LIVE ILLUSTRATION / GRAPHIC RECORDING
Live Event Illustration and Graphic Recording for Conferences Across Europe
I provide live event illustration and graphic recording for English-language conferences, summits, workshops and strategic events run by charities, NGOs and organisations across Europe.
Working in real time, I listen closely and visually capture key ideas, discussions and moments so audiences can better understand, remember and share what matters. The work combines clarity and structure with storytelling and atmosphere, creating visual records that reflect what is said and how an event feels.
Based in France and working internationally, I support events across Europe and the UK, both on site and remotely.
Live Visual Capture for Conferences, Summits and Workshops
Live illustration and graphic recording are particularly effective for conferences and workshops where engagement, accessibility and shared understanding are important.
As an event unfolds, I translate talks, panels and facilitated discussions into clear, engaging visuals using a combination of text, icons and visual metaphors.
Depending on the format and objectives, this may focus more on organising ideas and insights as they emerge, or on capturing themes, connections and the human experience of the room – often blending both approaches within the same event.
Illustrations can be:
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Shared live during the event.
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Used in post-event reports and presentations.
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Reused in funding, advocacy or communications and social media materials.
Whether the setting is formal or creative, the result is a visual record your audience can return to long after the event has ended.
Workshops, Strategy and Participatory Events
This approach is especially valuable for events where discussions are complex, collaborative or strategic, including:
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Strategy and planning workshops.
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Stakeholder and participatory events.
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Policy, health, education and social impact discussions.
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Hybrid and online conferences.
Visual summaries help diverse audiences see the bigger picture, align around key insights and continue conversations beyond the room.
Note that live illustration and graphic recording are sometimes referred to as sketchnoting or visual note-taking, particularly in educational contexts. However, in professional conference and organisational settings, the terms graphic recording and live event illustration are more commonly used for commissioned, audience-facing work.
A Journalism-led Approach to Live Illustration
My illustration practice is grounded in 15+ years as a journalist, covering conferences, events, workshops and summits. That background trained me to:
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Listen carefully and accurately.
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Identify what matters most in complex discussions.
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Distil information clearly without losing nuance.
These skills now sit at the heart of my live illustration and graphic recording work, and are particularly valuable in settings where discussions are information-dense, sensitive or strategic.
I’ve written for national and international titles including The Telegraph, Evening Standard, New Scientist, New Statesman and CNN, as well as many industry publications, and I bring the same editorial rigour to visual work.
Live Illustration: NHS QI Training Session
Having covered the NHS extensively throughout my health and fitness journalism career, I wanted to explore how live illustration could help communicate complex ideas within healthcare.
This piece was created in real time during an NHS training session explaining what Quality Improvement (QI) is and how it works within the NHS. The illustration was completed on the spot, with no changes made after the event, and was immediately deliverable as a PDF.
The result is a clear, engaging graphic recording that captures the key points of the session in a single visual snapshot – helping participants and teams revisit and remember the core ideas long after the training ended.
How My Live Illustration Works
I illustrate digitally using an iPad and Procreate, typically in 16:9 or A3 landscape formats, and can work within a limited brand colour palette if required.
Depending on your needs, illustrations can be:
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Projected live during the event
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Created privately for post-event distribution (PDF or JPG)
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Refined after the event to add further clarity or branding
Each illustration is tailored to the tone and purpose of your event – whether structured and word-focused or more expressive and narrative-led.
Visual Synthesis and Data-led Illustration
Alongside live events, I also visually synthesise existing material such as research findings, surveys or reports.
Using the same listening and distillation techniques, I work through written information and create visual summaries that make data more accessible and engaging. While this work is not created during a live event, it retains the immediacy and clarity of real-time visual thinking.
This approach is particularly effective for organisations that need to share insights quickly and clearly with a wide audience.
Working Across Europe
I work with organisations across France, the UK, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Spain, and regularly support international and remote events. All live illustration and graphic recording is delivered in English.
Book a Live Event Illustrator in Europe
If you’re planning a conference, summit or workshop and are looking for live event illustration or graphic recording in Europe, I’d be happy to discuss your project.
Contact me to find out how we can create the visual story of your next conference, workshop or summit – capturing ideas, discussions and key moments in real time.
Live Illustration: Mindroom Webinar with guest speaker Sarah Clark
Mindroom is a charity supporting neurodivergent people. In this webinar, guest speaker Sarah Clark, a Postgraduate Research Student and autism trainer, shares her lived experience and knowledge regarding her dual diagnoses of autism and EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome)/hEDS (Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), the challenges accessing healthcare and why diagnosis impacts the patient's ability to thrive and not just survive. Note, this work was self-initiated and not commissioned by the charity.
Live Illustration: Handmade Bosses Listathon Event
Handmade Bosses helps creative entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their online sales. Ahead of their signature mentorship programme – the Handmade Bosses Success Academy (HBSA) – CEO Steph runs a free Listathon course, where attendees learn how to strengthen their product listings and boost visibility online.
I live illustrated Day 2 and Day 3 of the Listathon, translating the energy and insights from Steph’s presentation into dynamic visuals. These real-time illustrations offered participants an engaging visual summary of key lessons to refer back to and share after the event.
Live Illustration: Cybersecurity Predictions for 2025
I created this live illustration while Jeff Crume discussed his cybersecurity predictions for 2025 during an online presentation. Having covered technology and innovation extensively throughout my journalism career, it was fascinating to see how many of his 2024 forecasts had already come true – adding real weight to this year’s insights.
This real-time graphic recording captured the key trends, risks and opportunities shaping the future of cybersecurity, providing an engaging visual summary of the session as it unfolded.
Live illustration is a powerful way to communicate complex technical topics, helping audiences absorb information quickly and remember it long after the event ends.
Visual Notetaking LiveCareer's Menopause Survey Results
When I received a press release detailing the results from LiveCareer's survey of 900 employed women I decided to put them into a visual poster.
I have to be clear that LiveCareer did not commission this work, but they did give permission for me to use it as an example of how I can turn report data into artful infographics (their words).
Reach out if you need a live illustrator or require your data to be transformed into an exciting visual format.