Graphic Recording makes
in-person and virtual events better

Graphic Recording with The Sketch Effect helps your virtual or in-person audience synthesize the big ideas by adding a fun, creative and unique element to your event. And the value doesn’t stop there: physical or digital sketches can be shared throughout the event, sent out as a one-of-a-kind post-event follow-up to attendees, or shared online to spread the ideas even further. The possibilities are endless!

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Companies who trust The Sketch Effect

What is
Graphic Recording?

Graphic Recording. Visual Note Taking. Remote Notes. Live Sketching. Oh My!

Active Listening

It all begins with fine-tuned listening skills, which a Graphic Recorder uses to take in live content, filter out the fluff, and begin digging for the deeper ideas.

Synthesis

Moving from ears to brain, the Graphic Recorder considers the content, quickly distilling the information down to the big ideas, key themes, and broader meaning.

Animated sketch of a person drawing with a marker

Sketching

Moving from brain to hand, the Graphic Recorder visualizes the content, drawing out the big ideas using engaging visuals, typography, color and design elements.

See For Yourself!
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Illustrated sketch titled, “Context Creative Jobs
UBBA Graphic Recording #2
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Illustrated sketch titled, “Culture
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Watch a case study:

The Mosaic Company

Learn how Tracy Miller with the Mosaic Company leveraged Virtual Graphic Recording with
The Sketch Effect to make her annual event a "wow experience" for her virtual attendees

Types of Graphic Recording

Graphic recorder sketching on a tablet

Virtual Graphic Recording

Hosting a virtual meeting, webinar, or important online event? Combat “zoom fatigue” with digital Graphic Recording (aka RemoteNotes)! With the Sketch Effect, an offsite Graphic Recorder will join your virtual meeting or event & sketch out the big ideas shared in real-time.

Virtual Graphic Recording is a great fit for:

  • Virtual conferences, summits & events
  • Remote training & team workshops
  • Online meetings, webinars & strategic planning
  • Mind mapping & brainstorming sessions
  • Virtual presentations & product demos
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Placeholder on site sketching

In-Person Graphic Recording

In-person graphic recording is one of the most effective ways to engage and excite audiences through visual communication. Any time people are gathered together in a live-content environment (discussions, presentations, panels and more), live sketching helps deliver more effective messaging and enhance the overall experience.

In-Person Graphic Recording is a great fit for:

  • Corporate retreats & conferences
  • Fundraisers, auctions, and galas
  • Tradeshows & live product demos
  • Event receptions & creative presentations
  • Workshops and journey mapping
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Our Process

Virtual Graphic Recording

In-Person Graphic Recording

Pre-Event Call and AV-Test

We conduct a preliminary discovery call to discuss your event goals, the agenda, your preferences around screen-sharing and to introduce the artist. We will also use this time to conduct an AV test for the artist using your virtual meeting platform.

Artist Preparation

Our artist reviews the event agenda, preps his or her color palette, and begins organizing the digital files that will become the Graphic Recording sketches, prepopulating any logos, branding, session titles, and more.

Log In

The Graphic Recording artist will log into the virtual event just like other guests and/or hosts. If you are using a more robust meeting platform, the artist will send a feed of his or her sketch to whatever the final output source will be.

Live Sketch

As the virtual meeting content begins, the Graphic Recording artist listens, synthesizes, and draws out live visuals that capture the big ideas, main messages, and overarching themes of the event in real-time. Depending on your preference, you can have the artist screen-share for some of or the entire duration of the event.

Deliverables

After the event, you receive digital versions of the final Graphic Recording sketches, which you can leverage as compelling post-event follow-up, include as awesome email attachments people will actually open, share out on social media, repurpose as SWAG, and use on other channels.

Pre Event Call

We connect with you before your event to discuss your event goals, agenda, format, audience, branding, and logistics and to introduce you to your Graphic Recording artist(s)

Logistics Support

Our home office Operations team coordinates all the logistics required for a successful Graphic Recording engagement, from arranging supplies, booking transportation and lodging, and fully prepping and equipping the artist.

On-Site Preparation

Before your event begins, the Graphic Recording artist will arrive early to set up the drawing space, get organized, and prep the canvas with any logos, event branding, session titles and other pre-populated visuals.

