Do not fill the page from the top-left corner

Visual notes often fail because the page had no plan, not because the drawing was poor.

Make three choices before you begin:

1. One-sentence purpose — who should understand what?
2. Three content zones — no more than three main areas
3. Reading direction — left to right, top to bottom, or centre outward?

Draw three matchbox-sized thumbnails:

• A: three columns
• B: central theme with ideas around it
• C: a path from problem to result

Spend only 30 seconds on each. Choose the one that fits the relationship, then enlarge it.

Plan a page for a 30-minute meeting:

• top 15%: title and goal
• left 30%: context
• middle 40%: discussion and options
• right 30%: decision and next step
• spare area at the bottom: parking lot and unknowns

Let the eye find what matters first

Visual hierarchy is not decoration. It tells the reader where to start, where to go next, and what can wait.

Use four controls:

• size for titles and conclusions
• weight for boundaries and priorities
• position near the starting point or centre
• colour for a decision, risk, or change

Mind the gap

Whitespace uses distance to communicate:

• keep items in one group close
• separate different groups
• leave breathing room below a heading
• keep a safe margin around the page

Copy the same six words twice. In the second version, double the size of one word, group two words in a light box, mark one risk with colour, and leave a finger-width gap between groups. Compare which version is easier to explain.

Boxes show boundaries; arrows show relationships

Containers and arrows are easy to overuse. Before adding either, ask what it is saying.

Every arrow should read as a sentence:

• A causes B
• A comes before B
• A depends on B
• A sends information to B
• B feeds back to A

Use a solid line for a stable relationship, a dotted line for a hypothesis, and a two-way arrow only for genuine mutual influence.

Draw five boxes and connect them with five different relationships. Write one verb beside each arrow.

Find the relationship, then choose the layout

A page structure is not a style preference. Different layouts answer different questions.

• “What happens first?” → timeline or linear
• “What is different?” → comparison
• “What belongs to whom?” → hierarchy or containers
• “What surrounds the topic?” → radial
• “How do we get there?” → path
• “How does it repeat?” → cycle

Take one topic and draw three thumbnails: comparison, timeline, and path. Circle the one that is easiest to explain.