Visual harvesting for online and in-person events

Whether you are organising an online event or an in-person conference, visual harvesting is the right tool to deliver your messages in a powerful and engaging way.

What is visual harvesting?

Visual harvesting (also called graphic recording or live illustration) is the process of listening to a talk or discussion, synthesising the information, and then turning it into a visual summary using text, images and highlights. By focusing on the key messages and the connections, the illustrator is able to create an image that help attendees retain and recollect information and also share it with their peers. Check out this video to see how visual harvesting makes a difference:

What are the benefits of visual harvesting?

Visual harvesting helps your attendees make sense of the information that is presented to them. By offering visual summaries that focus on the key messages in an illustrative format, instead of being overwhelmed by information, the participants will better remember the content and also engage with it on a deeper level.

With visual harvesting, your attendees can:

  • Remember the key points of each talk

  • Have something tangible after the event that they can share with colleagues or on social media

  • At an online or digital event - check in regularly with how the image is being created by spotlighting the visual harvester

  • At an in-person event - follow the development of the image on a large piece of paper

By offering this kind of live illustration to your participants, you will stand out in a sea of conferences and create positive associations with your brand. Your attendees will appreciate this “creative break” and enjoy something artistic and “different”. Plus you’ll also have materials to share and reuse strategically after the event.

Examples of past projects

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Visual harvesting at in-person conferences

Analog or digital, which one is better for your event?

There are two main types of visual harvesting, there is the analog version on a large piece of paper attached to a graphic wall, and the digital version created on an iPad. When organising an online event, digital is the obvious choice and it usually works really well. But if you are going to host an in-person event, here are a few questions to help you decide which one would be better for you:

  • How big is the event space? Would you have room to fit an easel? (needs at least 3x1,5 meters)

  • Is it important to you to have the digital files available shortly after each session?

  • Are you streaming your event and would like the online audience to see the development of the visual?

  • Would you like to have a timelapse recording?

Analog visual harvesting on big paper

This is when a practitioner comes to your event venue with a large piece of paper that they fix on a wall or an easel, and throughout the day, they listen in to the talks and draw down the key messages.

Benefits to your audience:

  • An engaging large-scale visual summary that represents the content of the talks in a clear and logical way

  • You attendees can follow the development of the drawing

  • Works especially well for longer sessions with lots of content

  • Looks impressive due to it’s large size

Digital visual harvesting on tablet

This type of live illustration happens on the iPad, and works very well both at online and in-person events. The visual practitioner listens and draws in real time during the talks, distilling the key messages and highlighting connections among them.

Benefits to your audience:

  • At the end of each session, an image is ready to be projected in the conference room or shared online

  • There is a time-lapse video for each graphic that can be used online and to help your reporting after the event

  • Attendees can periodically check in with the visual summary by sharing the process on a projector

Visual harvesting at online events

Visual harvesting is a great option for online events. It offers a “creative break” to your audience, helps them concentrate and even beat Zoom fatigue! plus you vill have a sill image and a time-lapse video to use on your social media channels, your website and in your reporting afterwards.

Before the event

We have a briefing call to see what your needs are, to go over the agenda, discuss colours, etc. If there are any background documents, I’d be happy to read them but this is not at all necessary.

During the event

I connect to your online platform (Zoom, Teams, Webex, other) and set up so that participants can see my iPad screen instead of my portrait. That way, the moderator or technician can spotlight me from time to time and participants can check in with the progress of the drawing. I’m happy to give a short summary of the visual at the end if needed. After each session, I’ll send my contact person the finished image and continue this throughout the day.

After the event

I’ll send over the time-lapse video the day after the event. If there are any minor edits to the drawings, I can incorporate those as well.

Are you looking for large-scale visual harvesting for your next event or conference? Feel free to reach out.