Five Cool Things, FREE Sketchnotes 101 Workshop this Saturday, What's ahead at Sketchnote Lab for 2026, and Sketchnote Handbook Chapter 3: Listen Up! video for your viewing pleasure.
I really enjoyed this update and the exciting plans for the Sketchnote Lab this year.
I may have spent more time than i'd like to admit going down the rabbit hole of Five Cool Things. I already subscribe to Adam Ming, but I wasn't aware of the others. I found some great finds and really enjoyed reading their thoughts.
I'm also looking forward to Saturday's session. I have to admit, since joining the Sketchnote Lab, i've been putting off actually getting started. All the usual procrastination suspects have reared their heads over the last few months:
"I don't have the right materials"
"I don't want to 'ruin' a notebook with mistakes"
"Should I go analog or digital?"
"What sort of sketchnotes should I create?"
"I don't know what to capture"
"Is this thing even worth capturing?"
"What if what I create looks bad"
Getting back to basics sounds like a great way to start the new year :)
I hope you don’t mind, Mike, but I’m going to take the liberty to continue my previous train of thought here:
I alluded to it in my last comment, but I think one of the barriers to me personally getting started with sketch notes is knowing where I can apply them to my own life.
I love the idea of sketch notes and your examples are always so inspiring. I really enjoyed your travel sketch notes breakdown and that kind of ‘documenting experiences’ approach to sketch notes is something I’m already on board with. I’ve done a little of this in previous journals without realising it. However, beyond that, when it comes to using sketch notes to solve problems and explore ideas, I admit I haven’t known how to apply it to my own life.
It’s like bullet journalling: I love the concept and I made a really good go of it several years ago, but I’m not an entrepreneur or a product designer. It didn’t feel like the things people typically capture really resonated with my life.
As much as sketch noting feels like a medium that is so aligned with my creative interests, I’ve just not quite been able to make that leap from inspiration to action.
I was watching your everyday sketch notes tour again a couple of nights ago and there were a couple of things you said that stuck with me. I wrote them down in my note taking app:
“A sketch note helps me understand complexity […] it gets me from knowing to not knowing”
“Sometimes, I feel like, drawing on the page actually helps you think through problems. Even though it may not be the final solution, it gives you sort of a place to let it out of your head.. I think we have so much stuff we hold in our heads, that sometimes it’s nice just to put things on paper and get rid of it, so that you can see what you’re thinking, and, in a lot of ways, having this discussion with yourself.. it leads me to a solution.”
Now, neither was a new revelation to me (ouch! that unfortunately sounds really mean, but what I’m trying say is, I’ve heard these ideas before, both from yourself and other visual note takers), but there’s a couple of turns of phrase in there that have actually really helped me unlock my framing of sketch notes:
“from knowing to not knowing”
“to see what you’re thinking”
The part I don’t say out loud when I share that I don’t know how to get started with sketch notes, is a genuine fear that it’s pointless to capture something that already feels like a fully formed idea in my head.
I’ve always been a very visual thinker. I can quickly dream up multiple solutions and I can picture how they could be in vivid detail. Of course sketch notes are a natural complement to that, but I think I worry about losing something in the translation, and about not capturing the right aspect of the idea in my sketch notes.
I see all these sketch noters talking about how sketch notes help them work through problems and understand complexity.. but if it feels like I’ve already done that work in my head, why repeat myself? It’s felt like I must be missing something that just seeing their process isn’t showing me, you know?
Anyway, ultimately what I wanted to share is that those two ideas - from knowing to not knowing, to see how I’m thinking - have turned out to be the secret sauce that finally made it click for me:
I can have a fully formed idea or think I have a good understanding of a project, but sketch notes can help me hold a mirror up to those thoughts to see where there are gaps, to solidify my understanding, to see new opportunities for deeper thinking.
I woke up this morning, having had this epiphany, and now when I ask myself the questions ‘What problems can sketch noting help me personally solve?’, ‘What complexity can it help me understand?’, I’ve realised I now know the answer and I already have some immediate, very tangible situations where I can use sketch notes:
* I’m exploring a new web development framework. It feels both simple and intimidating at the same time. Sketch notes could help me understand the logic behind it and common usage patterns.
* I’ve been building a family history website, something that has turned into quite a complex web app. Sketch notes could help me document the design decisions and bespoke functionality I’ve created, as well as serve as a space to ideate on the requirements and implementation of future features.
* I’ve been explaining to a colleague outside our team how we implement an agile methodology in our work. Sketch notes could help me make that workflow visible - the cycle of stages, the parties involved, the dependencies - that could serve as both a high level overview and a signpost for further discussion.
I’m absolutely sure that this won’t be some groundbreaking revelation to yourself or most sketch noters, but it is to me. I’ve long known that sketch notes can be a tool for reflection and problem solving, but until now I’ve struggled to see where that can apply to my life. Now I have a much clearer sense of direction, thanks to you.
Daniel, this is fantastic to hear! Really this is why I wanted to make a Sketchnote Lab because there is that disconnect from many people between wanting to do sketchnoting and seeing how it would be useful to them.
