It’s January.
And in Australia, that means it’s time for tennis.
Grand Slam, world class tennis. The Australian Open.

Watching the tennis live or on the tele, there’s a few things that spring to mind.
 
How can they keep up that pace for three or five sets?
It’s exhausting just watching.
How fabulous is Roger Federer each and every time he hits the court?
Why is the scoring like that – 15/30/deuce/game.
(Answer? It’s French – something to do with the hands of a clock)
How good are shots in slow motion?
 
AND, perhaps more relevant to us…
 
How amazing are the graphics that explain the very detailed statistics?
            Like what day/night temperatures do to Rafael Nadal’s serve?
            Where is it that Venus Williams places most of her serves?
            And what exactly is a rally hit point comparison?
 
 
How well do the Tennis Sponsors use any and every available opportunity to get their message across?  Be it on the walls bordering the court, banner ads on the TV screen, or the animated messages courtside. And, of course, in the short breaks between games, sets & match.

Here at Sketch Videos we’ve learnt a lot from the tennis.
 
Tennis shows us that short messages can be sharp, powerful and memorable.
Just like a Novak Djokovic serve.

You don’t need a lot of time, just a good strategy.

That the unexpected is fabulous.
Just like Mirjana Lucic-Baroni who got her start in 1999 and had to wait 18 more years to reach another grand slam semi-final.

That teamwork makes for a better performance.
One look at the players boxes will assure you of that.
 
That it’s important to make clear messaging that’s perfectly suited for the purpose and the location.

That Statistics don’t have to be boring.

Eye-catching visuals will always cut through.
​
And good stories will always move us.
 
Oh, and faulting at first isn’t the end. You get another attempt at making a winner.

Lists are very good things.
 
Be it a To-Do list, a shopping list, a playlist, a list of resolutions.
Lists give structure and organization, help with focus and priorities.
They bring order to chaos. They help prevent procrastination.
 
There are some people who are not fans of listicles (list-based articles) but here’s a few pointers that might make them change their minds…
 
1) Lists can relieve anxiety and stress – getting thoughts out of your head and onto some paper can give clarity and foster calm.
 
2) By their very nature, lists are concise. Lists use the least amount of words possible to explain whatever it is you need to remember and focus on.
 
3) Research has shown that people who write lists are more likely to achieve their goals. It’s all about being able to clearly see what you’re aiming for.
 
And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the sense of achievement that crossing things off a list brings?
Tick, Tick, Tick.
 
At Sketch Videos we love a list.
Because we love to simplify the complicated and bring order to chaos.
​We love that you can clearly state what it is you want, and that you can share that clarity with others.
 
And, we’d love to help you with your list – be it on a poster, a screensaver or a video. 
 
Because in the modern world, being listless, is not an option.

Sketch Videos want to help you make (and keep) your New Year Resolution.
So we’ve come up with a special deal, to help you do just that.
We call it our Resolution Retreat.
Because sometimes, to come up with plans and big ideas, you need to step away from the everyday. Even just for a moment.

The Resolution Retreat works like this:
You gather your key people together. Block out an hour or so of their time. You’re thinking about strategy; about the year ahead; what 2017 can mean for you business. Now is the time to do it.
To amp up the creativity flow, to help harness ideas and visually represent you need a graphic facilitator.
Graphic facilitation helps with clarity, engagement and creativity. It provides group memory and gives a great visual overview of all you have worked on and discussed.
Our Resolution Retreat Offer means that once you book a graphic facilitator through us (all of whom are trained, tested and terrific) you’ll also get afree digital poster based on your session, that you can share with the rest of your team, refer to, reflect on, and work from. This poster is more than just a photograph of the session sketch—we'll polish it in Photoshop to get it looking crisp and ready to share on your intranet, email, or social media. Normally we charge $500 for this poster, but if you book and pay for your 'Resolution Retreat' before the end of February, you'll get it for free.


Set youself up for a terrific 2017 with Sketch Videos' Resolution Retreat.

There’s a whole lot of science about colour and emotion, which begs the question…
 
Why not make colours work for you?
 
And not just in a fashion sense (although there’s a reason we see a lot of red and black worn by high flyers and come on, we know you secretly judge people in tie-dye) but a business sense as well.
 
Some organisations just stick to one colour. Cadbury has their purple, Apple silver. Or perhaps two, McDonalds have certainly made the red and orange work for them.
 
But for many of us, we have a little more scope. We can open up to the possibilities of the rainbow.
 
Perhaps with your ongoing internal communications, your messaging, you can make colours work for you.
 
Something as subtle as going with the seasons. Or maybe colours that come with inbuilt messaging.
 
For instance, science suggests that the colour blue is associated with clear communication; red is energizing; green is for environment, health and well-being. Yellow is cheery (hello sunshine!) and orange is optimistic.
 
We’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Pantone’s colour of 2017, the happily named Greenery  (or 15-0343 for those in the know). It was no doubt a tough competition with many colours just honoured to be nominated.