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visual thinking
Gan ig n t o h e
Nic
me u
How I in
to t ob ?
In this ebook you learn how to focus your visual
How w ir thinking power on the questions that keep you
or ori? busy.
Vis
2122
lage
8 Chan
pepve
Your visual brain works at full speed when you Visual thinking is a combination of drawing,
cross a busy street. And you are not tired when looking and imagining
you reach the other side.
Drawing is an
Your visual brain power is enormous
easy way to
make your da
Two-thirds of your brain is busy with what you
thinking
see. And with processing your visual input.
visible.
vi
You use it as thinking space: Draw out your What is on you mind?
thougths on the issue at hand.
Put your thoughts on paper in symbols, lines,
Your drawing doesn not have to be beautiful shapes and words
You only need them if the picture is not clear Do not use more than 4 words for a piece of text.
Then you can read it:
When you draw a cat to show a cat people know
what your mean. But you can interprete pictures in ge l
in many different ways. If it is not straightforward
what you mean, write it underneath.
Is your handwriting illegible?
Write slower.
If you combine your text with shapes and Sho h ur he ti
lines your thinking quickly becomes visible
b han
te f
Go n dito
Thi wa or
to hi no
Disr onon an en
When do you draw a picture? These basic shapes are your visual alphabet*
to hi n en
You use them to build your drawing.
to meg o nar
te
When you use simple forms it is easy to get * Dave Gray is the founder of Xplane and he was first to collect a visual alphabet.
Now there are several examples, but the idea is the same: Use simple shapes to
something down on paper. build your image.
Just start somewhere But if you start in the middle, you can
think in all directions
Dra re
an r ow
wa c up
It doesn’t matter
a cci
of e b
Fro or m al r
to h to
Then your eyes know where to go. Than you can structure it later.
You can use three basic structures.* If you want to map out a process, you work with a
how question. How do you get the job done? Or:
Each structure answers a question
2. How does it work?
The three questions are entrances to structure
your thinking: What type of question are you
working on? Foc te d
of let
The first is the what question:
Foc te
You can use this structure to map out team caciss
dynamics if you improve how you work together. of sen
* Deze indeling komt van Xplane, zie www.xplane.com.
an k a You can use it as a structure for your drawing and
wa t i the ne rg elaborate on it to further explore the essence.
19 Visuals in Progress kim s. van den Berg 20
how do you broaden your view? the next level I
Now you can think visually in two steps: Think of someone with another look on the
situation at hand.
1. Visual note taking
Make a drawing from his perspective. What
Tral or et
strikes you when you put it next to yours?
in su nu
Different points of view are easier to explore
when you see them next to each other
2. Reflecting visually
You also expand your view when you discuss With a drawing you see what someone means.
your drawing with someone else And you also see it when it is not clear to you.
And then you ask further.
Explain your drawing: Why not use the visual
brain of your discussion partner? He explores An exploring mindset helps when you map
what you think is self-evident. And he makes out an issue together with your colleagues
other connections. What draws his attention?
First everyone draws their own perspective. So all
Add to your drawing or make a new one. You can views get an equal amount of space.
also ask your discussion partner to draw out his
vision and put it next to yours. And then you put the drawings next to each
other.
You listen better to each other when you draw
Diss difft este
Wha yu ?
When your drawing muscles are rusty, you need to People want to see people. We want to see how
train them. Not to become an artist, but to put others do it and we identify with them.
down your lines smoothly.
When you draw a human figure, you directly
To bring flow into your visual thinking process address your visual brain
Draw a symbol when you make notes during a You build your base figure with simple shapes.
meeting. Or use frames and lines on your flip-over.
Coloring relaxes your mind and when you are Why are you stuck? Do you need more
relaxed you have more space to think. Keep information? Don’t you think is good enough? Are
moving, with your hand, with your eyes. you lacking inspiration?
Sma ft oc u What you put down on paper sets a frame on
to t e c which your visual brain can dwell.