Live Sketch

Once the sessions begin, the sketch artist actively listens, synthesizes, and draws live visuals that capture the big ideas and overarching meeting themes, resulting in an incredible illustrated recap of the content which the audience can watch unfold in real-time.

Deliverables

Afterward, you receive both the physical sketches (to be displayed or leveraged on-site) along with digitized deliverables (to be shared out or used after the event), helping to maximize the overall value and engagement of the event and inspiring your audience to action.

FAQ's

How Does Graphic Recording Improve Audience Engagement & Retention?

Hands down, visual learning is the most powerful channel of human learning, and Graphic Recording taps into that visual power! Studies show that pictures and images make ideas more understandable and memorable while also making communication more efficient and actionable. When you consider that, on average, people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see and do - graphic recording becomes a no-brainer for captivating an audience, explaining complex issues, and boosting event engagement online and in-person. Plus, it’s super cool.

What are the Best Ways to Leverage Graphic Recording Deliverables After the Event?

There are tons of ways to leverage the visual output from a Graphic Recording engagement! For “traditional” graphic recording (markers on physical foam boards), you can display the finished sketches around the room or in a common area, which increases audience engagement and helps people revisit the content. Excited attendees will snap photos of the images and use them as conversation starters. The boards can also be framed and hung on an office wall, given away as gifts, or brought back out to serve future meetings or events. We also provide digitized versions of the Graphic Recording output of both our traditonal/in-person work or our digital/virtual work. These digital graphic recording deliverables are incredibly shareable, such as via simple email attachments, as featured images in blogs, as social media content, and much more. They can even be repurposed as one-of-a-kind SWAG, for creating gifts such as mugs, framed images, posters, etc. Overall, these illustrated recaps help you extend the value of your event long after people have left, increasing the overall impact of the content, helping you better tell your story, and preserving your most important messaging as memorable, visual artifacts.

How Much Prep Time is Needed for an Event?

We request a minimum of one week to prepare and deliver a successful in-person Graphic Recording engagement. Occasionally, shorter lead times may be accommodated, so reach out to our team to schedule a consultation to learn more.

Do You Travel for In-Person Events?

Absolutely! Our artists regularly travel around the country (and even around the world) to help maximize the value of our clients’ events. Schedule a consultation with our team and we’ll work out the logistics.

What Types of Material and Software Are Used? Do I Need to Provide Anything?

For Virtual Graphic Recording, our preferred sketching device is none other than an iPad Pro (Sorry, Surface Pro users) along with an Apple Pencil, which is simple, straightforward, and effective. Our preferred sketching software is Procreate, which is available on iOS and other operating systems. For in-person events, we typically sketch using water-based, non-toxic markers on large foam core panels. Other canvas options are possible, of course, which include rolls of paper, whiteboard walls, and even chalkboard walls or large murals. We also have the option to sketch on-site and in-person but using the same digital tools we use for virtual Graphic Recording.

What’s the Difference Between Graphic Recording and Graphic Facilitation?

Graphic Recording is the process of a live artist acting as a neutral 3rd party listener who joins a meeting or event and actively listens to the content, synthesizes what they’re hearing, and captures the big ideas and main themes through hand-drawn visuals, text, icons, and color…all in real-time. Graphic Facilitation is different in that a Graphic Facilitator will actually help organize and facilitate the meeting, using visuals to help guide participants towards desired outcomes. A Graphic Facilitator is much more hands-on in terms of designing the meeting, facilitating the discussions, and driving towards desired meeting results.

What Sets you Apart From Other Graphic Recording Companies?

With over 8+ years of experience and serving hundreds of client events per year, we are the leaders in the Graphic Recording and visual communications industry. Not only do we have some of the most talented artists on our team, but our home office Operations team works tirelessly to ensure our clients are well supported and their events are as smooth and successful as possible. Although we pride ourselves on the creative, visual quality of our work, we also pride ourselves on the systems and processes we’ve designed to support and deliver our work. Above all else, our six core values (excellence, positivity, integrity, adaptability, courage, and whimsy) are baked into everything we do, leading to a more positive client experience and superior graphic recording deliverables.

