do you know the importance of creative synoptic charts? Do you find it hard to organize concepts when you study? What you need are templates to make creative synoptic charts that will make your study evenings easier or help you make a difference in your work presentations.
A creative synoptic chart (also known as a key diagram) is a visual way to summarize and organize ideas into topics, subtopics and concepts. In fact, creative synoptic charts are a great support to prepare for an exam or to use as a guide in a research or work you are carrying out.
Therefore, in this article we will tell you about their importance and types. In addition, we will show you how to make a creative synoptic chart in a simple and quick way.
1. Key Summary Chart
Once you know what kind of text you want to summarize or what is the purpose of the creative synoptic chart you are going to make, you must choose the type that best suits your needs . and , precisely, the key diagram is one of the creative synoptic charts that organizes information into main, secondary and complementary ideas through the use of brackets or braces.
You will see that learning how to make creative key synoptic charts when studying will help you understand, memorize and share information effectively.
2. Synoptic Diagram Chart
It presents the same hierarchical model, but the difference with the previous creative synoptic chart is that it uses lines as connectors and represents concepts with keywords.
3. Network synoptic chart
Its creation process is freer because, instead of hierarchizing ideas, all concepts are written without any specific order. These ideas are connected with lines that create relationships between them.
In fact, in the photo below you can visualize what a creative synoptic network chart looks like to give you an idea of the infinite possibilities of this resource and how it adapts to the theme you imagine.
Advantages of creative synoptic charts
A creative synoptic chart, besides being one of the most used graphic resources, helps you to identify the most important information in a text and, thus, to understand it and/or show it better.
To complement the above, according to Lifeder, it is a graphic organizer that makes a “synopsis” of a specific topic, showing similarities and differences between subtopics within the main topic. That said, let’s see what its benefits are:
The main advantage of creative synoptic charts is that it allows you to have an immediate graphic view of the content of a given topic, whose ideas have been ordered and hierarchized.
Unlike mind maps or concept maps, creative synoptic charts have an established scheme with a hierarchy to capture information.
Itfacilitates learning through visual memory.
You can add more details by including new fields as you go along.
Allows you to make comparisons between more than one point of view.
It can be understood by people who do not know the subject, since it organizes the ideas of a text in a summarized form.
There are many people who have greater visual capacity than others, for them creative synoptic charts take on a new value because it allows them to memorize information without inconveniences and to obtain knowledge at any time.
what are the characteristics of a creative synoptic chart?
As you can see, creative synoptic charts are tools that convey ideas and can help you memorize content and structure it in a correct and easy-to-read way.
As Mauro Azua, professor of the online course of ideation and creativity from scratch, explains, executing the ideation stage through graphic techniques or resources will allow you to create structured and relevant concepts thanks to the systematic generation of ideas.
Well, know what are the characteristics of the creative synoptic chart:
Itorganizes a piece of writing by hierarchizing the main, secondary and complementary ideas on a specific topic.
Keys or tables are used to identify the descent and hierarchy of ideas.
The structure of a synoptic table is always developed from left to right .
They usually have an average of 2 or 3 main ideas from which secondary and complementary ideas or concepts are derived.
Elements of a creative synoptic table
The elements that make up a creative synoptic chart can be seen at a glance, but to make it even clearer, we list them below:
Theme: concept to be developed.
Main ideas: ideas to be highlighted.
Secondary ideas: ideas derived from the main idea.
Complementary ideas or concepts: ideas derived from the secondary ideas.
Keys: identify the hierarchy between ideas, although other elements can also be used.
As you know, to make a good creative synoptic chart, none of these five elements can be missing, so read on, and we will show you how to make a synoptic chart in just 5 steps.
how to make a creative synoptic chart?
Although it may seem like a simple process when you see the result, in practice it is not as easy as it seems. If you already know what your main topic is, you are probably wondering how to make a creative synoptic chart. It’s quite simple! So, take note.
1. Gather the information and identify what is most important
The first step in making any of the types of creative summary charts is gathering the information. This includes researching the topic and selecting everything you think is appropriate to be part of the chart.
To do this, we recommend that you underline the main and secondary ideas that you find in the text.
2. Group related ideas together
Once you have studied the topic, selected the most important and identified the crucial points, you should group the ideas that are related to each other so that when you draw the creative synoptic table they are linked correctly and clearly.
3. Order the ideas
Establish criteria that allow you to organize the ideas in a logical way, so that you can see the whole group and then it will be easier to analyze the content.
To make creative synoptic tables in a correct way is to order from the most abstract and general idea to the most concrete and specific. Of course, dedicate time to this step and be very detailed with the order, so as not to generate confusion.
