Drawing is fun, professional, and useful

As kids, we drew endlessly:

?Stick figures

? Sun, sky, and houses

? Doodles of anything we imagined

As we grew to be adults, we assumed, sketching is "too hard" or it doesn't fit into being an adult.

I thought so too.

Until a friend challenged & changed that mindset.

You can draw most of the professional ideas with simple geometric shapes:

lines, circles, rectangles, triangles are all powerful to convey information.

Why simple shapes?

? they are understood by all

? they are quick to draw

? you can focus on clarity over aesthetics

Tools to visualize ideas:

? pen & paper

? tablet and digital pencils

? digital tools

I use all the three; now-a-days, I use simple digital tools.

Why?

I am always on a browser - either desktop or mobile.

My favorite digital tools:

? excalidraw.com

? dgm.sh

? www.tldraw.com

? app.diagrams.net

Why I like them?

? They work out of browser (nothing to install)

? They are OSS (so even if they go out of biz, I can host them)

? They work offline (I can draw when I travel; draw in coffee shop)

Take line for example:

? it can indicate start & end point of a project

? it can show growth (sales)

? it can show decline (revenue)

? it can show something being flat (income)

Let us keep going...

What about circles?

You can slice them to show different parts of a whole

Or you can create Venn diagram, which is the most common use of circles

Let us talk about triangles.

Triangles can show three sides of an idea (digital = human + machines + space)

or they can show levels & hierarchy

As you can see simple geometric shapes useful.

? Quickly convey information

??? Are persuasive and engaging

???? Strengthen the message

?? Help info to be easily understood

?? Are inclusive for different types of people.

Do you use visuals in your communication?