Presto Sketching

Presto Sketching

by Ben Crothers
Released October 2017
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781491994283

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Book description

Do you feel like your thoughts, ideas, and plans are being suffocated by a constant onslaught of information? Do you want to get those great ideas out of your head, onto the whiteboard and into everyone else’s heads, but find it hard to start? No matter what level of sketching you think you have, Presto Sketching will help you lift your game in visual thinking and visual communication.

In this practical workbook, Ben Crothers provides loads of tips, templates, and exercises that help you develop your visual vocabulary and sketching skills to clearly express and communicate your ideas. Learn techniques like product sketching, storyboarding, journey mapping, and conceptual illustration. Dive into how to use a visual metaphor (with a library of 101 visual metaphors), as well as tips for capturing and sharing your sketches digitally, and developing your own style.

Designers, product managers, trainers, and entrepreneurs will learn better ways to explore problems, explain concepts, and come up with well-defined ideas - and have fun doing it.

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Table of contents

  1. Preface
    1. Acknowledgments
  2. I. Presto Sketching Preparation
  3. 1. Introduction
    1. Sketching: Your Untapped Superpower
    2. Wait, There’s More Than Just Sketching Wireframes?
    3. How This Book Will Power Up Your Product Thinking and Design
    4. What You Won’t Get from This Book
    5. Using This Book
    6. Enjoy the Ride
      1. Exercises
      2. Some Questions for You
    7. Interview with Alex Riegelman
  4. 2. Winning in the New Visual Age
    1. Words Fail
    2. The Tsunami of Words Is Making Us Dumber
    3. Software Is Killing Our Communication
    4. We Need Synthesis
    5. Visuals Stick
    6. Everything Is Going Visual
    7. It’s Time to Be a Visual Producer, Not Just a Consumer
      1. Exercises
      2. Some Questions for You
    8. Interview with Glenn Stephenson
  5. 3. Building Your Confidence
    1. Rediscover Your Pony
    2. Sketching Lets You Be the Creator You Used to Be
    3. Sketching Is an Extension of Your Mind
      1. A Quick Example
    4. Using the UST Model to Improve Your Confidence
      1. Getting More Confident in Translating
      2. Literal Representation
      3. Metaphorical Representation
      4. Diagrammatic representation
      5. Conceptual Representation
    5. Sketching Is an Extension of Your Voice
    6. Sketching Is an Extension of Your Character
    7. Sketch Your Way to Confidence
    8. Let’s Get Our Sketch On
      1. Exercises
      2. Some Questions for You
    9. Interview with Jacqui O’Brien
  6. 4. Getting the Right Materials
    1. The Materials Section That You Will Actually Read
    2. What Materials Star Sign Are You?
    3. Markers
    4. Paper and Sketchbooks
    5. Whiteboards
    6. Digital Surfaces
      1. Graphic Tablets
      2. Embedded LCD Graphic Tablets
      3. Tablets and Apps
      4. Take Admiral Akbar’s Advice
    7. Blending Traditional and Digital Media
    8. Sketching Materials at Work
      1. Sketching Alone
      2. Sketching in Groups
      3. Sketching for Others
      4. Exercises
      5. Some Questions for You
    9. Interview with Justin Cheong
  7. II. Presto Sketching Techniques
  8. 5. Mastering the Basics
    1. Warming Up with Basic Lines
    2. Sketching at Different Scales
      1. Exercises
    3. Sketching Figures and Action
      1. Say Goodbye to the Stick Figure
      2. Exercises
    4. Sketching Faces and Expressions
      1. Exercises
    5. Lettering
      1. Treat Your Handwriting as a Set of Fonts
      2. Pumping More Meaning into Lettering
      3. Exercises
    6. Sketching Simple Objects
      1. A Word About Fidelity
      2. Sketching Simple Objects Based on Simple Shapes
      3. Exercises
    7. Sketching Frames and Separators
      1. Frames
      2. Separators
      3. Exercises
      4. Some questions for you
    8. Interview with Matthew Magain
  9. 6. Tackling More Complex Objects
    1. Let’s Go Inside Out
    2. Some Object Libraries for You to Sketch
