you then head over to the Graphic Change
Academy you’ll find more free resources and our
newsletter The Visual Edit.
If you know you want to apply these skills
in your business but think you want more
support, then you can access Draw a Better
Business coaching over at graphicchange.com
too.
Let’s face it, we all have busy lives, with work,
family and friends to juggle. But, and it’s a big
BUT, we also want to continue to learn, to improve
our business and become the very best we can
be. You’ve already made a commitment to the
development of you and your business by buying
this book, and that is a seriously great start.
you’ve got this!
“let the meaning of your
work be obvious unless
it is designed purely for
your own amusement”
Edward Johnston
2
work
visually
32 DRAW A BETTER BUSINESS
what is visual thinking
and working visually all
about?
It’s possible working visually might not mean
exactly what you think it does. Sure, it involves
some drawing, but it’s not about making art or
drawing pretty pictures. In fact, it doesn’t always
involve drawing pictures at all. Sometimes, a line,
a box or an arrow is all you need.
Often, working visually involves a lot of sticky
notes and marker pens. It’s sometimes messy and
usually fun, but it isn’t about creativity for the sake
of it. Working visually is about using your brain
in a different way, enabling you to approach
challenges, create solutions and engage others
more effectively.
All of the exercises in this book are designed
to get you SEEING differently, tuning in to the
world of visual communication that is all around
you. THINKING differently, harnessing your visual
thinking skills throughout your business, and
working differently, building your muscle memory
for DRAWING, so that getting things out of your
head and onto paper becomes second nature
for you.
33
2 WORK VISUALLY
seeing
Imagine you’re going on a journey, leaving from
your front door and heading out to a supermarket.
Now imagine you’re making the journey in a world
that doesn’t rely on visual communication. No
Google Maps, no satnav, no road signs, no black‑
and‑white striped crossing, no red and green
traffic lights, no shop sign, no big orange sales
stickers showing you where the bargains are, no
pictures of food on the packets, no logos… you
get my point.
The world would be much harder to navigate
without all of the visual clues we rely on. Visual
clues that the majority of sighted people
don’t usually pay that much conscious attention
to at all.
It’s not our fault. It can be hard to focus when
we’re busy. Our minds are cluttered, our thoughts
are turned inwards trying to work through the
muddle, sometimes our conscious mind stops
engaging entirely and we operate on auto pilot,
not really aware of our surroundings at all.
So it’s understandable that we don’t always pay
attention to all of the visual communication out
there in the world.
But we do communicate visually all of the time
by using colour, shape, scale, pictures and text
in different ways. I want you to start building your
visual muscle memory, consciously using your
visual brain, and a good place to start is to start
paying attention to what you see around you
every day.
34 DRAW A BETTER BUSINESS
