Presto Sketching: The Magic of Simple Drawing for Brilliant Product Thinking and Design

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.

From the Publisher

From the Introduction

What you’ll get from this book

If you’re reading this right now, I figure you’re interested in getting better at sketching to help you think, work, and/or be creative in some way. Hurrah! No matter what you think your drawing ability is, no matter how ‘visual’ you think you are, this book will help you in all these areas, wherever you’re at in your sketching journey. If you’re fairly new to the world of visual thinking and visual communication, Presto sketching will set you up for success.

Presto Sketching is about showing people your ideas, not showing them beautiful pieces of art. It’s also about helping your team to solve problems together, explain and prioritize ideas together, and chart a common vision together.

Using this book

This book is made to go through chapter by chapter, and each chapter has some exercises to help you put the lessons and techniques into practice. The exercises build on each other and get harder, but more fulfilling, and more Instagram-worthy. You’ll notice that each one has a difficulty setting. This is also a great way to dip into the book from time to time, depending on where you’re at.

Most chapters end with some questions to help you consider where you’re at, and where you want to go in your sketching journey. Treat them as a mentor, to help stretch yourself where you want to be stretched. No matter where you are on that journey, I guarantee you that there’s ways you can stretch yourself, whether that’s honing your execution, influencing others, getting out of a rut, or trying new things.

Even though some exercises might seem a bit ho-hum to you, at least take a look at the questions at the end of those chapters. Those questions are your opportunity to coach and encourage others in their visual practice journeys

You’ll also find some interviews with different people throughout the book. Each person is at a different stage in their journey of visual practice, but they’re all fascinating. I’ve been greatly inspired by them, and I hope you are too.

And if that’s not enough, there are also some libraries of different images to help you along, like visual metaphors.

Results of putting the these techniques in into practice Greater confidence and enjoyment in sketching and adding your own images to your work A greater variety and number of ideas and solutions to problems More dynamic and persuasive presentations, reports and other communications Expand your professional skillset to include visual thinking and visual communication More effective and insightful meetings Being known as a more creative innovative person

Publisher ‏ : ‎ O’Reilly Media; 1st edition (November 28, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 367 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1491994282
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1491994283
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches