The Idea Shapers | a book on visual thinking by Brandy Agerbeck

The Idea Shapers: The power of putting your thinking into your own hands
Your visual thinking guide by Brandy Agerbeck
home | praise | meet The Idea Shapers | sample chapter | about Brandy | resources | buy your copy

Your hand is your guide through the bulk of the book (pages 53 through 392), leading you through the 5 steps for working through a complex problem. Within each step, we break down the distinct thinking and drawing processes that make up The Idea Shapers, your visual thinking tools. For example, the first step is CHUNK and the four Idea Shapers it contains are The Objective, The Landscape, The Stack and The Retort. Each Idea Shaper is very simple in itself. Used together, they can help you tackle your complex tasks — whether it's learning a new topic, writing a paper, making a decision, coming up with original ideas or solving a problem. These concepts form a tool set to help you become more clear and confident in analyzing and synthesizing your ideas, using just paper and pen. Scroll below to meet The Idea Shapers. As Brandy develops more videos and posts, she'll add links to this page. You can find them all described in depth in the book, with each chapter ending with a story of that Idea Shaper at Work.
Step 1: CHUNK
		Introduction to the video series, Meet The Idea Shapers

		The Objective Beginning with your end goal in mind The Objective is one of two sample chapters. Click here to open this first Idea Shaper in a PDF. (Mosey over here to see the other sample chapter.) Pinterest board



		The Landscape Scanning your entire mental terrain at once Pinterest board



		The Stack Using modularity to sort and shuffle ideas Pinterest board



		The Retort Distilling language for concision and clarity Pinterest board


Step 2: SORT + GROUP
Sorting Idea Shapers
		The Filter Sifting through chunks using criteria Pinterest board



		The Flag Setting ideas apart through types of highlighting Pinterest board


		The Spectrum Selective use of color to create organization and meaning Pinterest board
Grouping Idea Shapers
		The Cluster Organizing similar points through close proximity Pinterest board
		The Buffer Breathing white space around Clusters for clarity Pinterest board
		The Banner Categorizing and labeling your Clustered ideas Pinterest board
Step 3: CONNECT + CONTAIN
Connecting Idea Shapers
		The Connector Delineating relationships by placing lines between ideas Pinterest board
		The Trio Choosing shades of color to emphasize and de-emphasize ideas Pinterest board
		The Flow Creating direction and movement throughout your drawings Pinterest board
Containing Idea Shapers
		The Container Distinguishing ideas by drawing lines around them Pinterest board
		The Anchor Tying your ideas together with a central image Pinterest board
		The Lasso Corralling a collection of ideas using boundaries Pinterest board
		The Fill Complementing lines with areas of shading to create more depth and space Pinterest board
Step 4: SCALE
Scale of your canvas
		The Poster Working big to expand your thinking Pinterest board
		The Postage Stamp Working small to condense your thinking Pinterest board
Scale of your ideas
		The Pyramid Scaling text and images to show a hierarchy of ideas Pinterest board
Step 5: GRASP
		The Investigator Testing your ideas by looking through different lenses Pinterest board
		The Iterator Reworking to refine and strengthen your ideas Pinterest board
		The Integrator Synthesizing your ideas into a cohesive image Pinterest board
		The Activator Acting on what you learned from your drawing Pinterest board
The Image Iceberg
		The Image Iceberg demostrates that the simple, conceptual drawing of The Idea Shapers makes up the mass of meaning-making. What you learn throughout the book is the how to use shapes, words, line, color, scale, all the visual and spatial choices to make powerful drawings. The tip of the iceberg is pictorial drawing. Representational drawing. This last section puts imagery in perspective. Pinterest board

Interested in more? Read the sample chapters > Buy your copy of The Idea Shapers on Amazon.