Sketch Group
Matthew Magain is an award-winning designer, illustrator, author, and speaker with a passion for helping organisations communicate better using visual language.
Matthew began his career as a software developer, but after several years left corporate life to teach English in Japan. In Tokyo, he came to realise his students were more receptive when he taught using hand-drawn artefacts, compared with those created on a computer. Back in Australia, he started a business to help people gain clarity of their ideas by visualising them.
Today Sketch Group employs over 20 illustrators, videographers, copywriters, and graphic recorders. Matthew has become a sought after visual consultant, working with organisations large and small. He has contributed to several books on visual thinking, including Mike Rohde’s best-selling The Sketchnote Handbook, and has delivered presentations and workshops on the topic in six countries.
Matthew is also the founder of:
He lives in Melbourne, Australia, and spends his spare time buying LEGO® on eBay and pretending it’s for his kids.
I just wanted to say thanks again for your work last week–I have had quite a few people pass on positive feedback about the two days, and it is no mean feat to keep a group this size engaged in a planning workshop for two days at the best of times, let alone remotely.
I have heard from several of my teams that both the process and the outputs have helped teams to better shape the work and direction they are taking, which is a great outcome. We all really appreciate your efforts!
Having Matt illustrating at the workshops brought a really engaging and interactive tool that really made the workshop attendees feel heard, understood, and special.
I think that the participants really enjoyed watching their words ‘come to life’ in front of them too. At times I also think that some of the group members (who were teenagers) would get bored with what I was talking about, and at those times they would often watch Matt while he was drawing, which really helped me a lot!
Having the illustrations on the wall also really helped the group remember things they had previously said and topics that they had previously talked about, which was very helpful for me as I could use the illustrations to prompt further conversation.
Matt’s sketch note taking was a highlight of the event. He was able to draw out key points in a way that engaged and enlightened, and contributed to bringing the different communities at the event together.
Matt’s illustrations were key to engagement in the conversation – it enabled people to collectively review and discuss. The novelty (for many) raised the energy in the room and assisted people to confirm the work we did and the agreements made. We have already started using the illustrations in our related documents.
Matt was one of the highlights of Fusion 18. His work was a conversation starter and really helped to focus the audience.
