Blog

Julia Reich featured in the Indianapolis Business Journal’s 2018 Innovation Issue

August 17, 2018graphic recording, News, sketchnotingJulia Reich

2018 Innovation Issue: Visual outlines become more popular note-taking tool Originally published online June 1, 2018 by Lindsey Erdody “Drawing your notes: visual note-taking is a #businessinnovation”, claims the Indianapolis Business Journal > https://bit.ly/2xGyEZQ @juliareich @Indianapolisbiz “It’s better for your memory when you’re pairing an image with text.” @juliareich @Indianapolisbiz https://bit.ly/2xGyEZQ “Visual note-taking can work in nearly any industry and in…

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10 things you should know about logos if you’re a nonprofit communicator

May 21, 2018brand, branding, graphic design, logo, marketing, nonprofit, nonprofit brand, nonprofit branding, nonprofit communications, nonprofit design, nonprofit marketing, nonprofit web design, re-branding, visual communication, visual identitybrand, branding, graphic design, logo design, logos, nonprofit, nonprofit branding, nonprofit communications, nonprofit fundraising, nonprofit logo, nonprofit marketingJulia Reich

Can you answer ‘yes’ to any of the following problem statements about your logo? My logo has too many colors and it’s difficult to see or make it look good on different backgrounds My logo has a complicated colorful gradient which is too expensive to reproduce My logo looks blurry when I try to print…

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30-day minimalist cat drawing challenge

December 22, 2017graphic recording, scribing, sketchnoting, sketchnoting, visual communication, visual identity, visual thinkingcat art, minimal cat art, minimalist cat drawingJulia Reich

For 30 consecutive days during Nov–Dec 2017 I drew a minimal cat picture using a 9-in x 12-in sketchpad and a black sharpie. (It wasn’t always easy since I was looking at a small cell phone screen and usually had cats and a dog trying to climb all over me.) Then I posted the original photo +…

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[infographic] Educational Leadership

December 4, 2017infographics, visual communicationJulia Reich

I was supposed to write a final paper for a grad school class, an elective, on Educational Leadership but took a risk and designed and wrote a graphic poster instead. The assignment was to read a scenario and respond as if I was a student in the principal preparation program. Which I am very much not – and the…

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The MFA plan v2.0

December 4, 2017higher education, scribing, sketchnoting, sketchnoting, visual communication, visual thinkingJulia Reich

Exciting update to my grad school MFA (Master of Fine Arts) plans (see Why I decided to go back to school at age 48): I’ve enrolled in the NEW #designthinking for innovation and collaboration certificate program at Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. Hopefully I’ll get a bunch of credits transferred to Indiana State University. With apologies to my ISU…

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More experiments with digital drawing

December 1, 2017scribing, sketchnoting, visual communication, visual thinkingJulia Reich

Experiments with #digitaldrawing continues. This time it’s #sketchnoting while listening to a 17-min. #TEDx talk in my studio. I used a #Wacom #Cintiq and #AdobeIllustrator. It was really hard to get the control I wanted from the pen, but it was fun to be able to move elements around and colorize stuff, which I can’t do…

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Experiments with cats and digital drawing

December 1, 2017scribing, sketchnoting, sketchnoting, visual communication, visual thinkingJulia Reich

Today I locked myself in the studio and practiced my digital drawing skills. Starting with photos of a few of my sweet kitties, first I drew them by hand, then traced and colored the digital sketch using Adobe Illustrator and a Wacom Cintiq tablet. My ultimate goal is to get familiar enough with the tools so I can…

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A personal book review of Leader as facilitator: how to inspire, engage and get work done

October 30, 2017graphic facilitation, graphic recording, visual communication, visual thinkingcreativity, facilitation, graphic recording, innovation, leadership, visual thinkingJulia Reich

Why I chose to read this book “Facilitation: helping, improving, or making something easier” ¹ “Leadership emerges from a desire to help others” ² I was drawn to this book since the author is both a visual scribe and a master meeting leader, as well as a frequent keynote speaker and author of several books…

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Why I decided to go to back to school at age 48

October 25, 2017brand strategy, graphic design, graphic recording, higher education, marketing, visual communication, visual thinkingJulia Reich

I’ve spent most of my professional life involved in visual communications, but that’s not what I studied as an undergrad (environmental education, at Hampshire College) because I didn’t even know what graphic design was then, and I was terribly intimidated by the “art students”. By my late twenties I had taken a single life-transforming class…

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$Get your house in order: how to use brand architecture to repair a fractured brand image$

Get your house in order: how to use brand architecture to repair a fractured brand image

July 13, 2017brand, brand strategy, branding, nonprofit brand, nonprofit brandingbrand, brand awareness, brand development, brand management, branding, identity, logo design, nonprofit brandingJulia Reich

Do you sometimes feel your nonprofit is having an identity crisis – like one of your programs or events is more well-known than the organization itself? If the public recognizes the event or program, but not the organization that has worked so hard to make it a familiar success, this can be a problem —…

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