In March 2012 I took part as a graphic recorder in Zero Waste by Design workshops organised by the Eco Design Centre (EDC). The four workshops covered four industries: transport, product manufacturing, textiles and design and were organised in conjunction with the Welsh Government’s Towards Zero Waste strategy. During each workshop I created a graphic recording onto a big board capturing the issues, ideas and solutions relating to zero waste.
Together with Eoin from EDC I went through ideas and issues that might arise and given the short length of the workshop (12-15 minutes) came up with the idea of using stickers to help rapid visualisation. This meant that I needed to familiarise myself better with life cycle thinking and ideas around waste to be able to both illustrate relevant symbols and capture conversation in context quickly.
A key element during the workshops was collaborating with EDC facilitators in each group – they were crucial in condensing information and bringing out key outcomes of each session. I also invited the participants to review the boards afterwards to make sure they could add anything that might have been left out.
For a fast-forward video of this graphic recording process, see this blog post.
If you have a workshop in mind you would like to collaborate on, please get in touch to discuss.
Despite estimates of anything from 75-95% of communication being non-verbal many individuals and organisations have failed to grasp the significance of this in their communication approach. Thankfully this is beginning to change and visual communicators like Laura will be key to making this change sustainable. She is great to work with: she produced high-quality work that engaged all of the participants and I have no hesitation in recommending her.
Frank O’Connor
Director, Ecodesign Centre Wales
