Rachel Burnham writes: I have been reading (or perhaps it should be looking
at) ‘The xLontrax Theory of Sketchnote’ by Mauro Toselli, which is a book about
Sketchnotes in the form of Sketchnotes.
xLontrax is Mauro Toselli’s sketchnoting name and you can find him on Twitter
@xLontrax.
His book explores
what makes an effective Sketchnote and is based upon many years of experience
of sketchnoting, plus some research he did into what people are looking for
when they look at a Sketchnote. This makes it very interesting reading for
anyone wanting to produce Sketchnotes.
His Sketchnotes are lovely to look at and his typography is so graceful
– I keep practising some of the fonts he uses.
His emphasis is on
producing Sketchnotes to share and what makes an effective Sketchnote to
share. He looks at the various elements
of a sketchnote and pulls out what works for people – what attracts initially
and what makes them easy to understand.
It is well worth looking at and will help you think about the way you
layout and present a Sketchnote.
The value is in the ‘doing’ of Sketchnoting
Reading this has made
me realise that my thinking about Sketchnotes has changed and now differs from
Mauro Toselli’s focus. Over the last couple of years of offering workshops in
Sketchnoting, I have begun to appreciate the value of Sketchnoting as a
process, rather than the production of an end product. For me Sketchnoting is now mostly about the
‘doing’ of it, rather than the production of a finished Sketchnote.
I now think of
Sketchnoting as a ‘gateway’ activity that can serve to introduce people to
drawing and also to using visuals to aid their thinking, learning and
work. Sketchnotes can be used not only
for note taking, but for planning, reflecting, as a recap tool to aid spaced
practice, for thinking things through and communicating informally. My friend
and colleague, Liz Longden, has commented that learning to Sketchnote opened up
the creative side of her brain.
I have identified a
number of benefits to ‘doing’ Sketchnoting:
1. Sketchnoting
is a great way to get started with drawing for work
As sketchnoting combines the use
of simple drawings and graphics with words, it can be a great way of getting
started with drawing. As adults, so
many of us feel that we can’t draw and feel embarrassed about sharing our
efforts with other people. Yet as
children, the vast majority of us did draw confidently and with enjoyment. Sketchnoting can be a way to dip your toe in
the water and have a go at drawing, without any pretensions to art or
illustration, that so often get in the way of people picking up a pencil. You can begin to Sketchnote effectively with
very simplified hand drawn graphics that you can get started with straight
away. And the more you do, the better
you get and the more confident you get - applying that ‘growth mindset’.
2. Sketchnoting
slows you down
The use of drawing in Sketchnoting forces you to slow down. Traditional note-taking using just words is
definitely faster, but that doesn’t mean you take it in – sometimes you can
make notes and when you look back at them, you are hardly conscious of what you
have written, because it has been so automatic.
When you add in drawing, it slows you down. It forces you take things at a slower pace,
whether this is note taking in a presentation, meeting or learning session or
when thinking things through for yourself or putting information together to
share with colleagues.
That slowing down in itself can be beneficial – many of the participants
in my workshops have commented on how relaxing and de-stressing they find
this. But it also gives you time to
think, focus and identify what is important.
When you are Sketchnoting live in a presentation, meeting or learning
session that slowing down is linked to listening deeply and focusing on what is
important, so that you only attempt to capture in a Sketchnote key points – the
key points for you. In a similar way,
when using Sketchnoting to aid thinking or if planning a project, presentation
or piece of writing, slowing down can enable you to think more deeply about
that piece of work. Outlining an image
or colouring in a section can give you time to engage at a deeper level with
the material.
3. Sketchnoting
promotes observation and listening
This slowing down that drawing
and Sketchnoting require are also closely connected to being able to observe
and listen carefully.
Great drawing often begins with
observation and similiarly Sketchnoting live begins with listening. These activities promote attentiveness.
You need to be able to still
yourself and your own voice to see what is before you, to consider the evidence
and listen to what is being said, or not said.
Observation and listening are very powerful skills to have and are
helpful in a great many circumstances in the workplace, such as when working
with customers and colleagues, when problem-solving, or when improving services
and processes.
4. Sketchnoting
encourages playfulness
Sketchnoting often involves the
use of metaphor and humour. Colour is
often made use of – though some Sketchnoters work very effectively just using
black ink.
This all encourages a playful
approach which can enable you to look at things differently and from different
perspectives. It can help you to
communicate a concept, a process or
information in a more imaginative way, that connects more effectively and
memorably with the intended recipients.
It can help you to see things in a fresh light as well, perhaps enabling
you to come up with a different approach or additional ideas that would not
have occurred otherwise.
5. Sketchnoting
develops pattern seeking and creation
Sketchnoting and the use of
visuals can help with seeing patterns amongst information and data. The use of different layouts, colour and
tools, such as arrows, to group information and to explore the relationship
between items can be very helpful in thinking things through. Perhaps in outlining a current process, or
imagining a new framework or communicating an idea.
This is an area where you
definitely don’t need to be able to draw, other than simple arrows and shapes
such as circles, rectangles or triangles to link and group items together. The use of colour can also help you to see
patterns and present material more clearly.
6. Sketchnoting
encourages seeing the whole story
Presenting ideas visually can help you to see things differently. A recent participant in one of my
Sketchnoting workshops was mapping out a process he was very familiar with in a
Sketchnote and commented how much easier it was to do it in this format. He noted how quickly he had spotted things
out of place or missed, compared to when he had tried to describe the process
in a text only document.
Others have commented on how useful a Sketchnote can be to support
describing a process or presenting information to a colleague, because they can
see the information as a whole.
So, whilst a finished
Sketchnote is a lovely thing, great for capturing notes of a session or
summarising some reading or a podcast, being able to produce a finished
Sketchnote is only one benefit of Sketchnoting.
I think that the real value of Sketchnoting is in the doing of
Sketchnoting and the many ways Sketchnoting contributes to thinking, learning and
working.
Rachel Burnham
9 September 2019
I help individuals and organisations to work and learn
more effectively, particularly though using the tools of Sketchnoting and the
curation of resources. I make use of
Sketchnoting to introduce people to using visuals to aid thinking, working and
learning. I help people to manage for
themselves the information they need to stay up-to-date in their professional
work.
