Live Drawing and Sketchnoting
Case Studies
Dundee Walking and Cycling Index 2023
I was commissioned by Sustrans to live draw their Dundee Walking and Cycling Index 2023.
The report assesses the current state of active travel in the city, and the launch event considered how to encourage more people to wheel, walk or cycle in Dundee. Speakers included staff from Sustrans and Dundee City Council, as well as a case study panel of current active travellers in Dundee. The case study panelists included a local artist Linda Brownlee, car-free Claire Dufour, disabled ‘wheelie’ walker Frances and e-bike enthusiast Chris Phin.
How did it work?
Initial Plans
I developed a concept for the base sheet, using the shape of Dundee, and splitting up the information using active pathways around the city.
Creating the final live drawing
The final drawing was between A2 and A1, and was completed over two hours. The final outcome was scanned and sent to Sustrans to be used in digital content promoting the index and summarising the Index Launch event.
Dundee’s Maritime Pasts and Futures
I was commissioned by Dundee Library to visually record an event called ‘Dundee’s Maritime Pasts and Futures.
The aim of the live drawing was to visually record talks about Dundee’s whaling history, the River Tay’s history, a story of the Tay Whale and connecting to nature in the present day. There was also activities for participants to record their own feelings and stories about the Tay and ideas for how the city’s history with the river can be represented for future generations.
How did it work?
Initial Plans
I developed a concept for the base sheet, inspired by the shape of the Tay, with the white area representing the water. This could be populated by words and pictures throughout, with sections being split up by the waves of the river.
Creating the final live drawing
The final drawing was between A1 and A0 in size and was created over around seven hours. Throughout the session, I added and completed local landmarks such as V&A Dundee, RRS Discovery and the Magdalen Bandstand.
Eden Project Dundee Community Consultations
I was commissioned by Eden Project to create a live drawing to visually record the overheard words, notes from breakout discussions and presentations during two of the Community Consultation Events. The aim of the live drawing was to collate the findings from each event into one large live illustration, in which members of the community could have their voices heard in a tangible visual resource.
The first Community Consultation event was held in Arthurstone Community Library in Stobswell and the second in Ardler Complex, with attendees including members of the local community. The session consisted of members from the Eden Project Team, across Dundee and Cornwall, giving an overview of the organisation and plans for the Dundee site. Breakout sessions then began, with each group sharing their thoughts and opinions on how Eden Project should action five different themes; health and happiness, vision and future impacts, equity and local economy, transportation and accessibility, design and development and community engagement.
The notes and overheard words from these breakout sessions were translated into visual recordings and notes on the live drawing.
How did it work?
Initial Plans
I worked with Tanya MacDonald MBA and Caishlan Sweeney to develop an initial composition for the recordings, based on an abstract map of the proposed Eden Project site, using green pathways to split up areas of information and themes. Below are some screenshots from a pdf sent to the Eden Project team in advance of the events.
Creating the final live drawing
2050 Climate Group - Youth Climate Summit
‘A Moment for a Movement’
I was commissioned by 2050 Climate Group to create an illustrated tangible resource to document the Youth Climate Summit 2023, held in Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.
The summit consisted of different talks and workshops aimed at encouraging discussion around climate change, building a community between young climate activists in Scotland to action climate anxiety. Attendees included many important names in the climate justice movement.
How did it work?
Initial Plans
I worked with Alyson MacKay, Operations Coordinator at 2050 Climate Group to develop an initial plan for the base sheet for the event. This was based on the setting of Dynamic Earth, with the surrounding landscape used to contain information from throughout the day.
Creating the final live drawing
‘Feeding Tayside through the Climate Crisis’
I was commissioned by Bioregioning Tayside to create a live drawing to visually record the conversations and panel talks during a conference called ‘Feeding Tayside through the Climate Crisis’. The aim of the live drawing was to create a visual summary and tangible documentation of the event, collating quotes, ideas and visual metaphors of ideas mentioned throughout the day.