TESTIMONIALS

In the Words of

Our partners

"My recent client meeting was far more successful thanks to the inclusion of Graphic Recording by The Sketch Effect! The live sketch artist was able to float between presentation formats and more brainstorm formats, visually capturing the most salient ideas and presenting them as digestible, usable deliverables. As an event organizer and producer, this definitely helped take this meeting to the next level. The client team and I were in awe and continue to leverage the final Graphic Recording images in our follow-up communications. Thanks Sketch Effect team!"

Raymond Sanders

Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Media Direct

"The Sketch Effect is one of the premier organizations I have had the privilege to work with to provide live graphic recording services at one of our events. The University Innovation Alliance Inaugural National Summit this past April, would not have been the same if it were not for this talented group, who was intent on documenting the appropriate highlights from the agenda and helped make the process engaging for our 400+ attendees. The team at The Sketch Effect are professional, organized, well prepared, and were attentive to our group’s needs. The visuals are bold, beautiful, and will be a great resource and reminder of this successful event."

Amber Covington

Director of Operations

University Innovation Alliance

"Having The Sketch Effect at our annual Global Sales and Marketing Meeting was a big hit! Our attendees loved seeing key points from presentations illustrated. Our artist was absolutely fantastic and it was truly a pleasure to work with him. The entire team at The Sketch Effect, from start to finish, were timely, professional, organized and attentive to our goals and needs for this event. The visual results are bold and beautiful, soon to be proudly displayed around our offices!"

Miranda Phalen

Marketing Communications Specialist

Contec, Inc.

"We've received many enthusiastic compliments from both our event attendees and our speakers on the graphic recordings from the Sketch Effect. People found it valuable both during the event to maintain focus on what they were learning and after the event as something to reference. The Sketch Effect Graphic Recording artist did a spectacular job capturing both presentations and also loose discussions, navigating the sometimes jargon-heavy and technical content with ease. One of the goals of our event was to spark ongoing conversations and the graphic notes will help keep that spark alive - the deliverables contain great information and are highly creative and shareable. The team was very helpful throughout the process and worked hard to ensure our event had maximum impact."

Cecilia Gaultney

Scientific Consultant, Organizational Psychology

National Institutes of Health

"Having artists from The Sketch Effect at our onboarding programs has been a huge hit! The learners love seeing their conversations and work come to life through the sketches the artists create. They feel “heard” and that their contributions are validated. And as a result, they engage more. The sketches have great uses following the programs, too! They can be used in communications and marketing of future events. The team was easy to work with and they made the whole experience fun for everyone."

Ernie Brescia

Sr. Manager, Design & Development Studio

PwC

"We are an exhibitor at a trade show each year and are always looking for creative ways to engage with our booth guests. A team member attended another conference and saw the work of The Sketch Effect team and was “wowed” by their work so we invited them to be a part of our booth experience. When guests stopped by the booth, we asked them two or three key industry questions. Our artist would then sketch their answers as they came in. This attracted many people to the booth and it was a great way to follow up with our visitors. They have been with us for several years. If you’re looking for someone to make your events memorable and also provide a valuable tool for meetings and conferences, The Sketch Effect will not disappoint!"

Diane Kidawa

Marketing Manager

NEST

"Using RemoteNotes from The Sketch Effect team to enhance our remote Marketing meeting was a Great Experience. The team ensured a smooth process and left no detail uncovered. We are excited to share the digital visual follow-ups with our team and know that it will serve as an engaging and valuable reminder of the key highlights covered during the meeting. We look foward to working with The Sketch Effect again in the future."

Sabrina Ford

Sr. Marketing

Printpack

"Having artists from The Sketch Effect join our virtual meeting was a huge hit. In a season full of virtual meetings and staring at our screens, every meeting can begin to feel the same. The Sketch Effect made this meeting stand out. The live-sketching helped participants stay engaged added a unique creative element to the presentation, and provided tangible takeaways for all of our participants. "

Kevin Scott

Co-Founder

ADDO Worldwide

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Need a Great Visual But Not Planning an Event?

Summary Board

A Sketch Effect "Summary Board" offers the visual look and feel of Graphic Recording but isn’t created live at an event. Guided by client-provided content, our artists sketch out your big ideas in a visual-note taking style, resulting in a faster and more cost-effective deliverable. Whether you opt for the Standard or Deluxe option, a Summary Board will capture your critical messaging in a format that will "wow" your audience.
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