Napkin. Unfolded.

This holiday season has officially started at our house: I just received the first box of copies of my new book from Portfolio. Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures is here. (Well, almost. Although it's available for pre-order at all the online retailers, it won't be shipped until Dec. 29.)

I'm excited about this book. Thanks to you, feedback on The Back of the Napkin came in from around the world over this past year and a half, and the most common theme was a request for more do-it-yourself exercises. I created Unfolding the Napkin around that promise: this is the self-guided "how-to" book that will take us from saying:

"I can't draw"

to saying:

"Look at the picture I drew that will save the world!"

I structured Unfolding the Napkin as a 4-day working session, as if we were sitting together in front of a big whiteboard with pens in hand. Over those four days, we'll walk through all the tools and rules of back of the napkin visual thinking, including:

• the toolkit,
• the SQVID,
• the 6x6 Rule,
• the Visual Codex.

Altogether, we'll work through more than fifty simple exercises, each building on the previous and each building our confidence as excellent visual thinkers.

Here are a few samples from the book.

The introduction:

The "problem identification" exercise:

 

Portrait drawing drills:

 

"Active Looking" data visualization:

 

One of the things about Unfolding the Napkin that I'm most looking forward to is using it as a textbook in my own training conferences, the first of which will be held here in San Francisco this coming March 4-5. (I'll save details on that for another post, but here's a link to learn more and register.)

Whether you can attend a live conference or not, I know this book can help anyone become a great visual thinker. Don't worry if you think you can't draw. You can.

Let Unfolding the Napkin help prove it.

Comments

[Account Deleted]

Great Book Dan I read it today here in Manila. I've been an advocate of this for a long time now.
Keep it up!

Benjie Sandoval

[Tom Hood]

Dan,

Thanks - I loved your first one and just pre-ordered this one. I will also be attending your upcoming public training session in San Francisco.

[Brodwyn]

Ironic that it's Christmas... because I feel like a little kid at Christmas again in anticipation for this complement.

[online branding blog]

Looking forward to getting my hands on a copy!

[Atticus900]

Or rather, Unfolding the Napkin. The coffee hasn't kicked-in yet this morning :-)

[Atticus900]

Great! Definitely buying the Unfolding Napkin when it becomes available. Do you have any video resources online? I saw your talk at google, and found it very helpful in my work