Using illustrations for business and your favourite books that handle gender well

Who likes watermelon?

Hi everyone!

February is flying by and I’m writing this at the pool watching my eldest daughter swim lengths at her swimming club. She’s recently joined a new club and is so keen she wants to go multiple times a week. She’s showing real commitment which is lovely to see. Her poor sister has to sit with me and watch so we’ve been drawing together and reading books together which has been nice quality time for us - win win!

Business Illustration

I drew these faces for a meeting at work and I’ve since been using it with the girls to help them tell me how they feel about things. Tell me something you’re GLAD about, MAD about, SAD about or SCARED about and WHY. I’ve added it to my website here as a free printable. Have a go with your little ones and see how the conversation goes.

I’ve been practicing more business focused illustrations this past week and have been testing them out at work. I think they’ve gone down pretty well. Telling a story is relevant to all areas of life - not just children’s books. We tell a story when explaining a concept of any kind to others - whether that’s an idea for a new product, explaining the value of a project or getting others to understand a strategy.

Spelling out the basics of a concept can be tricky and sometimes pretty boring so adding pictures can help bring a concept to life in a way words often can’t. Studies say that around 65% of people are visual learners - considering this I think storytelling with pictures is quite underused in most businesses. Every day I see PowerPoint slides full of text and after a while they all blend together. Adding pictures can make them stand out and be remembered long after the presentation. I drew a few pictures for a presentation the other day and it went down really well. The picture below is a compilation of a few of the images I used across about 10 slides explaining an approach to a piece of work, accompanied by a verbal description. I got so many compliments on this presentation it really made my day. I’ve been nervous to mix my day job with my illustration but I this presentation has made me feel differently. So if any of my colleagues are reading this, you in for a lot more of this!

Does a picture paint 1000 words in your experience? Do you use pictures to explain things at work? Drop a comment below.

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Your favourite books that handle gender well

I’ve posted about the two surveys I did for my MA research. You can find the results of the parents’ survey here and the professionals’ survey here. In the survey there were lots of references to books that handle gender particularly well. I’ve listed a few here that were mentioned but I would like to compile a more comprehensive list so I need your help. If you don’t see a book on this list that you think handles gender stereotypes particularly well, please drop it in the comments and I will keep a live list on my website as a reference. I haven’t read all of these myself so I need to get reading!

The first one in the list is one of my favourites that I wrote a little bit about in this post. My daughter and I read this book together often. Now that she’s eight she is reading more chapter books so I think I’ll just have to pick it up and read it for myself.

The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes and Sarah Massini - about a girl who dreams of a dinosaur and uses non-stereotyped scenes, behaviours and clothing

The Worst Princess by Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie - which contains a gender neutral dragon

Julian the Mermaid and Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love - about a boy who wants to be a mermaid

Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole - about a princess who does not want to get married

How the Library (not the prince) Saved Rapunzel by Wendy Meddour and Rebecca Ashdown - a different take on a traditional tale

Llama Glamarama by Simon James Green and Garry Parsons - about a llama who loves to dance

Want to Play Trucks? by Ann Stott and Bob Graham - about a doll that drives trucks

Nen and the Lonely Fisherman by Ian Eagleton and James Mayhew about a merman and a fisherman

I am Not a Prince by Rachel Davis and Beatrix Hatcher - about a frog that does not want to be transformed into a prince

The Blanket Where Violet Sits by Allan Wolf - describes a non-binary family environment

You Need to Chill by Juno Dawson and Laura Hughes - about a child going through societal gender transition such as changing pronouns

Hair Love by Matthew Cherry and Vashti Harrison - about a father and daughter

When You Joined Our Family by Harriet Evans and Nia Tudor - about an adopted child

Have you read any of the books in this list? Tell me what you think of them. And don’t forget to post below if you have a good suggestion to add.

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Fact of the Week

So last time I wrote about one of the facts I’ve put on one of my daughters’ lunch boxes. Here’s a new one for this week…

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That’s it for now. This weekend I’m off to a weekend of writing and drawing with some fellow authors and illustrators…I’ll tell you more about that soon.

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See you next time!

Naomi x