What better way to spend time waiting at the DMV then to plan total world domination? TWD (Total World Domination) starts with day-planning, so I thought out my day on the back of a DMV form.

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This image is from day 21 of 100 Days Envizualized, a project where I upload my visual notes that I create on 100 consecutive days. To check out the other notes, go here

An eBook will be available of all 100 days worth of notes, with annotation, once the 100 days are over.

When I’m planning a project, I find it helpful to think in terms of the relationships I have with people that relate to that project and align my action items to strengthening those relationships. In fact, working on those relationships is a powerful result in and of itself. And, of course, good relationships can help immeasurably in attaining desired results.

In the notes above, I have listed a bunch of people: Jeff Pulver, Peter Raulerson, Bianca Cevoli, Julia Pelliaccaro, Roz Duffy, Geoff DiMassi, and Alex Hillman. Oh, and my wife. And the people at VizThink Philly and Refresh Philly.

And the results I want? I want to get involved with the 140 Characters Conference, continue productive work on an animation project, keep building VizThink Philly, develop prospects for a Visual Thinking workshop I’m developing, and make that workshop as kick-ass ass possible.

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This image is number 20 of 100 Days Envizualized, a project where I upload my visual notes that I create on 100 consecutive days. To check out the other notes, go here

An eBook will be available of all 100 days worth of notes, with annotation, once the 100 days are over. Keep it visual!

Follow the instructions in the diagram above to draw this cartoon girl. I created her when i was fooling around with creating cartoon characters using simple shapes.

This instructional graphic was inspired by Austin Kleon, who in-turn was inspired by Dave Gray who was inspired by Ed Emberly (I don’t know who Ed Emberley is inspired by….Joan Miro?).

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This image is number 19 of 100 Days Envizualized, a project where I upload my visual notes that I create on 100 consecutive days. To check out the other notes, go here

An eBook will be available of all 100 days worth of notes, with annotation, once the 100 days are over. Keep it visual!

Did you know that Mickey Mouse was created using almost entirely circles and ovals?

Here are five cartoon characters I created with combinations of circles, squares, and triangles. Two of the characters use only one shape!

I drew these figures with a Wacom tablet and the ArtRage 2.5 illustration program.

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This image is image number 18 of 100 Days Envizualized, a project where I upload my visual notes that I create on 100 consecutive days. To check out the other notes, go here

An eBook will be available of all 100 days worth of notes, with annotation, once the 100 days are over. Keep it visual!

To See Larger Image Click Here

Do you every make a grocery list that does not contain everything you need? I find it much more effective to create a quick diagram of what groceries, starting with major categories (recipes I want to make, or types of food) and then branching out to ingredients.

This is a quick and dirty grocery diagram. It took me about two minutes.

Here is how I did it.

1) Wrote the word “Buy” in the middle of a sheet of paper and drew a circle around it.
2) Drew a few lines out from the center and labeled them with major categories (“dishes” “produce” “beans”)
3) Drew lines from the end of each of those lines that I gave specific labels (e.g. from dishes a line labelled “salads”)
4) Wrote out ingredients that pertained to those last labels
5) Look over the diagram to see if any new ideas for dishes or ingredients are triggered and add any new items.

Now, go shopping!

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This image is part of 100 Days Envizualized, a project where I upload my visual notes that I create on 100 consecutive days. To check out the other notes, go here

An eBook will be available of all 100 days worth of notes, with annotation, once the 100 days are over. Keep it visual!

Before:

After:

Today’s visual notes show the power of feedback. Specifically from my Mom, Rochelle Cashdan, who is a writer and who also has an excellent visual sense. I am lucky to have someone who has sharp critical faculties who actually cares about me enough to give me detailed feedback.

Mom’s suggestions for improvement were reinforced by visualist extraordinaire, Roy Blumenthal. The main thing they both stressed: clarity.

What changed:

1) Changed the “I” to “You.” It’s not about me, or just me. I want you to be able to connect to this.
2) Got rid of “100 Days envizualized” and added “@” before “jonnygoldstein.” Might as well leverage this image to connect to more people on Twitter.
3) Redrew the “ASS” text to make the “ASS” more legible. That meant I had to change the angle of the leg.
4) Made all text more legible
5) Used bolder color
6) Highlighted selected words by adding white paint behind them

This image is part of 100 Days Envizualized, a project where I upload my visual notes that I create on 100 consecutive days. To check out the other notes, go here.

A book will be available of all 100 days worth of notes, with annotation, once the 100 days are over.

Keep checking back for new visual notes, every day (except weekends and holidays—in those cases I post them once the workweek starts). Until then, keep it visual!

P.S. The images themselves are inspired by Kathy Sierra’s credo of helping her customers kick ass.

Like many, I am very inspired by Kathy Sierra’s work in which she tries to figure out how to make her customers kick ass. I find that this focus on kicking ass is quite useful when trying to figure out whether to do something or not. If that something helps me kick ass (as a friend, relative, business person, etc), then I should do it. If not, I should not.

Everybody has a different set of criteria as to what kicking ass might be. Maybe it means being ethical, maybe it means being healthy, maybe it means trading your time for something that is really worthwhile. Whatever your criteria, I wish you the best in your ass kicking adventures.

(note: this was created using ArtRage, a wonderful program that Roy Blumenthal recommended to me. I feel like it’s going to help me kick some ass out there)