Think Ink Studios

The Back of the Napkin Goes to Washington

Dan Roam gave a workshop to the heads of staff for Senators from the Democratic side. His post shows a great working example of his principles from his book The Back of the Napkin. He condenses a lot of heavy data comparing eight years of the Clinton Administration with eight years of the George W Bush administration into graphics that are easy to understand and that anyone could produce.
Consider this next time you have to present any boring company data!

See the full post with many more graphics here

Electing a US President in Plain English

This is a another great video from Common Craft.
This is an example of a explanation that is deceptively simple; great storytelling and visualization techniques!

Visual Periodic Table

This is a really nice example from Visual Literacy that illustrates how to organize a large number of reference points. Click on the photo below to go to the site; then hover on any of the elements and an example of that graphic will pop-up. Nice organization and visual graphic!

Find examples of additional visual maps here

Here are the links that correspond to all the images in the graphic.

A Wise Tree In The Grove

I was intrigued by a posting on David Sibbet's blog of The Grove Consultants. He eloquently recapped a recent Facilitation Mastery session that he led where participants learn the Grove's methodology and the four flows. Having a meditation practice of my own I was drawn to this exercise on working with the flow of attention (see below) and his metaphor that likened personal growth to the growth rings on a tree. I really like that metaphor and believe we are always adding to our edges or rings through our experiences.

From his posting Working the Flow of Attention
Since attention is fundamental, we threaded reflective process throughout. If you think of attention as a flashlight (metaphor again), then it can be broad or narrow beam. It can also be turned inward or outward. A facilitator needs to not only be aware of his or her own awareness but also imagine what people in the group are attending to. So how does a person develop mastery in being aware of attention?

Our big exercise day one was having people create large personal portraits of themselves inside an outline of their bodies drawn by a partner. These portraits were “current state” pictures looking at four aspects of ourselves (these questions were derived from thinking about the four flows). The question we asked of ourselves are the following:

1. What inspires you?
2. What nurtures you?
3. What intrigues you?
4. What are you committed to?
5. What gifts are you bringing to this workshop?

The graphic below was David's answer. Answers to question #1 are along the top. Question #2 answers are along the left side. Question #3 answers are along the bottom. Questions #4 answers are on the rights side. And Question #5 answers are inside his body outline.

Dan Roam on AtGoogleTalks

This is Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin, on AtGoogleTalks.
See previous posts for more info on Dan's book and approach to visual thinking.

No Small Change - How Obama Reinvented Campaign Finance

This is a great explanation graphic from the folks at XPLANE

Barack Obama is the first major candidate to decline participation in the public financing system for presidential campaigns. He’s found a more effective way to raise money — by leveraging the power of the American people through online Social Networks.

Download the PDF

What do Social Media and Ice-cream have in common?

Here's the latest video from Common Craft great ice-cream analogy - show me the way to Scoopville!

Social Media in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Wacom Cintiq - Digital Sketching Made Easy

I've been trying to learn to draw digitally on a Wacom Intous tablet and the process has not been smooth. It's difficult getting used to drawing on the tablet while you look at the screen to see what is happening; there is a disconnect between your hand and eyes. Wacom has solved this with the Cintiq. I test drove one at Vizthink; it was awesome, very intuitive and easy to use. Combine the Cintiq with some drawing software like Autodesk's Alias Sketchbook Pro and your off and running! The Cintiq will help streamline and improve your workflow. I can't wait to get one.

Here is a demo of the Cintiq by GeorgeComics

Dan Roam on Fox Business

Here's the Happy Hour segment from Fox Business with Dan Roam.
He has a simple explanation of Microsoft's strategy to buy Yahoo.

You can download the The 10 1/2 Commandments of Visual Thinking: The "Lost Chapter" from The Back of the Napkin here at ChangeThis

Also see previous posts:
Dan Roam's Napking Sketches on Fast Company
The Back of the Napkin

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

Here is a really cool video book trailer on Dan Pink's latest manga-style career guide, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko.

Johnny Bunko trailer from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.