Visualizing good in 2017 with a custom card for you, a shoutout to a powerful project, and a custom haiku recap
/Hi Folks! It's been quite a year! Happy holidays, and here's a card for you---
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At this time of year, many think about how they can best help other people. If you are like me, you walk by people living on the streets feeling helpless to change their situation. What's the solution? It starts with understanding the fundamental humanity of everybody. To that end, I highly recommend checking out Mark Horvath's project Invisible People where he posts fascinating and moving interviews with people who are living on the streets giving them a them an outlet to speak in their own words. I will never look people caught in the trap of homelessness the same way after watching a few of these. And if enough people start to care, we can do better to address this issue. I encourage you to give invisible people a look!
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Year end haiku wrap up!
Last but not least, I've condensed this year's Visualize Good recap in a new way, with haiku poems accompanying visuals, followed by brief prose explanations. My work this year consisted mainly of what I call visual listening--creating large scale visuals based on the ideas swirling around meetings and conferences. I also led sessions where people learned to use drawing as a thinking and problem solving tool. I love doing both. If you are interested in creating a powerful meeting experience in 2018, I invite you to contact me to discuss how to infuse your event with the power of visual thinking.
gather your thoughts, speak,
with drawings reinforcing
messages of care
This moment above was captured during an interview of one of the participants in a massive design jam which had the goal of creating updated standards and practices for social impact investing. I loved the way they used the large scale visual notes I created that day as an interview background. Client: Social Capital Markets.
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interactive tech
designers to be
whiteboard the future
When you are designing something intangible, like a digital interactive product, it helps to draw a picture of who it will impact, in what ways. That's part of what we did in a class I taught on visual problem solving with masters degree students at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.
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what’s equality?
express our vision here, now
ink on paper
It's easy to advocate "equality for all," but what do people mean by equality? At the Asian American Community Development Conference, I gave attendees a quick drawing lesson and had them draw and share their vision of what equality could look like in New York City. We gathered up their drawings and made a popup gallery.
drug trials cost much
time, cash, and precious lives.
picture: Innovate
It turns out that the most expensive part of getting new drugs, devices, and procedures to patients is the clinical trials. At the Disruptive Innovations to Advance Clinical Trials conference, doctors, scientists, and innovators build a community bent on radically improving the way we do clinical trials so we can better treatments to people who need them, faster, and at lower expense. I was honored to be part of this conference, supporting it with large scale visual notes. Client: The Conference Forum.
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how can journalists
understand technology
without drawing it?
As a hardcore news junkie, it was a treat to get a bunch of journalists from outfits like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, WNYC and Buzzfeed, drawing to understand new technologies. Cient: Data & Society.
politics: a tool
to change our reality--
grab a wrench, turn it
You may have noticed a lot of political energy on the progressive side of the political spectrum since the last presidential election. I was proud to be asked to facilitate knowledge sharing among national and local progressive groups at the NYC convening of ActLocal, a national event with multiple sites geared toward strengthening relationships between progressive groups. At the one day event, I created information murals which captured the conversations and ideas which swirled around the main room.. One of the organizers told me "I can't tell you how many people commented on your work, and how much it added to the experience. The whole thing felt like a community effort at the end, and it honestly wouldn't have felt the same without you."
lets turn swords to pens
spill ink, build understanding
the same world, new eyes
Happy holidays folks! Let me know how you're doing! I'd love to catch up.