Live illustration brings events to life with real-time hand-drawn visuals. It has other names such as live scribing, graphic recording, live drawing, and visual minutes. It’s a creative way to capture important moments and messages as they happen, turning conferences, talks and workshops into bold, engaging visuals.
Traditional
Large format paper and marker pens. Very flexible for most events.
Digital
Digital tablet connected to a screen or projector (both can be provided).
Remote
Connecting virtually to an online meeting.
90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
Live illustration also creates content you can use and distribute after the event, turning takeaways into marketing and educational material. At an event, all artwork is owned by the clients once it has been created and can be reused however they like. Often on office walls or social media. It can take many forms;
Capturing a speaker's words as visuals as they deliver their talk at a conference.
Turning discussion & feedback into posters.
Capturing a company's core values and turning them into highly polished illustrations.
Softening an event where there are groups be opposing views (local council and residents, finance, etc).
Making complex or sensitive messages accessible to wider communities.
For more info and bookings, use the form below or email hey@rocketsteps.co.uk
Availability Enquiries
Art created for The 'Greener, Healthier Salford' Conference:
Traditional 'in the room' live art;
Visual Learning
Are you a visual learner? Live scribing is a great way to make your event have an impact on your audience. Opinions, stories and light bulb moments are captured and remembered for you and your attendees long after the event has passed.
For live or online events, graphic recording / live scribing is a great way to engage audiences.
Here's an excerpt from a podcast interview on art where I talked about live scribing;
"I think a good live-scribing artist needs to be present and adapt quickly to the visuals. If I spend too long on one drawing, a speaker might have moved on to a new subject by the time I'm done. Writing down keywords is good, but not too many. The goal is to find a balance of words and pictures to summarise the theme of what is happening at the time."
"There's a graphic design shorthand at work. I'm connecting what speakers are saying with images associated by their subject. I also like adding appropriate humour to visuals. Just my opinion, I think with more serious topics using a little light humour can help with how people engage with sensitive subjects."
"Responses are always very positive. Attendees are often encouraged to photo the art and share it across their social media. It's a great way for them to remember the event and what was covered, but also increased the engagement and reach of the event as a whole."
For more info and bookings, contact me here or email hey@rocketsteps.co.uk
Graphic recording / Live scribing for various clients
For anyone who is a visual learner, and that's quite a lot of folks, live scribing is a great way to make an event have impact and let the information sink in.
It’s a great way to make an event memorable and informally promote learning.
90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, so more information is retained.
Artwork created can be shared in social media.
It’s human-made content.
Conferences, seminars and plenaries.
Community engagement sessions (Eg. local council and residents, board and stakeholders)
Education and training events
Capturing talks and keynote speakers.
Team feedback, discussion and ideation sessions.
Company retreats and away days.
Traditional live scribing is done using board or large sheets of paper and marker pens. It’s very flexible for most events.
Digital scribing is created on a pen tablet (a Movink, Galaxy Tab or Ipad) which is displayed on a monitor or projector screen.
Virtual scribing is done over a meeting app like zoom or teams.
Both are great, considerations are a mixture of the available technology in the event space, and personal choice.
Traditional live scribing is created using many sheets/boards and can slow fill a wall over the course of an event so everything is on show, the whole day can be seen. It’s a very tactile experience for an audience to observe.
Digital scribing can look more slick, with art appearing on a screen. A main consideration for talks if the speaker has a slide deck is having a second screen for live scribing. A projector can be supplied too, to project art at scale on a wall.
With John Cooper, all artwork is owned by the clients once it has been created and can be reused however they like (with the exception of feeding AI models!)
Check with the live scribe you’re using if they have any specific licencing conditions.
Quicklinks
The creative design studio of John Cooper. Empowering clients with engaging content since 2010. Get your project started, contact:
