Visual Storytelling Creativity Blog Post 1

Visual Storytelling

Creativity Blog Post 1

For this creative exercise, I set out to design a wordless instruction manual, in the style of IKEA guides, for:

"How to Be a Good Samaritan."

Instead of explaining the concept through written instructions or emotional dialogue, I used only stick figure imagery and sequence to tell a small story of compassion and assistance.

---

---

What I did:

I created a 3-panel comic-like storyboard using simple black-and-white line drawings:

1. Panel 1: A stick figure wearing a ball cap is walking down a slope and sees another stick figure in a wheelchair struggling to push upward.
2. Panel 2: The first figure stops, turns around, and begins pushing the person in the wheelchair up the incline.
3. Panel 3: The two reach the top of the hill shaking hands, a shared moment of dignity and connection.

Although the images are not perfect, (the wheels are off the ground), the images still tell the story as I intended

This creative exercise was intended to use visual storytelling to design a wordless instruction manual for a complex human behavior: being a Good Samaritan. Inspired by universal, language-free guides like IKEA instructions, the goal was to convey empathy, action, and narrative entirely through visuals.

This activity taught me how to:

• Strip a narrative down to its emotional core
• Communicate kindness through shape and composition
• Think more about universal storytelling, how to reach someone across language or cultural barriers
• Appreciate how a small moment, like helping someone up a hill, can be powerfully symbolic

In the future, I will:

• Consider how I can use fewer words and more visuals in my work
• Approach design with more empathy and intentionality
• Understand that not everyone reads or speaks the same language, but most people can understand a clear image