Sketchnote Handbook, The: the illustrated guide to visual note taking

Mike Rhode's Sketchnote Handbook (the video edition) is a thorough guide to creating notes that are both more memorable and probably more useful than the standard way people have been taking notes for years.The book is only seven chapters: he has written a practical guide with few words and many pictures, yet he covers everything from basic materials to a visual guide of different ways to organize content on the page. He avoids the formal language of graphic design for the most part, using layman's terms for the shapes and patterns that anyone can see on a page and copy for themselves. Likewise, in his videos, he encourages the self-defining "non-artistic type" to focus on how to use writing and organizing the content as a starting place, and places more emphasis on active listening and summarizing or using simple visual ideas to make powerful notes. By providing some simple images and ways to draw faces and figures with a few lines, dots and curves, he shows how to move beyond just words to get images into the budding sketchnoter's visual vocabulary.Printed in two colors on creamy thick paper, the book itself is a joy to hold and browse through, as he has filled the pages not only with his own sketchnotes, but examples from other sketchnoters from a cross-section of disciplines, proving that sketchnotes aren't just the domain of artists. The sketchnotes of software developers, teachers, user experience designers and others are interspersed throughout the seven chapters of the book and the videos (full disclosure: one of my sketchnotes are seen as he scrolls through examples of sketchnotes on an iPad in one of the videos).I suggest you fill the workbook pages to get the full benefit of this visual thinking toolkit. Even if you don't intend on sharing your sketchnotes with others, I believe that once you get started making sketchnotes through Mike Rhode's method, you'll find you will be compelled to show others why you're doing a better job at remembering events and conversations you've put down on paper (or iPad) in this creative way.

I'd read about Sketchnoting in various places and decided to take the plunge and get this book. I'm glad I did. It's written, designed and illustrated by the guy who coined the phrase 'sketchnote' and it's the perfect guide to getting started on this rewarding practice. If you're interested in learning how to level up your notes and learning, this is an excellent book.

The book provides lots of tips that will help my design students prepare professional notes for themselves that they can be proud to share with their clients and colleagues. Would have liked short sections on technical drawing (orthographics, isometrics, and perspectives) because those skills increase accuracy for more realistic sketches. However, I was very pleased with its sections on lettering because well designed text also adds a professional feel to support content. It has useful tips on how to create useful visual notes and has a helpful index. It's a very helpful book just wish it went just a bit further.

Anyone with basic sales skills knows confused people don't take action. If your job depends on others acting upon your ideas, you will get through to them much more often if you learn to **draw** those ideas. I end up explaining _something_ to _someone_ every day, so to improve my communication skills I recently read this book.## Why buy this instead of another book?If you're like me and are primarily looking to improve your communication skills, you might be inclined to buy a "drawing 101" type book. I've been down this road and it's hard to recommend as a first step.Those books tend to focus on concepts like drawing accurate 3D perspective, human figure drawing, shading/shadows, etc. Those are great skills to have, but it's way overachieving if you're just trying to get ideas across. I would say it's icing on the cake, but it's more like sprinkles _on top_ of the icing on the cake.## OK so...what, exactly, is in the book?To oversimplify, the book covers the following topics:- Sketchnoting 101: What is it? Why do it?- Sketchnoting Process and Structure: How does it work? What does it look like?- Basic Sketching Skills: Help! I can't draw.I didn't completely understand the whole book would be fully illustrated, somewhat like a children's book. So it's sort of a living example of the principles, and there are also many sketchnote examples specifically included. It's very engaging and makes it easy to get through.Although it's a fast read, take the time to stop and practice drawing the simple shapes mentioned in the text. You're wasting your time if you don't. If you can't draw your way out of a paper bag, the drawing tips toward the end of the book will get you going and build your confidence.One more tip: watch the videos. You will pick up great details like how Mike holds the paper flat and works in a slow, deliberate manner. This yields a clean, simple style that works as well on a whiteboard or iPad as it does on paper.