Behind the Scenes with the Graphic Recording Artist at EDUCON

Julia Bakay
May 7
4 min read

Updated: May 8

About the EDUCON Global Engineering Conference

EDUCON is a prestigious global conference on engineering education, bringing together a vibrant international community to advance innovation, collaboration, and excellence in STEM. It offers attendees a space in which they can exchange ideas and immerse themselves in cutting-edge research. It's also a great opportunity to build meaningful connections across academia, industry, and education. This year - for the first time - it was held in the UK, at Queen Mary University in London!

The chair of EDUCON2025, Usman Naeem, wanted to make this event a truly memorable experience by including Live Graphic Recording.

Ways EDUCON Brought the Best Out of Graphic Recording

The Graphic Recordings on the Big Screen - During or Right After Sessions

One of the simplest yet most impactful things EDUCON did was display the Live visuals right after each session - and even during!

In a panel discussion, for example, we occasionally projected the Graphic Recording behind the speakers, so the attendees could see it come to life in real-time. It's so important for people to witness the art as it unfolds - a creation being made for them, by a human artist, using their input.

For the keynotes, we shared the visuals immediately after the talks, wrapping up the session with a visual summary. And of course, some beautiful photos were taken of the speakers alongside their captured key ideas. Could it get any better?

The Graphic Recordings Were Everywhere

What EDUCON did so well was integrate the illustrations everywhere, as you’ll see in the photos! The visuals were up at the end of sessions, during breaks, and even at the gala dinner. They became part of the atmosphere - woven into the fabric of conference memories.

The Graphic Recordings Went Viral

Photos of the Graphic Recordings, both in-progress and finished articles, were all over the event: projected in session halls, captured in group shots, and even featured in many selfies! Participants used the visuals to reflect on key takeaways from individual sessions and of the conference as a whole. This kind of organic sharing is where Graphic Recording really shines.

A Hybrid Approach to Graphic Recording - Tailored to EDUCON

Creating a Graphic Recording Time-lapse

We decided to take a multifaceted approach. One particular highlight of this is a Graphic Recording time-lapse we prepared in advance for Usman’s opening keynote speech. Along the way, we inserted photos to make it even more interactive. It was an exceptional, high-energy way to kick off the event.

Virtual Graphic Recording

I joined remotely on Days 1 and 3, covering three shorter sessions in total. Remote Graphic Recording is, in my humble (but not entirely unbiased) opinion, a real miracle of modern tech!

I joined the conference via a Zoom meeting we set up
The microphone was plugged in through a direct audio feed
Shared my screen on Zoom
And we had those visuals projected in real time on the big screen, for 300+ attendees in Queen Mary University’s Great Hall!

If you're curious to learn more about Virtual Graphic Recording - you're in the right place. It’s what I specialize in :)

In-Person Graphic Recording

I actually rarely attend conferences in-person anymore. In fact, as the remote sessions for EDUCON appeared to prove, there’s often no need - sometimes it’s even easier to focus and do my best work from the quiet of my studio, rather than being submersed in the joyful chaos of a buzzing conference room.

Having said that, just because it’s not strictly necessary doesn’t mean it’s not wonderful. I attended Day 2 of EDUCON in-person and got to experience first-hand the real energy, warmth, and joy that EDUCONERS bring to their conference.

During Graphic Recording, I was literally behind the scenes - thanks to the brilliant setup there by the EDUCON AV team.

What Is It Like to Be EDUCON’s Graphic Recording Artist?

Quite fabulous, to be honest!

For one, it was a real honour to be EDUCON’s first-ever Graphic Recording Artist - and what a warm, appreciative audience! I’ve been receiving lovely messages ever since from people who enjoyed the visuals.

That’s one of the real and unexpected joys of this work - almost all of my clients (probably 99%) have never tried Graphic Recording before. Even so, they’ve invited me because they want to bring in something fresh and innovative.

This means I often get to be there for their very first experience of it, and it’s always a delight to witness their surprise and joy - from both the attendees and the organisers.

For the organisers especially, it must be a special feeling to see the Graphic Recordings come to life with their conference’s content, in their colours, and in a visual style they chose.

Special Thanks

I first met Usman Naeem and Kaylee Manning about eight months before the event, when we started planning how to bring Graphic Recording to EDUCON. From the very beginning, they were such a thoughtful and enthusiastic team to work with - genuinely curious about the process and eager to make it meaningful for the attendees. It was clear they really cared about creating an enjoyable and memorable experience.

One particularly kind gesture was when Usman invited me on stage during the conference to introduce the artist behind the Graphic Recordings. It was a small moment, but a genuinely meaningful one for me.

They also generously invited me to the Gala Dinner, at which I had such a great time that I completely missed my train home!

Luckily, I caught the very last one, which capped off a wonderful day.