Can you do graphic recording even if you're not good at drawing? Participating in the Takahashi River Basin Work Discovery Marche Kuraboro "Graphic Recorder Course"

“Graphic Recording” refers to the act of recording the content of meetings and events using illustrations (graphics).

It is akin to what is commonly known as “minutes,” but the advantage lies in being able to perceive it from a different perspective by organizing it visually, unlike the text-heavy and formal minutes.

Commonly referred to as “Gurareko,” it has been increasingly heard of lately.

The Takahashi River Basin Work Discovery Marche Kurabo-ro “Graphic Recorder Course” had 7 participants on-site and 5 online.

It seems that each participant had their own thoughts and intentions for joining.

As I also participated and experienced it, I will report on it.

About the Kurabo-ro “Graphic Recorder Course”

The graphic recording course I participated in was the 5th session of the “Takahashi River Basin Work Discovery Marche Kurabo-ro,” held at “Bunpuku, Sumiyoshi-cho” located in the center of Kurashiki City.

The instructor was Momoko Itoshima from the General Incorporated Association Takahashi River Presenter.

After graduating from a design vocational school, Itoshima worked as a designer at a sign company but took a break from work for child-rearing.

Recently, she has been gradually resuming work related to design.

Her experience with graphic recording is surprisingly limited, as it began when she learned how to use iPad software from a friend in March 2021.

Since then, she has been self-studying and has seen an increase in graphic recording work after creating content introduced by famous bloggers.

Starting with “Drawing 4 Circles on Paper”

At the beginning of the course, Itoshima provided the following guidance.

“Even if you are not good at drawing, you can start graphic recording anytime as long as you can draw circles and lines.”

Now, can someone like me, who is not good at drawing, really master graphic recording?

“First, please draw 4 circles on paper,” was how it all began.

Next, we drew faces on these circles to express human emotions.

After that, we started the first activity, which was a drawing shiritori (Japanese word chain game).

Using the provided white paper, we played shiritori with the drawings.

When it was my turn with the prompt “cup,” I struggled to draw a picture of “pudding” without even considering the rules of shiritori, which ended up causing laughter in the venue (laughs).

Summarizing Self-Introductions and Summer Memories with Gurareko

In the second activity, we used Gurareko for self-introductions.

I was unable to express myself well.

However, looking around at the other participants, I saw that they were drawing clear self-introductions.

I was very envious.

Furthermore, the third activity involved forming groups of three, dividing into listener, speaker, and drawer, and summarizing summer memories.

In the group I participated in, the drawer expressed an episode about struggling with science and math homework during summer vacation using symbols like equations, flasks, and test tubes.

Conclusion

It was a 2-hour course, but there were many activities that involved using paper and pen, and I realized that the expression of drawings as icons that can convey messages is more important than drawing well.

Other participants also expressed positive opinions about wanting to utilize graphic recording in various opportunities in the future, such as:

• For someone like me who is not good at drawing, the hurdle is high, but I plan to find opportunities and practice from now on.
• I am good at drawing, but I felt that I need to get used to keeping up with the speaker, such as increasing my speed.

I personally feel that this method deepens the understanding of the person drawing more than the bland text-only records I have used in the past.

The Takahashi River Basin Work Discovery Marche Kurabo-ro seems to have more sessions coming up, including tax courses and blogger/article writing courses.

Participation is free, so if you are interested, why not inquire?

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