Joshua Cohen is a Principal at Fat Pencil Studio
Even in the midst of pandemic lockdowns, most people have daily opportunities to associate a face with a name. Our social media feeds, and online meetings are full of portraits and avatars. It helps our brains cope with the avalanche of information we trigger each day when turning on the computer or picking up a phone. Introducing a cast of characters has always been an important part of telling a story, in movies and television for sure, but also among friends and family that follow your life online.
When it comes time to tell the story of a case, it's a good idea to introduce the key players with pictures or avatars at the outset, and then use those same images as you present evidence and ask for testimony. The pictures help your audience associate relevant information with the correct person, and later recall the points that are most important to your theory of the case. In addition, the process of creating and reviewing these key players exhibits often unlocks insights about the case that might otherwise be missed.
Fat Pencil Studio can help you create a visual story that highlights key issues of your case by associating people with specific organizations, locations, or communications. These charts can track who communicated the most, clarify chain of command, or illustrate corporate partnerships to name a few possibilities. These are easy exhibits to create, and can deliver tremendous value when created early and used consistently throughout a case.