Creativity is not limited to the page.

How to facilitate groups online: a new video podcast

Hi ,

I hope you've been managing to bunker down and weather the novel coronavirus storm. Many businesses have been hit hard, but sole traders who spend most of their time around groups of people (read: most facilitators) have been especially impacted, and forced to think creatively about their offering in order to survive.

This was front of mind for me when I decided to launch a new video podcast, which I've called The Sketchcast. 

For the first episode, I roped in an experienced facilitator, designer, strategist, and fellow sketcher Ben Crothers (author of Presto Sketching). He was the first person that came to mind when I asked myself "who knows the most about facilitating groups online?"

As you can see above we had a ton of fun recording this interview, and discuss, among other things:

• how you can use colour to help people to express themselves better
• how you can help people get up to speed on digital tools when they’ve never used them before, and
• Ben shares the specific tools that he’s using to do this kind of work

There are visual notes throughout to help you digest the content, and a handful of blooper clips at the end. The show notes for this episode include a link to every tool/website mentioned, and a full transcript for those hard of hearing (or who just prefer reading content over watching video). We're really quite proud of this first episode, and hope you find it entertaining and useful.

CoVid-19 special: 19% off selected products

Here at Graphic Gear, it’s business as (un)usual; with the office warehouse otherwise empty of staff, we are able to fill customer orders without coming into contact with other people. Even the local post office staff are masked—and gloved-up—for our safety.

Our fabulous supplier, Neuland®, has confirmed that their ability to deliver is not affected and the supply chains are still intact. As long as the transport and traffic sector in and from Europe is not restricted, deliveries of stock to Australia will continue.

This is great news for all of us—and to celebrate we are having a sale.

• A selection of products has been reduced by 25% or more.
• PLUS you’ll get 19% off the price of all other stock by using the coupon code DRAW-19 at checkout.

Both of these offers will be available until the end of May, or until stock runs out. On behalf of all of us, stay safe, stay home, and keep making your mark!

Mixing Neuland® ink with Heather Martinez

If you attended VizConf 2019, you may remember our keynote speaker, Heather Martinez, whose closing presentation encouraged us to look inwards, using lettering as a platform for self care and self discovery.

Well, Heather is running a special Lettering Tips Tuesday in a couple of weeks, where she will be mixing inks with her colleague, Sonja Skopp. It has been specially timed to accommodate Australian time zones. Here are the details:

Mixing ink with Heather Martinez and Sonja Skopp

• Tuesday, May 19, 2pm AEST
• Register online to receive the zoom link

Read more about Heather and Sonja's experiments in making their own colours to use in Neuland® markers.

This is a unique opportunity to get free tips and guidance from a talented, world-renowned lettering expert who is extremely generous with her time. Heather says:

"Looking forward to mixing inks with my friends down under!"

There have been a number of additions to the online store since our last newsletter. Everything from metallic refill ink, leather-bound sketchnoting journals (beautifully embossed with the Graphic Gear logo for those hardcore fans!), and a range of creative tools to get creative indoors.

That's all for this issue. As always, thank-you for your interest and support. Stay safe, and happy creating!

Matt and the Graphic Gear team