This course will give you skills, confidence, and competence as a beginning graphic recorder. However, it requires some basic tools, a positive attitude, and a willingness to do the creative exercises.

We go shopping for supplies together. You want to be a Rockstar Scribe, right? And you want to work on large surfaces, like whiteboards and giant sheets of paper? Well, now you need to get some supplies so that we can get to work!

Learn from two very different yet related experts: sound and communication expert Julian Treasure and visual artist Shantell Martin.

In this first creative exercise it is all about getting familiar with your materials, loosening up, and getting started making BIG marks.

You will learn techniques for drawing circles, squares, triangles, and other basic shapes. Remember, the key isn’t to draw perfectly… but to draw fast!!!

Our arms were built to make complex set of movements. The problem is that a lot of people use only their wrist when scribing on a large piece of paper or whiteboard.

Let's talk about the proper technique for drawing squares. Plus tips for filling shapes with lines, dots, dashes, and patterns.
REMEMBER: Concentrate on using your arm and not your wrist!!

Pointy things are good for, well, pointing. And triangles are truly the most powerful of shapes. Plus, isn’t it weird that pumpkins are the only living creatures with triangle eyes?

Move from the world of 2-dimensions to solid 3-D with the flick of your wrist.

In this fun exercise, we stack squares and requisition rectangles to build the city of our dreams.

Stephan Wiltshire: The boy who draws cities

In this module, we will combine basic shapes, simple images, symbols, icons, and typography to create “sketchnotes” from a podcast.

What is the difference between types of mark-making? We will have a subject matter expert teach you the secret to creating objects, animals, and more using basic shapes. When asked if it is hard, she answers: “No, not really.”

A psychological phenomenon that transforms marks into numbers, letters, images, icons, and symbols. In this lesson, we explore that magical power.

Building on the basic shapes, we explore more tips on creating simple figures and putting them into action.

We begin with a brief history of the human journey from images to letterforms as they evolved from images to hieroglyphs and modern letterforms.

Clarity is king! And there are two main font families with which you may already be familiar: serif & sans serif. We learn to write in both.

This is not for any other reason than to have a personal space to experiment, to keep your hand moving, and to play.

Select a podcast that interests you. Collect your basic materials along with your sketchbook, a simple black pen or marker will do.

This renowned American designer shares her insights on style, movement, craft, type, architecture, and going with your instincts.

Time to put together your personal toolkit — all the markers, paper, and other supplies you'll need to be a Rockstar Scribe.

The pluses and minuses of chalk, pastel, wax blocks, crayons, watercolor, and paint pens.

The art supply industry is full of variety. The main thing is to experiment and find the right tools to match your personal style.

You could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to create the perfect kit. Or you can get started with a Minimum Viable Pouch (MVP) with the bare necessities.

What can you learn—and incorporate—about typography and color from the art of the streets? Or from some of your favorite artists? Children? Nature?

In this exercise we are going to detach ourselves from the need to capture content and just get familiar with our tools. Getting started with scribing — especially scribing with color! — can be intimidating. So, assemble your MVP toolkit with easy-to-get materials (whatever you already have or can purchase easily and cheaply).

Bringing together icons, symbols, words, and images. What are some basic parts of visual models? What is the difference between scribing and creating a collaborative journey map or timeline?

We cover the basic parts of making visual models.

Visual models are very diverse, but they share some basic parts.

Let us go behind the scenes to a large conference in Orlando, Florida.

Ideas lie on a continuum, from literal to frustratingly abstract.

As visual communicators, finding the right level of simplicity and abstraction—without losing your audience—is the ideal spot on what illustrator Christoph Niemann calls “The Abstract-o-Meter.”