dry-erase board?

Click the picture to read more.

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Self-Governing Workshops and Offices

Conflict
No one enjoys his work if he is a cog in a machine.

Resolution
Encourage the formation of self-governing workshops and offices of 5 to 20 workers. Make each group autonomous- with respect to organisation, style, relation to other groups, hiring and firing, work schedule. Where the work is complicated and requires larger organisations, several of these work groups can federate and cooperate to produce complex artefacts and services.

From A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander

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Tooth mapping

This graph is a visual record showing the health of a patient's gums.

The red dots indicate bleeders that appear as the dentist probes the gums for their health. The graph-like bars that over-lay the teeth are measures of the gaps between the teeth and the gum.

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Five secrets of the curious infographic

These are notes from a talk given at Malofiej 15 by Graphics Editor Marcello Valoncini.

1. Look forward. Don't stop with the news, simply reporting what has occurred.
2. Reach out. Don't be shy; call people and ask for details.
3. Watch TV. Look to the television medium for ideas and particulars.
4. Compare elements. Even if they seem absurd at first, comparisons help people understand things in a larger context.
5. Use the internet. It can deliver strange, funny or useful elements to enhance your story.

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What is an infographic?

This year's Malofiej competition is notable because for the first time ever, an interactive graphic was the only winner for the "best in show" award.

This sparked a lot of conversation about "what is an infographic?" As infographics go online, the line between infography and software begins to blur. Where does infography end and interface design begin?

About a week ago I had an interesting conversation with Juan Velasco, Graphics editor of National Geographic, where we tried to answer some of these questions. It's the beginning of a manifesto -- can you help us make it better?

WHAT IS AN INFOGRAPHIC?

1. It's a visual explanation that helps you more easily understand, find or do something.
2. It's visual, and when necessary, integrates words and pictures in a fluid, dynamic way.
3. It stands alone and is completely self-explanatory.
4. It reveals information that was formerly hidden or submerged.
5. It makes possible faster, more consistent understanding.
6. It's universally understandable.

Please add your comments and thoughts.

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Check out the zoomquilt

Click here.

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Why you can't dial in to free conference call services

If you have a Cingular/AT&T phone, you may have noticed that you have trouble dialing in to free conference call services. That's because Cingular -- your service provider -- is blocking your calls.

Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel says it's not a consumer freedom issue, it's about economics.

I say it's a good time to switch your services, so Cingular can understand the economics of treating their customers this way.

Read more here.

If you want to get out of your Cingular contract, here are some tips:
- How to get out of a cellular service contract
- Get out of your cell phone contract
- Celltrade: A service that helps you change providers
- How to get out of a cell phone contract

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What’s next in visual communication?

This article was originally published in Infonomia, a Spanish magazine. Read it in Spanish here.

Two million years ago, the first distinct and recognizably human cultures emerged. These early humans – known as Homo Erectus, or upright man – made and used complex tools, formed societies, migrated over long distances, used fire, and cooked food – and they did all that without words.

These early humans had 80% of the brain capacity of modern humans, and yet they were biologically incapable of speech. They communicated with each other visually, through gestures, observation and mimicry.

It wasn’t until much later – 25,000 years ago – that the first evidence of advanced drawing and painting skills appears, in cave paintings, such as the beautiful and famous examples at Altamira in northern Spain.

Then, 6,000 years ago, writing appears. Paper was invented by an administrator (anyone surprised by that?) about 4,000 years later.

The combination of writing and paper made it possible to share complex information over long distances. For example, explorers could make and share maps, sketches and detailed records of their discoveries.

In 1440 the publishing industry was born when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. For the first time, written works could be mass-produced. Books became cheaply available.

With the printing press, words were much easier to reproduce than images: roughly 100 alphanumeric characters can convey nearly any idea, whereas every visual image must be uniquely created. There were other restrictions as well: words must be carefully set in lines and columns. Occasionally images could be inset to illustrate the text but all had to be carefully positioned according to a grid.