      1. Exercises
    3. Sketching Hands and Products
      1. Exercises
      2. Some Questions for You
    4. Interview with Andrew On Yi Lai
  10. 7. Harnessing Visual Metaphor
    1. Enter the Metaphor
      1. Making It Visual
      2. Making It Work
      3. Icons: Visual Metaphors in Action
    2. How to Illustrate Concepts by Using Visual Metaphor
    3. How to Solve Problems by Using Visual Metaphor
      1. We Have a Problem with Problems
    4. Mixing Metaphors
      1. Exercises
    5. Visual Metaphor Library
      1. Visual Metaphors from Nature
      2. Visual Metaphors from Us
      3. Visual Metaphors from Objects and Systems
      4. Some Questions for You
  11. 8. Visualizing Abstract Concepts
    1. Conceptual Representation
    2. The Three Elements of Conceptual Thinking and Sketching
      1. Entities
      2. Exercises
      3. Relationships
      4. Exercises
      5. Spaces
      6. Exercises
      7. Some Questions for You
  12. III. Presto Sketching in Action
  13. 9. Bringing Out Your Style
    1. Would the Real Style Please Step Forward?
    2. Adding Visual Emphasis to Your Sketches
      1. Formatting Images
      2. Framing Images
      3. Adding Texture to Images
      4. Adding Shadows to Images
      5. Halos and Other Visual Effects
      6. Exercises
    3. Color
      1. The Meaning of Color
      2. Combining Different Colors
      3. Applying Color in Different Ways
      4. Exercises
      5. Some Questions for You
  14. 10. Tackling the Problems
    1. Why All These Maps and Canvases?
      1. How to Use These Patterns
    2. Understanding People with the Empathy Map
    3. Understanding Value Exchange by Using Value Relationship Mapping
    4. Understanding a Product Experience by Using Journey Mapping
    5. Understanding an Offering with the Value Proposition Canvas
    6. Understanding a System with Concept Modeling
      1. Synthesize the Essence of the System
      2. Use a Well-Understood Metaphor
    7. Understanding an Organization by Using the SWAM Canvas
    8. Understanding an Organization’s Place in the World by Using the PESTLE Canvas
      1. Some Questions for you
    9. Interview with John Tutt
  15. 11. Designing the Future
    1. Rallying Around a Common Future with the Team Purpose Map
    2. Envisioning the Future State of Your Customers with the Superhero Booth Sketch
    3. Exploring Goals with the Build-a-Bridge Sketch
      1. Variations
    4. Knocking Down the Barriers with the Goal Barriers Sketch
    5. Envisioning a Future Product with the Experience Canvas
    6. Bringing Future Experiences to Life with Storyboarding
      1. The Anatomy of Storyboards
      2. Exercises
      3. How to Sketch Storyboards to Explore and Explain a Problem
      4. How to Sketch Storyboards to Explain a Solution
      5. Exercises
      6. Some Questions for You
  16. 12. Plotting the Course
    1. Generating Actionable Ideas with the Concept Canvas
      1. Please Be Careful Saying “QR codes” Around Me
      2. Generate Actionable Concepts, Not Vague Ideas
    2. Prioritizing Action with the Hurdle Track Sketch
    3. Prioritizing Resources with the Resource Tank Sketch
      1. Some Questions for You
    4. Interview with Devon Bunce
  17. 13. Sharing Your Sketches with Others
    1. There’s Magic in the Making, Not Just What’s Made
    2. Capturing Your Sketches
      1. Is It Time for You to Swap to Digital Sketching?
      2. Think About How You’re Going to Use the Sketches
    3. Storing and Sharing Your Sketches
    4. Reusing Your Sketches
      1. Some Questions for You
  18. 14. Spreading Your Wings
    1. Keep Looking for Opportunity
    2. Keep Your Tools (and Your Mind) Sharp
    3. Try New Materials
    4. What Next?
      1. Get into the Community
      2. Set Yourself Challenges
      3. The Parting Line
  19. A. Concept-to-Metaphor Transfigurator
  20. B. Visual Pattern Reference-o-Tronic 3000
    1. Shared Clarity
    2. Fresh Thinking and Discovery
    3. Actionable Insights
    4. Invention
    5. Strategic Perspective
    6. Prioritizing
    7. Direction and Alignment
  21. Index

Product information

  • Title: Presto Sketching
  • Author(s): Ben Crothers
  • Release date: October 2017
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781491994283