Category Archives: Blog

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration

The Four Stages of Graphic Recording

After capturing hundreds of meetings and discussions for all sorts of organizations, I’ve observed most audiences tend to go through a very similar series of reactions, which I call The 4 Stages of Graphic Recording. Curiosity: People wonder who the person with the foam core sheets and easels is and what they are going to […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration, FMCS

Three Days with FMCS

I spent an amazing 3 days in September capturing the conversations at an meeting of the FMCS, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a department of the federal government that works to resolve labor and other disputes. The highlight was watching my work used over the course of the final afternoon as an integral part […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration, Agora Journalism Center, Engaging Emergence Conference

Engaging Emergence Conference, August 21-23, 2023

We were honored to be asked to capture the discussions at the Engaging Emergence Conference, held by the Agora Journalism Center, which is based at the University of Oregon, in Philadelphia from August 21st through the 23rd. Journalists young and old from a variety of media outlets came from all over the country to discuss […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration, Brenda K. Reynolds

FROG illustrations for Brenda K. Reynolds

Coach, consultant and author Brenda K. Reynolds asked Breakthrough Visuals to do some spot illustrations for an upcoming book. The simple black and white illustrations depict the 5 stages people go through after an event that disrupts their life: Freaking Out (F), Taking Responsibility (R), Overcoming Obstacles (O), Growing (G), and becoming Sovereign over an […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration,Philadelphia Ceasefire

Graphic recording for Philadelphia Ceasefire

I spent part of my birthday last week graphic recording a press conference for Philadelphia Ceasefire. The event, at Blair Mill, an old textile factory repurposed as a work and event space, featured local luminaries and community activists talking about their efforts to reduce gun violence in the city. This is the 4th event I’ve […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration, Visual workshops, visual thinking workshops, visual storytelling workshops

Visual Workshop at Hedgepeth Williams Intermediate School

I spent a lovely couple of hours last month leading a visual storytelling workshop for the teachers of Hedgepeth Williams Intermediate School in Trenton, NJ. It was really gratifying to see folks so willing to take up markers and explore icons and typography immediately after a long day of teaching. Visual communication is an incredible […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration, Chat GPT, AI

I, Robot

A year ago, most people had never heard of Chat GPT. Today, we can’t be sure anything we read was actually written by a human. A lot of folks, including Chat GPT’s creators, find that unsettling. Using AI to write emails is great, but no one wants to be replaced by an algorithm. While AI […]

Graphic recording, Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration

Transform Your Takeaways

Your top executives meet to strategize ways to improve how your organization works and meets future challenges. After a day of hard work they have a list of actions to take going forward. It’s a great effort—but will it result in real change? You can increase the odds of success by having a graphic recorder […]

Graphic recording, Infographics,Terry LaBan, Philadelphia area graphic recorder, Breakthrough Visuals, sketch notes, illustration, B Corps, Philadelphia area B Corps, illustrated infographics

Champions Retreat, November 30-December 2, 2022

B Corps, a nonprofit network of socially-responsible businesses, asked us to create an infographic charting the history of like-minded Philadelphia businesses.The poster-sized graphic was prominently displayed at the 2-day Champions Retreat conference in December at the Loews Hotel in downtown Philadelphia.B Corps had another, more unusual, request. They asked Breakthrough Visuals to set up in […]