Co-op and Chicago Ideas Members learned to “think like ink” at Ink Factory.

They talked. We drew. It was awesome. The Co-op and Chicago Ideas Members joined Ink Factory for a hands-on Lab that gave everyone the chance to do what Ink Factory does best: take notes using images.

Graphic recording—as founders Dusty Folwarczny, Lindsay Roffe and Ryan Robinson term it—turns school-taught note-taking on its head. A blending of recorded phrases with imagery creates a graphic that uniquely captures conversations or, as they do each October, CIW Talks.

“What is graphic recording?” Roffe kicked off the Lab. “It’s the skill of listening, synthesizing and visualizing at the same time.”

Ryan Robinson and Chicago Ideas Co-op Member Dusty Folwarczny demonstrate the art of graphic recording.

The Lab took participants from graphic recording’s roots in cave paintings and hieroglyphics to today’s increased reliance on emojis. Lab attendees then put their learnings to work, scribing a sample talk given by Robinson about—what else?—bananas.

By the afternoon’s end, attendees were equipped with the skills necessary to use graphic recording as an alternative to traditional note-taking, or as Roffe put it: “All of you now are card carrying members of an artistic license.”