A picture is worth a thousand words ...

It's an old saying, but it's still valid. A crisp, clear illustration can do more to explain complex technology or to grab the reader's interest than paragraphs of even the best prose.

Following that advice, here are some samples of the types of illustrations I like to use. These were all drawn using the standard Microsoft Draw functionality within Excel and incorporating lots of Microsoft Clip Art, collected on Microsoft Office Online (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx)

• Overviews
  Business overviews showing the business model in context; details of partictularly complex business processes
  
  
  
  
  
• System Architecture
  Schematic diagrams provide insight into important system principals.
  
  
  
  
• Cause and Effects
  Identifying and understanding (intangible) effects on the business metrics
  
  
  
  
• Business Planets
  A great way of understanding the importance of (e-)business model and application features. This is also a useful tool for separating out version- or phase-related functionality.
  [As always, this drawing was created using the Microsoft Draw components within Excel, but I've also done a version of this tool using the Excel charting functionality, which make discussion and manipulation a lot easier]
  
    
  
  
• Document Highlights
  Sometimes we need a graphic to provide highlights within a document, to provide a basis for a detailed discussion or simply to provide visual continuity. Highlights might look like this:
  
  
     

Additional Benefit

I use drawings and graphics obviously to help the reader better understand the subject matter. But an additional benefit, which should not be overlooked, is the clarity that I get for myself whilst actually constructing these diagrams:

• Drawing takes time, but it's not incedibly onerous. That gives me time to think about the problem in hand
• The layout process associated with illustrating complex relationships forces me to simplify the problem to its essential elements
• Animated drawings, for use in Microsoft PowerPoint for instance, force me to think about the story I'm telling and how to get the message across clearly and simply

Disclaimer: I don't work as a professional designer - despite seven years of architectural training. There are plenty of better-qualified people out there, who can put more "snaz" in your Corporate Identity or design a sexier screen design than I can. The graphic work I do comes from my understanding of the task in hand, so that you're more likely to benefit from it in the context of standard project work or other Hands-On services.