The conference attendees and panelists included farmers, food producers, experts in sustainability, local food sellers and community garden workers. The purpose of the gathering was to gain an understanding on the current situation of food production, selling and consumption in Tayside, and how five factors could lead to changes in public behaviour.
These included accessibility, economic competitiveness, cultural and social norms, performance and capability.
How did it work?
Initial Plans
I worked with Kevin Frediani to develop an initial composition for the recordings, based on a map of the Tayside bioregion and using rivers to split the information from the five panel topics.
Recording attendees’ thoughts
I created A4 and A3 versions of the live drawing base for attendees to record their own thoughts and deductions from the panel talks.
Using a combination of these sheets and flip chart notes from breakout discussions, I collated attendees’ views on the five topics, and recorded these on the large live drawing sheet too.
Creating the final live drawing
‘Learning through Place’ for Education Scotland
I was commissioned by V&A Dundee to assist in Education Scotland’s fifth session with Tayside Curriculum Innovation Collective, based on ‘Place Based Learning’.
The attendees used the environment surrounding V&A Dundee and Slessor Gardens, to conduct an observational walk, considering how elements of local environments can inspire learning. The participants were first shown an illustration by Alastair Geddes, exploring the impact that natural environment can have on urban life.
I created two rough ideas for activity sheets based on the walk, and looking at how a local environment can change.
Outcome Examples
I created some rough sketches based on a trial observational walk with Schools Development Coordinator, Gary Jamieson. I considered how industries in Dundee could impact elements in present day, such as whaling inspiring the Tay Whale in the Urban Beach.
I then looked at how elements of the environment could be improved to work towards the Sustainable Development Goals, such as clean water and sanitation, zero hunger and sustainable energy.
Colour Version
I created a more finalised version of this outcome, incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals and versions of the past, present and future. The illustration is available to view on the ThingLink site exploring the prompt and session.
Creating the live drawing
As well as creating the example activity sheets, as part of my role as a freelance designer for V&A Dundee, I attended on the Education Scotland event to conduct a live drawing of the ‘Place Based Learning’ session. The session was two and a half hours long, and I recorded the different talks, reflections and activities that took place throughout.
The majority of the pale blue paint, creating the composition of the drawing, was prepared prior to the event. It was based on the area the participants would be undertaking their ‘observational walk’, around V&A Dundee, by the Urban Beach and through Slessor Gardens.
As the talks and sections of the event progressed, areas of information were split using more pale blue lines, to visually separate areas of notes.
‘The Future of Independent Living’
I was commissioned by Blackwood Group to create live drawings based on feedback from customers on the future of independent living.
Blackwood Group are an organisation advocating for the rights of disabled people, championing the idea that they can live independently. They create accessible homes and offer care and support for disabled people of all ages.
The purpose of the event was to gain insights on the current views of their accessible housing, and to distinguish the actions needed to improve the homes. The findings would form the framework of Blackwood’s future of independent living.
How did it work?
Initial Plans
The organisers of the event were keen to use a ‘cog’ idea to portray all the elements working together enabling independent living. I developed some initial ideas based on this concept and based on the organisers’ feedback, we decided on the second option. The colours of Blackwood Group’s branding were used to create consistency within their framework document.
Recording Attendees Thoughts
For this event, customers and users would pass by and provide their insights on the five themes; health and wellbeing, social value, neighbourhood and place, technology and sustainability.
I worked with Marie McQuade, who recorded their thoughts on post-it notes for me to transfer onto the board.
Sketchnote with Scriberia
This was the outcome of a 6 hour long brief with visual communication company Scriberia. I was given information about five tips to beat insomnia and had to convert them into a visual infographic or ‘sketchnote’.
I decided to use a limited colour scheme of purple, black and white to create a bold design, and used the image of the bedsheet as an area for splitting up the information and facts.
The concept was to create a character that was quite irritable and frustrated with his lack of sleep, but being placed in all of the suggested situations. He was counting sheep but they have all fallen asleep.