The printing press gave birth to a powerful industry. Monarchies crumbled as the voice of the people, through pamphlets and tracts, could now compete with the voices of priests, kings and queens. The industrial age of publishing reached its peak with the massive, global entertainment industry in the late 20th century.

Today, entertainment giants such as Fox, Viacom, Disney and Sony dominate global culture because they control most of what the world sees and hears. This in turn gives them tremendous influence over what the world thinks and feels. But their days are numbered, and they know it. In the 21st century, and communication has entered a digital age. Publishing power, like computing power, gets cheaper and cheaper all the time. Eventually, both computing and publishing power will be as cheap and plentiful as paper is today.

It started in 1984, when Apple introduced the Macintosh computer and the first graphical user interface (GUI). For the first time, ordinary people could interact with a computer visually: with window, icons, folders, trash bins. People who had never considered themselves “computer people” now had access to a powerful tool for creative endeavors, which allowed them to do things they could never have done before.

Individuals could now become publishers. With very little investment they could design their own business cards, brochures, logos, even magazines. It was called desktop publishing, and professional publishers were horrified.

The world will never be the same, they said. Without professional training, people will abuse this power. And they were right. Bad design proliferated. Badly designed logos, badly designed brochures, badly designed newsletters, badly designed magazines, became the norm, when once they had been the exception.

Publishing involves both the creation and delivery of information. The desktop publishing revolution solved the creation problem, but in 1984, to deliver a magazine you still needed to print it and mail it, and to deliver a video you needed to broadcast it. And those things were expensive.

But in 1991, Tim Berners-Lee invented another revolution in visual communication: the web browser. Today, because of the web browser, you can publish your ideas to the world for the price of an internet connection.

The cost of creating and publishing information is plummeting inexorably towards zero.
The publishing industry has counted on people’s laziness, their willingness to be led, and their willingness to be fed information. This is the same mistake that established authorities have made since the beginning of time.

They fail to realize a critical fact: the ability to play with tools drives literacy, and the more literate people are, the more involved they become.

Children play with paper and pencils in order to learn how to draw and spell. And as people played with their computers they began to develop their visual communication skills. And playing with digital communication tools like the internet drives visual literacy.

Today, we are free once more. Paradoxically, now that everything has been reduced to zeros and ones, our only limit is our imagination. What’s interesting is that we continue to constrain ourselves to the grid, even when it is no longer necessary. The conventions of printing, which once liberated ideas by making them mass-producible, have now become a prison.

So what’s next? Watch the kids. In the 1970s we started playing video games, and although we didn’t know it at the time, we were learning how to interact with digital technologies. We were learning the hand-eye coordination skills we would need to operate the computers of the 1980s.
The toys of today are the tools of tomorrow: blogging, podcasting, photosharing, videoblogging – these are all early indicators. People are making their own movies and publishing their ideas to the world. With every passing year the technology gets cheaper and easier to use.

What we are seeing today on the internet is the emergence of a truly global culture, a culture that communicates visually. People around the world are playing with visual thinking toys, and their visual literacy is slowly rising.

We’re in the process of learning how to communicate visually – we’re witnessing the emergence of a global visual language. I am very happy to be a part of it.

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In London this week

Hi all,

I'll be in London this week on my way to open our new office in Madrid. I'm leaving for Spain Saturday morning (20 January). Please leave a comment if you'd like to hook up this week in London -- maybe we can have a blogger meetup or something. Let's discuss who, where and when in the comments section.

Cheers!

Dave

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XPLANE Culture Map

XPLANE Culture Map, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Every company has a culture, but it can take time to learn, and the stated culturecan often differ significantly from what people actually experience.

At XPLANE we have created a visual map of our culture, to guide our teams in daily decision making and help them make choices that are consistent with what we stand for and who we want to be.

Click here and roll over the photo for notes that explain the diagram.

