Above: current exploration is a form of visual notetaking. Visual Sketchnote Handbook (seen partially here) is an excellent resource and formatted “sketchnote style” itself, which is wonderful.
Episode 251 of the CMP, a Creativity Matters Podcast
In this episode of the CMP, visual notes, sketchnotes, doodles, stick figures, lots of interests all coming together on the page and in the “format” of sketchnoting. Challenge to sketchnote this show while you listen, think about visual vocabularly, and draw along as I talk. I’ve been trying sketchnoting for the past few weeks, learning, watching, scanning, scouring and, most importantly, doing. My attempts to do a page of illustrated show notes while listening to Episode 53, discussed in Episode 248: Then and Now, set me off on the sketchnote trail. Bit by bit, things fell into place. Actually, it was an avalanche. Join in as I connect the dots with you and encourage you to try sketchnoting yourself.
This is the first of the sketchnote shows….
I don’t draw icons. I don’t do stick people. I don’t have a visual library in my head that tells me how to quickly draw a skunk or a boat or a desk.
The Flow of Episode 251 (and relevant links):
- Re-reading Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel) (SLOW re-read; savoring)
- Looking up the hill; humanity; fragility; everything can change in an instant
- Creativity as a common thread; there are zillions of us
- Never say never (first ballpoint, now doodles and stick figures)
- Doodler I am not
- Yankee Doodle “macaroni” (NPR)
- Seeing “blue”
- Sketchnotes, visual notes, visual diaries… things start coming together
- The Sketchnote Handbook: the illustrated guide to visual note taking (Mike Rohde)
- Verbal to Visual (Youtube stream)
- Five basic shapes: CIRCLE, SQUARE, TRIANGLE, LINE, and DOT
- Core organizational strategies and layouts for sketchnotes (from Rohde’s book): linear, radial, vertical, path, modular, skyscraper, and popcorn
- Emphasis on information NOT art
- Write fast; draw fast; hone in on the key points; quickly decide what to represent with icons or symbols
- Use what you have –> paper, something to write with, and an information source. You don’t need any fancy tools or special pens to try sketchnoting!
- Books mentioned
- The Sketchnote Handbook: the illustrated guide to visual note taking (Mike Rohde) (the “must-see” book if you are interested in visual notetaking and sketchnotes. Definitely, I will come back to this one as a separate discussion — field note style.)
- The Sketchnote Workbook: Advanced techniques for taking visual notes you can use anywhere (Mike Rohde) –> haven’t seen this one yet, but follow-up to the basic handbook
- The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently (Sunni Brown) (also will be delving into this one in a future show)
- 20 Ways to Draw a Doodle and 44 Other Zigzags, Twirls, Spirals, and Teardrops: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers (Rachael Taylor)
- 20 Ways to Draw Everything: With 135 Nature Themes from Cats and Tigers to Tulips and Trees (Lisa Congdon) –> Lisa Congdon doodles
- Draw 500 Everyday Things: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers (Lisa Solomon) –> probably super useful!
- 20 Ways to Draw a Chair and 44 Other Interesting Everyday Things: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers (Lisa Solomon) –> chairs!
- Draw Your Big Idea: The Ultimate Creativity Tool for Turning Thoughts Into Action and Dreams Into Reality (Nora Herting)
- Show and Tell: How Everybody Can Make Extraordinary Presentations (Dan Roam)
- The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (Dan Roam)
- Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don’t Work (Dan Roam)
- Visual Note-Taking for Educators: A Teacher’s Guide to Student Creativity (Wendy Pillars)
- 100 + 1 Drawing Ideas: 100 + 1 Drawing Ideas for Sketchnoters and Doodlers (Mauro Toselli )
- The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide: How to use your listening, thinking and drawing skills to make meaning (Brandy Agerbeck)
- Randoms (listening to/reading/watching)
- A Way with Words (podcast)
- The Allusionist on the word Zillions (podcast)
- 80/20 (Pareto) principle videos…
- Chasing Creative (queued up this one to try)
- Chatty Sisters (queued up this one to try)
- Backstory for the 1 Second Everyday app
- Get a Gang about having a small group that shares goals (go back and listen to Episode 249, too)
- 30 ways to stay creative
- 30 ways to rejuvenate your creativity
- Reflections at 40 – Shyness – 36/40 –> “People tend to think shyness and introversion are the same thing. They’re not. I know many shy extroverts and non-shy introverts.”
- What I’m Listening To: 50+ Podcasts To Download Now
- Guitar music: Nicholai Heidlas on SoundCloud
- Creativity Matters Group at Facebook
- Patreon page
- Please leave a review at iTunes if you enjoy the show
“I love seeing connections… seeing how different things end up related or how one thing leads to the next and the next and the next and then how there are granular elements… clear branches or forks… paths… I love the slight teeter totter between logic and chaos… and this kind of form has that for me… it has the rich, filled-in, use-the-space, big type, little type, road map, flow chart, mind map, brainstorm, sometimes hodgepodge feeling… and yet the whole point is that this form helps organize and streamline meaning… makes it easier to look at a visual transcript of something and understand the key points, what was related, what the upshot is… helps lock things into memory… helps highlight and underscore what is important or what really stands out. For me… sometimes the ability to see connections… unexpected ones maybe… or obscure ones… is a big draw…. Visual sketchnoting has a quality of mapping that I love.”
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Totally cool, totally new concept, I am hooked – both on learning more about the sketch-noting concept AND – your voice!
Thank you for leaving a comment, Pam! I am so glad that the Sketchnote idea is exciting to you. There are so many wonderful examples of this format out there!