If you find it difficult to land your ideas or you have a creative block, you can use some of these brainstorming templates in Power Point.
4. Place the ideas in hierarchical order
this is the most important step: focus on the order so that the information is displayed in a hierarchical way (in order of importance), this will allow the creative synoptic chart to be expanded later on.
Therefore, you must have well-defined headings, then you will complement them with the rest of the information. When you are designing creative synoptic charts, keep in mind that the main ideas should be placed on the left side and from each idea there is a key where you should place the secondary ideas.
If some or several secondary ideas have complementary ideas, detach again the keys with these ideas.
5. Add color
Give visual impact to your chart by using attractive colors or styles for your keys. What we recommend is that you use the creative synoptic chart templates that we will share with you in the next section.
A special recommendation: for your creative synoptic chart to be effective, the main ideas must be really important. Although the idea is not to exclude important information when making a synoptic chart, don’t make the mistake of including too much text or arguments. Your chart should be simple and schematic since its function is to visually support the topic of study or a presentation.
Now you know the steps to follow, it’s time to get down to work. Here is what we promised: a free pack of templates to make creative synoptic charts.
Tools for making creative synoptic charts
Free online summary charting tools can be invaluable if you have a large amount of data to present. In fact, these essential platforms can help you organize a lot of information into attractive and easy-to-read charts.
While making your own creative synoptic chart from scratch can generate original and eye-catching results, it can also be time-consuming. That’s why we’ve selected a range of brilliant online websites for making creative summary charts.
1. Canva
Canva is a powerful and easy-to-use online design tool that is suitable for all kinds of creative tasks, from brochures to presentations and much more. It also offers users an extensive library of images, icons, fonts and features to choose from.
And, fittingly, it has a collection of creative synoptic chart templates that you can use for free, with hundreds of design elements, free fonts at your fingertips and many more premium elements that you can purchase for $1.
2. Lucidchart
Lucidchart is one of the best tools for making creative synoptic charts that helps businesses make better decisions by allowing them to craft powerful diagrams. Anyone, regardless of their industry and function, can opt for Lucidchart, as it is a diagramming platform that gives you everything in one.
Creating creative diagrams is very easy with the help of this tool, as you can choose from more than 500 creative synoptic chart templates available on the platform or you can customize your own.
In addition to making it easy to create diagrams, you can also do process mapping, chart design, agile planning and much more. On top of that, you can work together with your team through its real-time collaboration feature.
3. Drawio
As the name of this tool suggests, Drawio is a free online diagramming platform that helps you draw your thoughts and ideas in the form of creative synoptic charts or mind maps. Anyone with a basic knowledge of these tools can easily draw creative charts for their business with the help of its easy-to-understand features.
The first step in using the platform is to select a storage location to save your creative synoptic charts. The platform will provide you with a blank sheet (in the middle) along with several tools (on the right, left and top of the page) to draw different types of charts.
4. Venngage
If you are looking for a tool to turn a large amount of complex data into creative synoptic charts and impressive diagrams, Venngage is the right platform for you.
This online platform has more than 25 features and tools that allow users to design creative synoptic charts according to their needs. Moreover, it allows you to make infographics, newsletters, brochures and much more.
In fact, it is the perfect data visualization tool as it has specialized features for different types of users, such as business, premium, education, non-profit organizations, etc.
What’s more, users can turn their data and ideas into creative synoptic charts according to their choice with the help of thousands of customizable icons, pictograms, illustrations, templates and themes.
5. Creately
As the name of this tool suggests, Creately is the perfect workspace for planning, brainstorming, designing and creating any visually appealing element. In fact, Creately is used by more than 6 million people and thousands of leading companies in the world, such as PayPal, eBay, Amazon, among others.
The platform is known for providing specialized solutions and real-time data visualizations. From business diagrams to technical diagrams, Creately offers its users the ability to create a wide range of creative summary charts and visual diagrams.
In fact, users can make beautiful and creative charts easily with the help of its 1000+ smart functions, easy shortcuts, predefined themes and styles, 70 types of diagrams, extensible library, etc.
Templates for Making Creative Summary Charts
When you draw a creative synoptic chart the design can be very varied: it can be formed by rows and columns or by a series of concepts from which the rest of the information is derived.
Don’t forget that the most important thing about a synoptic chart is its elaboration rather than its revision, since it is when you read the information, assimilate it and give it structure.
congratulations! Now you know how to make creative synoptic charts to help you capture your ideas in a disruptive way and you have expanded your toolbox with a set of synoptic chart templates.
we hope you can make the most of these free summary chart templates! Always have them handy when you want to summarize information and organize it in the best way when studying, making a work report or working on a project presentation.
see you soon!