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Job openings at XPLANE

As most of you know by now, XPLANE is in growth mode. I thought I would share a list of currently open positions. If you or someone you know is right for XPLANE please let them know about it.

It's an exciting time for us and I hope you will consider joining us.

Applications/resumes should go to opportunities@xplane.com, but please feel free to copy me as well (dgray at xplane dot com).

Senior Information Designer (Portland, St. Louis)

Qualified candidates will demonstrate skills in visual communication, process mapping, creative direction, people management and business technology.

We will also be looking for strong organizational and interpersonal skills.

Computer skills: Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, and any capability with Web 2.0 tools a plus.

Education/Experience: College degree in visual communication, information design or journalism is preferred. 5 years of real world experience is required.

Travel: You will typically spend at least 5 days out of town per month. A passport will be necessary.

Salary/Benefits: Salary is commensurate with experience and we offer a complete benefits package.

Send your resume along with 3 samples of your best work to opportunities@xplane.com. No phone calls.

Information Designer (St. Louis)

XPLANE is a global leader in visual communication and we are looking a Junior Information Designer to join our creative team. You will work with top managers from Fortune 500 companies around the world to creatively visualize complex processes and technologies.

Qualified candidates will demonstrate skills in visual communication, information heirarchy, process mapping and typography. We will also be looking for strong organizational and interpersonal skills.

Computer skills: Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, and any capability with Web 2.0 tools a plus.

Education/Experience: College degree in visual communication, information design or journalism is preferred. 2 years of real world experience is required.

Travel: You will typically spend at least 5 days out of town per month. A passport will be necessary.

Salary/Benefits: Salary is commensurate with experience and we offer a complete benefits package.

Send your resume along with 3 samples of your best work to opportunities@xplane.com. No phone calls.

Production assistant (St. Louis)

Requirements:

· 3 years experience in a graphic design studio, advertising agency or interactive agency or comparable freelance experience required

· Bachelor’s degree in fine arts, illustration, graphic design, interaction design or visual communications is preferred

· Experience in Adobe Creative Suite 2, particularly Illustrator and Photoshop is required, Flash skills are a plus

· Excellent rendering, illustration and graphic design skills

· Strong understanding of design principals including: layout, type and color

· Strong conceptual thinking ability

· Excellent understanding of constraints (limited color palette, bandwidth constraints, etc.)

· Ability to define tasks, organize complex projects and meet deadlines under pressured timeline

· Skills in all aspects of managing the print process including production, pre-press and press checking capabilities

· Excellent leadership and teamwork skills

· Outstanding references

Responsibilities:

· Take instructions from a designer to create complete layouts and final deliverables

· Work with a project team leader to fulfill client needs and adjust artwork based on those needs

· Produce final files that image properly to multiple print and interactive environments

· Maintain style sheets and update as required

Send resume and samples to opportunities@xplane.com.

Production assistant intern (Portland)

Requirements:

· Experience in a graphic design studio, advertising agency or interactive agency or comparable freelance experience required

· Bachelor’s degree in fine arts, illustration, graphic design, interaction design or visual communications is preferred

· Experience in Adobe Creative Suite 2, particularly Illustrator and Photoshop is required, Flash skills are a plus

· Excellent rendering, illustration and graphic design skills

· Strong understanding of design principals including: layout, type and color

· Strong conceptual thinking ability

· Excellent understanding of constraints (limited color palette, bandwidth constraints, etc.)

· Ability to define tasks, organize complex projects and meet deadlines under pressured timeline

· Skills in all aspects of managing the print process including production, pre-press and press checking capabilities

· Excellent leadership and teamwork skills

· Outstanding references

Responsibilities:

· Take instructions from a designer to create complete layouts and final deliverables

· Work with a project team leader to fulfill client needs and adjust artwork based on those needs

· Produce final files that image properly to multiple print and interactive environments

· Maintain style sheets and update as required

Send resume and samples to opportunities@xplane.com

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