Workshops
October 17-18, 2019
At this stage we have three pre-conference workshops.The workshops will take place on the days preceding the main conference. There may be additional workshops added over the coming weeks.
- Workshop 1: Level Up Your Lettering with Heather Martinez
- Workshop 2: Sketchnoting 101 with Matthew Magain
- Workshop 3: Visual Collaboration with Marcel Van Hove
Workshop 1: Level Up Your Lettering
with Heather Martinez
What you'll learn
What you'll learn
What is this tool designed for and what else can it do?
We will explore the marks and lettering styles embedded in each type of Neuland marker nib starting with foundational letterforms to help you find your unique lettering style. What you will gain from this 2-day workshop:
About the host
Heather Leavitt Martinez is a visual practitioner, art coach and lettering artist living in Southwest Colorado. Her lettering journey started taking shape in 2016 when she vowed to make it a lettering year. After studying with master sign painters, graffiti artists, and calligraphers—which she continues to do today—she decided to translate what she learned to teach other visual practitioners the tradecraft of breaking down any lettering style into the tools used for client work. Heather believes that what we write on the wall is more than mere handwriting—letters are the building blocks of communication. She has presented at two IFVP conferences and last year at EuViz.
- Help you see the nuances in letterforms
- Gain a better understanding of how each tool is designed to produce a different mark
- Increase hand/eye coordination through pen manipulation: holding the marker at different or specific angles, pressure, and working with speed
About the host
Heather Leavitt Martinez is a visual practitioner, art coach and lettering artist living in Southwest Colorado. Her lettering journey started taking shape in 2016 when she vowed to make it a lettering year. After studying with master sign painters, graffiti artists, and calligraphers—which she continues to do today—she decided to translate what she learned to teach other visual practitioners the tradecraft of breaking down any lettering style into the tools used for client work. Heather believes that what we write on the wall is more than mere handwriting—letters are the building blocks of communication. She has presented at two IFVP conferences and last year at EuViz.
Workshop 2: Sketchnoting 101
with Matthew Magain
What you'll learn
Sketchnoting is the art of taking visual notes—for yourself, or to share the experience you’re capturing with others. In this workshop, you’ll learn the basics of sketchnoting: why it’s such a valuable skill to develop, and how to go from stick figures that you’re embarrassed about sharing to fun, sophisticated visual notes that bring content to life, spark further conversations, and people love looking at.
In this workshop you’ll get the opportunity to:
About the host
Matthew Magain is the founder and CEO of Sketch Group, a collective of creative souls who use sketching to solve problems, tell stories, explain ideas, and capture conversations. Over the years, he has created a whiteboard animation about the federal budget, graphically recorded a presentation for Malcolm Gladwell, graphically facilitated a board meeting at the ABC, and visualised a journey map of the foster carer system. He believes sketching can be transformational.
Matthew’s work has been featured in several books about sketchnoting, and he is a regular guest on podcasts about visual thinking. He lives in Melbourne and spends his spare time buying LEGO® online and pretending it’s for his daughters.
What you'll learn
Sketchnoting is the art of taking visual notes—for yourself, or to share the experience you’re capturing with others. In this workshop, you’ll learn the basics of sketchnoting: why it’s such a valuable skill to develop, and how to go from stick figures that you’re embarrassed about sharing to fun, sophisticated visual notes that bring content to life, spark further conversations, and people love looking at.
In this workshop you’ll get the opportunity to:
- learn about sketchnoting: what it is and why it matters
- understand the anatomy of a sketchnote, and where your own strengths and weaknesses lie
- get expert, personalised guidance on how to improve your visual note-taking skills, even if your starting point is “I can’t even draw a stick figure!”
- learn and apply visual metaphor to your sketchnotes
- practice a range of techniques in a live sketching session
- tools of the trade
- basic visual design principles
- layout and hierarchy
- lettering: headings, basic text, and decorative text
- connectors and containers
- faces, figures, and expressions
- depth, texture, and shading
- conventions borrowed from the comics world
- tips and tricks for working fast
- sharing your work: how best to polish your images
- resources: where to learn more
- next steps: how to improve and grow
About the host
Matthew Magain is the founder and CEO of Sketch Group, a collective of creative souls who use sketching to solve problems, tell stories, explain ideas, and capture conversations. Over the years, he has created a whiteboard animation about the federal budget, graphically recorded a presentation for Malcolm Gladwell, graphically facilitated a board meeting at the ABC, and visualised a journey map of the foster carer system. He believes sketching can be transformational.
Matthew’s work has been featured in several books about sketchnoting, and he is a regular guest on podcasts about visual thinking. He lives in Melbourne and spends his spare time buying LEGO® online and pretending it’s for his daughters.
Workshop 3: Visual Collaboration
with Marcel Van Hove
What you'll learn
Here we use active role-playing to teach you new ways of group collaboration on a whiteboard. We talk about group dynamics and why and how people can use drawing to engage and collaborate better. At the end of the workshop, you have learnt some drawing games, tricks & tips about how you can bring people together in ad-hoc meetings on a whiteboard.
About the host
Marcel van Hove lives in Germany and Australia and has 10+ years experience in agile coaching and visual facilitation. These days he is full-time “startup dad” and takes care of his son Liam while he helps the Visual Friends to conquer the visual universe. If he gets enough sleep he believes that every complex problem can be solved with smart people together on a whiteboard.
What you'll learn
Here we use active role-playing to teach you new ways of group collaboration on a whiteboard. We talk about group dynamics and why and how people can use drawing to engage and collaborate better. At the end of the workshop, you have learnt some drawing games, tricks & tips about how you can bring people together in ad-hoc meetings on a whiteboard.
About the host
Marcel van Hove lives in Germany and Australia and has 10+ years experience in agile coaching and visual facilitation. These days he is full-time “startup dad” and takes care of his son Liam while he helps the Visual Friends to conquer the visual universe. If he gets enough sleep he believes that every complex problem can be solved with smart people together on a whiteboard.