Visualize a piece of personal writing.

ASSIGNMENT

Create a piece of art that represents a personal email, text message to a loved one, short story, birthday card message, quote from a dinner party conversation, poem, journal entry, or more.

Your goal is to create a solid narrative structure and translate that visually. Create a piece that makes people feel something deeply when reading and looking at your work. I’d love for you to play and experiment with any materials you’d like such as paint, canvases, found objects, crayons, chalk, yarn, thread, fabric, paper, photographs, etc.

For me, I define this type of piece as Visual Storytelling – the art of using language and images to convey a narrative account of real or imagined events. By going through the process of crafting a “visual essay”, you’ll learn how to combine the narrative text of a story with creative elements to augment and enhance the storytelling process.

Remember, anything you’ve written can be visualized, as long as it’s sincere and honest!

DELIVERABLE

Post images of your piece. A finished assignment includes:

The original text

2 to 5 images of your final visual essay

RESOURCES

Get inspired by exploring the work of past workshop students

Watch graphic films here for more inspiration on sequence and telling narratives over multiple spreads

Debbie Millman

Writer, educator, artist, brand consultant

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