THE IDEA SHAPERS is an amazing resource for developing AND COMMUNICATING your thoughts. It gives you multiple methods on how to both approach and organize ideas, questions, concerns, and solutions. If you like to think or share ideas with colored pens, pencils, or markers, then I suggest this book.
_Biographical story about why I love this book_
A couple years ago I wanted help with how to use flip charts. A big part of my job is adult training and I know "old school" flip charts help students understand and remember the material.
I searched many ways online and found some of my best resources on YouTube, sometimes in German, which I don't speak. I also bought at least a half-dozen books on visual meetings, drawing, graphic facilitation, and more. All of them gave me a little help and none of them answered my questions. They were a part, but not all of the puzzle. I didn't know enough to do more than copy a few ideas I had seen others do.
Getting serious, I bought specialized markers. [ NOTE: Your tools can make a difference, even when your skills are low. ] I took not 1, but 2 different classes about how to improve my skills. The classes taught me a few more techniques and made a huge difference in how comfortable I feel drawing. [ NOTE: You don't have to be good at this to make a difference. Really. ]
In the end, my students raved, I felt proud, and I wanted more. I knew there were a ton of simple shapes, but I didn't know them. I knew there was more to understand about how to use images, different ways to approach them, why somethings might work differently. I knew there was a way to use pictures, graphics, composition, etc. What I didn't know was how to get from "Uh, something could make this better" to "Wow, that helps clarify the idea."
Brandy's book, The Idea Shapers is the resource I have been waiting for. I could have been much further ahead in my journey with this book. I recently bought multiple copies and I have started to give them as gifts. It's that good.
_About the book itself_
It's huge, clocking in at over 400 pages. It has lots of graphics in gray-scale. If there is any ding against this book it's that there are no color pictures. It might cost a fortune in color, but I have to think it would be worth it.
Part I: This section makes a great case for drawing, how to use it, why simple is better, and the power of getting ideas of of your head and onto paper.
Part II: This section gives you the 5 major ideas about how to capture and arrange your drawings (ideas).
Step 1. Chunk - different ways to capture, organize, use ideas to further your goal
Step 2. Sort & Group - how to arrange & label information into useful clusters
Step 3. Connect & Contain - many ways to express relationships between ideas
Step 4. Scale - how to use size to create organization and influence thinking
Step 5. Grasp - ways to make meaning out of your drawing
Part III: This section is filled with encouragement and permission to take all the ideas and make them your own.
_Afterward_
The brain has centers built to process what you hear. The brain has centers built to process what you see. The brain does not have a center to process reading, we've jury rigged this. Spend a little more time on your visuals (drawing, not artwork) and everyone who sees it, including you, will have an easier time understanding the intent. Make people happy, pick up a marker or crayon and draw!
closing note: Edited to fix grammer problem
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