Analysis & Research

After an initial phone call or e-mail exchange, the client will send Sente whatever background material is available about the subject of the illustration. Normally, this will include PowerPoint presentations, text files describing the idea or initiative or flow charts of relevant processes. The Sente illustrator goes through these materials carefully both to understand the content and to discover interesting visual themes or metaphors.

It is important at this early stage to determine the deadline for the project and the final media in which the StoryMap will be used (print or digital).

Metaphorical Options

Sente will develop a number of different options (usually between two and five) for the visual theme of the StoryMap. Each option will be described in a paragraph or two of text, and the client will be asked to select one of these (or to suggest another, if the client feels so inspired).

The visual theme is the metaphor for the StoryMap. Different themes that we have used include climbing a mountain, navigating a river, space flight, island-hopping, and making music. Each Map, then, shows the path up the mountain or the course of the river, and uses animals, plants, people, tools, buildings and technology to demonstrate what happens along the way.

Preliminary Sketch

Once the client has selected a theme, Sente will be able to create an estimate for the project. Once the client signs off on the estimate, Sente will create a series of preliminary sketches. These are used to compose the illustration and develop any characters or gadgets that may be central to the final StoryMap. Depending on the expected complexity of the final illustration, Sente may send the client either a hand-drawn or computer-generated preliminary sketch.

Multiple Iterations

The purpose of this exchange is to engage the client in the design process. The client knows the content and the audience for the StoryMap better than the illustrator does. The client should look at each new sketch with several issues in mind.

• First, do you like the illustration? Is it appealing and interesting?
• Second, does it communicate your content accurately? Are the steps in the right order, for example, and are all of the right people involved in the proper places?
• Third, are there any elements of the sketch that appear culturally insensitive within your target audience? (Objects, symbols and gestures often have meanings in different countries and organizations that the Sente illustrator may not be aware of.)
• Fourth, does the sketch give you any new ideas? What questions does the sketch prompt from you and which of those questions should the sketch be able to answer?

Final Print Version

Once the client approves the final version of the StoryMap, Sente can prepare it for its final presentation. The illustrations are normally created in Macromedia Freehand, and are shared with the client in MS PowerPoint. PowerPoint allows the StoryMap to be printed at any size, and many clients print their StoryMaps on poster-sized sheets of foam core for presentation to small groups. PowerPoint also allows the StoryMap to be printed in smaller versions to hand out to attendees.

PowerPoint Animation

If the StoryMap is to be presented as a PowerPoint slide show, then Sente can also help prepare the presentation. First, the illustration can be broken into pieces so that the StoryMap can build piece by piece over the course of the presentation. The StoryMap can be "animated" to some degree using PowerPoint's limited animation tools.

Another option is to show the entire StoryMap, but to transform parts of the sketch into grayscale. This leaves the bright colors on only the part of the StoryMap that is in focus at the moment.

Sente will send the final presentation to the client, normally via e-mail.

See a full-scale example! (623KB PDF file)