From .net magazine, my article “Why the Doodle Matters.”

You can read it on the .net website or download a PDF version of the article.

Editor’s note: Editor’s note: Sunni Brown owns an information design firm and is a speaker and co-author of “GameStorming: A Playbook for Rule-breakers, Innovators and Changemakers.” She was recently named on Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business List and on the 10 Most Creative People on Twitter list. She spoke at the TED 2011 conference in Long Beach, California.

(CNN) – Humans have been doodling in snow, in sand and on cave walls for more than 30,000 years.

George Washington, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and Vladimir Nabokov were doodlers. Bill Gates and Frank Gehry are among today’s active doodlers.

Yet most of us haven’t reflected on why we feel compelled to draw.

In fact, many parts of our society — including businesses, schools and colleges — frown on doodling and consider it a waste of time. While we can’t overcome cultural biases overnight, we can certainly ask a relevant question: Why is doodling so universal? What is doodling doing for us?

Virginia Scofield, an immunologist at the University of Texas at San Antonio, knows from personal and professional experience what doodling does. After struggling with organic chemistry in college, she decided to try doodling the complexities of the subject rather than memorizing them from the textbook. Scofield happened upon what native doodlers have known for a long time: Doodling can improve cognitive performance. Because of her success in transforming her own learning process, Scofield incorporated doodling and visual note-taking into her university classroom for more than two decades, and she told me it notably improved the success rate of her students.

Scofield is not the only one who’s learned to be impressed by the Doodle. Jackie Andrade, a professor at the University of Plymouth,published a study finding a 29 percent increase in information retention gained by doodlers. She noted that, contrary to popular belief, doodling seems to prevent people from losing focus on boring or complex subject matter. It gives learners who may otherwise mentally check out an opportunity to check back in.

Other researchers exploring the impact of doodling and drawing have come to equally significant conclusions about this deceptively simple act. A recent article in Science argued that drawing in science education caters to individual learning preferences and motivates students to engage and explore content in a more meaningful way. And classroom research shows that not only do learners better understand concepts through simple drawing, but it sets the stage for innovative and divergent ways of thinking. For a nation with an ego wounded by our decreased scores on the Torrance Creativity Test, this unfettered access to creative thinking shouldn’t be underestimated.

Just ask Google, the only company on record with an official Chief Doodler on the payroll. Google’s culture is well known for its 80/20 “innovation time off” rule. And for many employees, that time is spent using simple visual language to doodle, sketch and prototype new business opportunities. Indeed, many companies seeking an edge are looking to applications of hand-drawn visual language as a prospective lifeboat. In a hyper-competitive marketplace, thinkers need all the mojo they can muster.

To the throngs of doodlers around the world, this evidence is likely just the beginning of our gentle “I told you so” moments. Learning that accommodates more than text-based or verbal information amplifies the effects of cognition and creativity. And when the Science article suggested that drawing should be recognized along with reading, writing and speaking as a key element in education, it was a hallelujah moment for doodlers around the world.

I’m one of them. I use doodling for a variety of reasons: I use it to get clarity around a concept, I use it to relax, I use it to communicate ideas with others and get their refinement of them, I use it to map complex systems for companies, I use it to run innovation games for business, I use it to get insight on something puzzling me.

See some examples of how doodles are used

So how do you get better at doodling? It’s a delightfully easy task. Learners can start with the Visual Alphabet, a series of six flows—the point, line, arc, angle, spiral and loop, and the six forms—the oval, eye, triangle, rectangle, house and cloud. With these 12 “letters,” prospective doodlers can articulate any visual representation of any concept they can imagine. All it takes is a commitment to learning this language, native to our brain’s visual cortex, and applying it to challenges either at work or at school. Rather than talking in circles about a complex subject, try doodling it using words and pictures. Show your teachers and colleagues another way to see information. The insights and aha moments will arrive naturally in the process.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sunni Brown.

To join McKee’s Facebook group, click here.

click the picture for a larger view.

View the images by clicking on the thumbnails below, or click here to view them on Flickr. And see more about Robert McKee on Facebook.

To my pleasant (and slightly confused) surprise, Fast Company chose me as one of the folks on their 100 Most Creative People in Business List for 2011. (I came in at #56, so take that, Ryan Seacrest!)

In seriousness, I was pleased to be acknowledged as a “Creative,” since it’s a title I haven’t embraced throughout my life. And from the lives of Frank Lloyd Wright and Marie Antoinette, I’ve learned that public appreciation comes and goes. So I’ll enjoy the glory while I can and thank you, friends and clients, for being supportive of my work.

On my way to Wimberley a couple of months ago, I got a call from Derek Woodgate. He was on the planning team for TEDx UT and I assumed he was going to ask me for speaker recommendations, since our team had just produced TEDx Austin and we had a long list of incredible possible presenters. You can imagine my surprise then, when he said that the committee wanted me to be one of the speakers. I mean – I’m good – but I wasn’t sure if I was TEDx good. However, never one to miss an opportunity, I said yes and then hung up and had to roll down my window to get some fresh air. Speaking in front of academicians and graduate students about visuals and the brain opens yourself up to all sorts of criticism about your empirical data. But I’m Ms. Brown. Risk never stopped me before. So, like all good girl scouts, I did a lot of homework, prepared for weeks, and custom-doodled my slides so the audience would have fun and learn at the same time. I think they did and I think I did justice to the TED brand. Once I get the digital video, you can see for yourself.

Below are pictures from the event so you get the general idea of what I was up to. The first is a picture of other people taking pictures of the graphic I created live. The second is a snapshot from our Visual Notetaking 101 panel and the third is the crowd – which was awesome. I’ll soon post the actual graphic records from Twitter CEO Evan William’s keynote and from the keynote with Valerie Casey, Founder of the Designers Accord. In the meantime, may all your SX dreams come true. Assuming you’re getting some sleep.

]]> http://sunnibrown.com/2010/03/19/sxsw-interactive-2010-done-and-done/feed/ 5 http://sunnibrown.com/2010/03/07/dan-roams-doodle-revolution-san-francisco-ca/ http://sunnibrown.com/2010/03/07/dan-roams-doodle-revolution-san-francisco-ca/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:36:52 +0000 Sunni http://sunnibrown.com/?p=1225

One page of my visual notes from Dan Roam’s excellent workshop in SF – the pilot for The Back of the Napkin. I appreciate that Dan’s putting visual thinking front and center in the business world. It helps me keep MY day job, too. See the rest of the visual notes here.

The first bits of coolness around SXSW Interactive 2010: a baby graphic giving some insight into the contents of our Visual Notetaking Panel. The panel, Visual Notetaking 101, is on Monday, March 15 at 3:30 pm, so join us for a conversation on how to stop taking notes that look like punishment. I’m joined on the panel by my co-author Dave Gray, and by sketchnote masters Mike Rohde and Austin Kleon. Visual thinkers, come out of the closet. And be rewarded with excellent content when you do.

HMSA (Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Hawai’i) has risen to the top of my client list due to the nature of the projects we’re involved with and my deep respect for the efforts of the leadership and the Innovation Team. They are transforming the organization in service to their customers and I’ve been lucky enough to become a part of their team, partnering with them on visual thinking training, graphic recording for leadership meetings, design consultations on presentations and workshops and a large history mapping project in the making. My projects with them are always rewarding and I appreciate the partnership. I also appreciate that I get to go to Hawaii to work with them. Nothing wrong with doing the hula while you work.