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Warm-Ups

"Kringel" or Squiggle birds (week 0)

Step 1: Draw as many random squiggles as possible on a sheet of paper within one minute.

Step 2: If you work in pairs: swap your sheets, if you are alone (in front of your screen), then continue with your squiggles.

Take a second, different coloured pen and add some beaks, legs, wings, or add shadows and shades if you like.

Step 3: Show your squiggle-bird collection to the others. Maybe you want to share it later on Twitter or Instagram?

More information:

Goals (week 1)

How do you visualize goals? Draw icons and compare them. How do you visualize that the goals have been achieved?

Very big and very small (week 2)

Agree on a word. Everyone writes it with a thick pen, first in really big letters and then in really small letters. Then change the pen and write the word with a thin pencil first very small and then very big. Compare the results: How do you make everything readable and also look good? (5 minutes)

Icons (week 3)

Everyone brings along a word that they find exciting or challenging to visualize. All words are sketched in 30 seconds each and then compared. (5 minutes)

Option 1: Compare the results with the #20secchallenge in the Sketchnote Army Slack Option 2: Tell a mini-story out of the 5 words

Fewer details, please (week 4)

Remember to share with the circle your favorite icon from last week.

Option 1: Everyone draws the same icon in 30 seconds, then in 15 seconds, then in 5 seconds. Compare the results.

Option 2: Draw the icon once with a normal pen and then with a much thicker pen. How do you make the icon well recognized?

Container (week 5)

Draw various containers and discuss what they are suitable for. (For example, a cloud stands for an idea rather than a result or a decision).

Warm-Up (week 6)

Pair up and draw your counterpart (via webcam) without looking at your sheet and focus on essential features. Time: 30 seconds. Zeit: 30 Sekunden Option 1: You can pick up the pen and put it back down as normal. Option 2: Draw without lifting the pen from the sheet, i.e., with one continuous line!

Draw Toast (week 7)

The exercis "Draw Toast" was created by Tom Wujec, who calls it an "Introduction to Systemic Thinking and Wacky Problem Solving". Here you use it as a warm-up for today's weekly, so it's a little shortened. The process is simple:

  1. Have pen and paper (or respective digital tools) ready.
  2. Draw a sketch of how to make toast – in 3 minutes!
  3. Show each other your results, maybe ask yourself the following questions:
    • Which sketchnote is simple, which is complex?
    • Where do you see people, where don’t you?
    • What similarities and differences can you find?

If you like "Draw Toast", Tom has posted it on CC-BY-SA at https://www.drawtoast.com/ You can use it to open meetings and workshops if you go through the whole process. Maybe you can even introduce newcomers to sketchnoting.

Process (week 8)

Sketch the sequence of your morning routine of the current morning (until leaving home) or from the way to work.

Visual communication makes the difference (week 9)

Step 1: A person draws a circle, triangle, and square on a piece of paper. Without showing the picture, they now describe the image. The others draw the picture following the explanation. Afterwards, everyone shows their pictures. In the first round no questions are allowed.

Step 2: Repeat the exercise, but clarifying questions may be asked.

Figures in action (week 10)

Draw different types of characters and show them to each other.

Agree on 5 activities and draw your characters in action. Compare how you have visualized the activities!

More information: Sketchnote Game Chapter Figures

Emotions (week 11)

Continue with the characters - help them show emotions!

Option 1: Everyone draws different emotions, expressesing them by characters’ body postures. Share your results and have others guess which emotion was represented.

Option 2: Experiment with the face generator of the Sketchnote game and express different emotions through facial expressions!

Further information: Sketchnote Game Chapter Figures

Special features (week 12)

Collect different eyes, noses, hairstyles, glasses, beards... and other features (clothes, accessories). Share and compare your collections.

Play a round of Human-O-Mat or generate the ingredients for bizarre characters yourself!

More information: The The Human-O-Mat by Sandra Martin @Sam_HH generates the "ingredients" at random.

More warm-ups to choose from

Apples Draw as many things as possible that contain the word "apple". Or agree on another word.

More info: Based on https://www.tbd.community/de/a/3-kreativitaetsuebung-team

Story Cubes If any of you have Storycubes dice, use them to tell a short visual story. Alternatively, you can use a random word generator for several words. Make sure they’re nouns.

Generators: - The app "Inspire me," allows you to create your own word lists. (Only for Apple devices). - A random word generator: https://randomwordgenerator.com/ - TVtropes.org has a generator that focuses on stories. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/storygen.php

Circles Which pictures come to mind that contain a circle as a primary form? Draw them and compare your results! Find an A4 template PDF with 15 circles in the attachment.

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