Gear: Combinations of Kits
By request, here's the gear I carry.
I love finding new tools for graphic facilitation and graphic recording. I use small, fabric Ikea cubes and zippered pouches as kits to swap out the stuff I need depending on what I'm doing.
Here's a list of the stuff I carry, organized into kits:
Gear Bags
My standard gear bag is a nylon Field & Stream fishing bag with a shoulder strap. It has tons of compartments and can hold three or four of the kits detailed below. It's good to carry enough materials for one-to-three days of work. I also have a smaller repurposed camera bag that can hold one or two kits that's good for a couple of hours of work. For jobs that go longer than three days and require a lot of materials, I have a rolling Stanley FatMax Mobile Work Station with drawers, trays, and bins. I also have a small tool hip pouch for easy access to markers while I'm working.
Graphic Facilitation Marker Kit
Black (Neuland 010 and 100), red (200) , and gray (101) is a simple, fast palette for graphic facilitation. Black for text, red for emphasis and connection, and gray for containers and clusters.
Graphic Recording Kit
Extended color palette for graphic recording with Neuland Art Markers, No. Ones, Big Ones, and Montana markers. To keep from having to carry a lot of Big Ones or Montana markers, I carry one empty marker and a plastic case full of inked nibs.
Ink Refill Kit
Bottles of ink, new nibs, small pliers to pull out nibs, a folding cardboard ink refill station, one or two ink spare bottle bulbs in case a needle breaks, and a rag for wipes and spills.
Drawing Kit
Razor to cut paper, scissors, white artists tape to hang paper, blue non-photographic pencil, carpenter's pencil (it's easy to sharpen with a razor), Kum pencil sharpener, kneaded eraser, rubber bands to hold rolled finished charts, t-pins to hang charts on fabric walls, white out and labels for cover ups, double-sided tape to hold down sticky notes.
Sketchnoting supplies: Sharpie pens, fine one Neuland markers, Tombow markers, Zig markers.
Two tools you don't often see for drawing perfect circles: an arc compass (also called a beam compass or trammel, available at hardware stores), and Heather Martinez's custom plexiglass templates for drawing circles.
Facilitation Kit
Stickies and sharpies for participants, a small inflatable beachball, Angel cards, Story cubes, a couple of whiteboard markers, kinetic toys, Tibetan tingsha chimes.
Marketing Kit
Business cards, Lizard Brain stickers, postcards, thank you notes.
Giveaways and guides to give away to people who show interest, Mike Rohde's Sketchnote Kickstarter, Mindmapping Basics, Sketchnote Basics, Flipchart Fundamentals, Visual Vocabulary, Q-FORCE framework.
Wall
4-panel Neuland LX-W. and/or an original Neuland wall. The original wall sets up a lot quicker, but the LX-W can angle back, adjustable height, and packs tighter. On the LX-W, I like to put the marker trays on AFTER setting up the panels on the cleats to help secure the panels to the easels. I also use big spring clamps to hold paper to the wall it's faster and cheaper than tape.
Paper
Yes, there's a lot of other, less expensive paper out there, but I still like the Grove's 25-yard rolls. It's super smooth and doesn't bleed (unless your markers are super-juicy or you're using Sharpies.) I usually average one roll per whole day of work. I use a ski tube to carry new rolls and finished charts.
References & Paperwork
Small portfolio of examples of work I like (thanks Trent!), sketchbook, and Heather Martinez's lettering guides.
Job file: contract, client-specific stickers, facilitation guide, image library, logistics/travel information, printed correspondence.
Personal Care
Snack bars, breath mints, toothpicks, chapstick, single-use medicines (tylenol, claratin, tums, cough drops.)