Early October in 2021 I volunteered to make a sketchnote for a panel presentation and discussion from the Big Design Conference on how gamers design their social worlds for less toxicity and more dignity.
For more than a decade, the Big Design Conference has been facilitating important, thought-provoking, and practical discussions in the design field by inviting industry-leaders, educators, researchers, and recruiters to present and interact with participants live. By volunteering to make a sketchnote, I earned a free ticket to this 3-day, action-packed, virtual event from my professors, Brian Sullivan and Cassini Nazir, who co-founded the conference. I gained insights on how to conduct better critiques and designing for restorative justice, which I still think about today as I work on design projects.
This was my firs time making a sketchnote. Well, kind of. I was actually sketchnoting before I knew what "sketchnote" was; I have always liked combining diagrams, doodles, and charts in my notes to help me review the material better later. Through this experience, I learned how to synthesize, consolidate, and visualize information to make it more digestible and interesting to read, especially for those who weren't able to attend the conference themselves.
