Big Conversations Need Big Paper

Big Conversations Need Big Paper

Recently, Sketchnotes UK headed to London to live illustrate an event hosted by The University of Westminster — and once again, we were reminded why working as a duo makes such a difference.

Some events are relatively linear: keynote, panel, Q&A, repeat.

This wasn’t one of those events.

The day was packed with layered conversations happening simultaneously — people challenging ideas, building on each other’s experiences, sharing research, debating language, swapping practical insights and occasionally disappearing down fascinating tangents that absolutely deserved to be documented too.

Trying to capture all of that as a single illustrator is a bit like attempting to drink from a fire hose while holding a marker pen.

So we split the work between us.

Becky focused on creating large-scale live illustrations on paper in the room — visuals that people could physically gather around throughout the day.

People looking at Becky's live illustrations

There’s something powerful about seeing ideas appear in real time at human scale. It changes the atmosphere completely. People stop, point things out to each other, take photos, continue conversations in front of the artwork and often spot connections they hadn’t noticed during the discussions themselves.

Meanwhile, Mandy worked digitally, capturing more detailed notes, quotes and themes as conversations unfolded. This allowed us to preserve much more of the nuance and complexity

Digital sketchnote of Stephen Bunbury's speech

of the day without sacrificing the energy and visibility that live paper illustrations bring.

And honestly? Having two brains listening at once is hugely valuable.

We notice different things. We interpret conversations differently. One of us might focus on structure and recurring themes, while the other picks up on emotion, tension, humour or specific wording. When those perspectives come together afterwards, the final work feels richer, more balanced and far more reflective of what actually happened in the room.

It’s also simply more resilient. If one conversation unexpectedly sparks into something brilliant while another important point is happening elsewhere, we can follow both.

By the end of the event, the walls were covered in Becky’s hand-drawn visuals while Mandy’s iPad was equally full of digital sketches, observations and connections. Exactly the sort of creative chaos we love most.

Because ultimately, live illustration isn’t just about making events look interesting. It’s about helping people see their own thinking more clearly — while they’re still in the middle of shaping it.

Digital sketchnote showing an overview of the day

Digital sketchnote of the closing keynote by Professor Jason Arday