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Based on some of the feedback I’ve had from the Sketchology meetup sessions I’ve hosted this year, I’ve designed two new services for 2019.

Learn to Sketch your Ideas Bitesize is a one hour, hands-on learning session suitable for anyone to attend. It helps demonstrate why visual works and encourages folks to pick up the pen and get started.

Visual Storytelling for Beginners is a two hour, customised for your business, hands-on learning session for those folks who already stand up at the front of the room in meetings. People who lead departments, teams or projects can now add visual storytelling as another tool in their facilitator toolkit.

More information on the Teach you to Sketch page.

A few months ago I completed some sketch work on the subject of Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), and this month that collateral has been published on the Worksafe website as a Noise toolkit.

Using a sketch style is quite a departure from Worksafe’s usual brand so I congratulate the Worksafe Advisers and the Communications team in taking a punt on this experimental approach.

Video

Here’s an example of one of the three videos in the NIHL series. There is no audio narration, just a backing sound track.

This was produced using Paper by fiftythree (iPad app), and Premiere Pro to create the video format.

Lingo image library

Part of the project output was to create a Lingo kit (a design library app) of 150 separate images, from the video content, for Worksafe’s Communications team designers to use in the accompanying print and online graphics.

A Lingo Kit means clients can keep on using the imagery for their own storytelling purposes, such as in presentations.

If you’re not already doing it, please follow me on Instagram, I’ll be posting more often over the next few months as I start to ramp up my online learning series on Skillshare.

I teach online at Skillshare – an online learning community with thousands of classes in design, business, tech, and more. Anyone can join the millions of members to learn cutting-edge skills, network with peers and discover new opportunities.

Go to my class ‘Learn to Sketch… a Timeline”

You can watch the introduction video for free.

If you would like to see the whole 18 minutes of video lessons you will have to sign up to Skillshare Premium.

Skillshare Premium costs US$96 per year to join, there are thousands of online classes on a variety of topics in business, technology, design and creativity in all formats.

There are also loads of classes you can watch for free if you’re not ready to sign up, go to Skillshare to find free classes.

#Sketchswoon is my very own hashtag for when I’m compelled to sketch something for someone who is doing great work, has inspired me or just plain made me feel good.

#1 Wendy McGuinness of the McGuinness Institute (a non-partisan think tank working towards a sustainable future for New Zealand), spoke briefly at the Wellington Rotary Forum “Achieve the impossible dream” in August 2017. Wendy’s a Futurist – so, so cool.

#2 Brianne West of Ethique Beauty (pronounced ‘Eh-teak’) is leading the charge in sustainable beauty practices and has prevented the manufacture and disposal of more than 150,000 plastic containers worldwide, by producing solid bars for your hair, body and face #giveupthebottle.

Follow me on Twitter @Sketchabilitynz or search #sketchswoon

Yah, my favourite video captioning provider 3Play Media has added an audio description service! Visual is a great way to unravel and understand information but obviously it’s not for everyone because not everyone can ‘see’ through their retinas.

I’m going to be trialling a way to audio describe my sketches so that they are accessible to all, it’ll be a challenge but now there is an easier way to get it done, so congratulations to 3Play Media for improving accessible media. I ❤ you.

I love a good stat that I can remember easily, thanks to vidyard for these two gems…

I’ve been following the Allbirds story from their fledgling beginnings in Wellington, and now I see how they are using hand-drawn images in their marketing, and as way-finding device on their website.

It warms my heart to see their ‘low-tech’ approach to story telling…