Storytelling with Graphic Notes!

Julia Bakay
Aug 29, 2023
2 min read

Updated: May 4

So what is Graphic Storytelling?

Visual Storytelling uses text and images together to capture and communicate ideas. It helps make information clearer, more engaging, and easier to remember.

What are Graphic Notes?

Taking Graphic Notes to capture information simply means that instead of relying on blocks of text and bullet points to convey our message, we take that content apart in order to structure, link, and illustrate it in new ways.

Graphic Storytelling doesn’t have to happen in real-time, it can be from text notes, captured from recordings, or used as a tool to summarize a great deal of information from several sources.

Types of Graphic Storytelling

Depending on the source of the content, and the purpose of the visuals, I approach Graphic Storytelling in the following ways:

Examples of Graphic Storytelling

Visual Storytelling - Journey Mapping

Live Visual Storytelling - Visual Minuting during a Keynote

Strategic Visual Storytelling

Book Summary through Graphic Storytelling

Graphic Storytelling through an Infographic

Why choose Graphic Storytelling?

With 65% of the general population being visual learners, I’m often amazed why we’ve been taught to take notes the way we do as a default. Taking Visual Notes allows us to interpret the information in our own way, to how it most makes sense to us.

These Visual Maps can not only hold all of our creative associations, but easily convey the hierarchy and connection between elements in ways beyond the scope of simple text. As a result, Visual Notes can help to make the information last longer and be easier to recall.

What skills does one need to become a Visual Storyteller?

I truly enjoy this process because it requires a great deal of my skills (and personality!).

Systems Thinking skills - distilling and organizing the information, creating a logical layout and composition
Visual Thinking skills - inventing witty visual metaphors to illustrate the key points
Artistic Skills and Talents - the varying visual styles I choose from to tell the story
People Skills (of course!) - communicating with my clients along the way and making sure we're aligned on the direction. Often, new insights will arise as we go, and it’s always great to see how things fall into their place along the way!

What's my purpose with Graphic Storytelling?

I use Graphic Storytelling to communicate the essence of a message in creative and memorable ways. It brings me joy to create a Visual Map that beautifully and effectively captures key ideas—helping people make sense of information and remember it longer.

From an artistic perspective, I love shaping the style and colours to match the story the visual wants to tell. After all, how a graphic looks and feels has a big impact on how it's received. That’s why each one is so unique!