One thing to note: if you’re the kind of person who visualizes ideas fully in your head, you can think of sketchnotes as maps of that idea. The sketchnote helps you navigate around what is in your head so you can find things but also to see where maybe there are blind spots you hadn’t considered. It can amplify what’s in your head by having a visualization that reminds you of places in your mind where these ideas live.
I’m excited to see how sketchnotes can help the areas that you mentioned!
I really enjoyed this update and the exciting plans for the Sketchnote Lab this year.
I may have spent more time than i'd like to admit going down the rabbit hole of Five Cool Things. I already subscribe to Adam Ming, but I wasn't aware of the others. I found some great finds and really enjoyed reading their thoughts.
I'm also looking forward to Saturday's session. I have to admit, since joining the Sketchnote Lab, i've been putting off actually getting started. All the usual procrastination suspects have reared their heads over the last few months:
"I don't have the right materials"
"I don't want to 'ruin' a notebook with mistakes"
"Should I go analog or digital?"
"What sort of sketchnotes should I create?"
"I don't know what to capture"
"Is this thing even worth capturing?"
"What if what I create looks bad"
Getting back to basics sounds like a great way to start the new year :)
Great to hear you enjoyed the 5 cool things! Can’t wait to see you in the Saturday session!
I hope you don’t mind, Mike, but I’m going to take the liberty to continue my previous train of thought here:
I alluded to it in my last comment, but I think one of the barriers to me personally getting started with sketch notes is knowing where I can apply them to my own life.
I love the idea of sketch notes and your examples are always so inspiring. I really enjoyed your travel sketch notes breakdown and that kind of ‘documenting experiences’ approach to sketch notes is something I’m already on board with. I’ve done a little of this in previous journals without realising it. However, beyond that, when it comes to using sketch notes to solve problems and explore ideas, I admit I haven’t known how to apply it to my own life.
It’s like bullet journalling: I love the concept and I made a really good go of it several years ago, but I’m not an entrepreneur or a product designer. It didn’t feel like the things people typically capture really resonated with my life.
As much as sketch noting feels like a medium that is so aligned with my creative interests, I’ve just not quite been able to make that leap from inspiration to action.
I was watching your everyday sketch notes tour again a couple of nights ago and there were a couple of things you said that stuck with me. I wrote them down in my note taking app:
“A sketch note helps me understand complexity […] it gets me from knowing to not knowing”
“Sometimes, I feel like, drawing on the page actually helps you think through problems. Even though it may not be the final solution, it gives you sort of a place to let it out of your head.. I think we have so much stuff we hold in our heads, that sometimes it’s nice just to put things on paper and get rid of it, so that you can see what you’re thinking, and, in a lot of ways, having this discussion with yourself.. it leads me to a solution.”
Now, neither was a new revelation to me (ouch! that unfortunately sounds really mean, but what I’m trying say is, I’ve heard these ideas before, both from yourself and other visual note takers), but there’s a couple of turns of phrase in there that have actually really helped me unlock my framing of sketch notes:
“from knowing to not knowing”
“to see what you’re thinking”
The part I don’t say out loud when I share that I don’t know how to get started with sketch notes, is a genuine fear that it’s pointless to capture something that already feels like a fully formed idea in my head.
I’ve always been a very visual thinker. I can quickly dream up multiple solutions and I can picture how they could be in vivid detail. Of course sketch notes are a natural complement to that, but I think I worry about losing something in the translation, and about not capturing the right aspect of the idea in my sketch notes.
I see all these sketch noters talking about how sketch notes help them work through problems and understand complexity.. but if it feels like I’ve already done that work in my head, why repeat myself? It’s felt like I must be missing something that just seeing their process isn’t showing me, you know?
Anyway, ultimately what I wanted to share is that those two ideas - from knowing to not knowing, to see how I’m thinking - have turned out to be the secret sauce that finally made it click for me:
I can have a fully formed idea or think I have a good understanding of a project, but sketch notes can help me hold a mirror up to those thoughts to see where there are gaps, to solidify my understanding, to see new opportunities for deeper thinking.
I woke up this morning, having had this epiphany, and now when I ask myself the questions ‘What problems can sketch noting help me personally solve?’, ‘What complexity can it help me understand?’, I’ve realised I now know the answer and I already have some immediate, very tangible situations where I can use sketch notes:
* I’m exploring a new web development framework. It feels both simple and intimidating at the same time. Sketch notes could help me understand the logic behind it and common usage patterns.
* I’ve been building a family history website, something that has turned into quite a complex web app. Sketch notes could help me document the design decisions and bespoke functionality I’ve created, as well as serve as a space to ideate on the requirements and implementation of future features.
* I’ve been explaining to a colleague outside our team how we implement an agile methodology in our work. Sketch notes could help me make that workflow visible - the cycle of stages, the parties involved, the dependencies - that could serve as both a high level overview and a signpost for further discussion.
I’m absolutely sure that this won’t be some groundbreaking revelation to yourself or most sketch noters, but it is to me. I’ve long known that sketch notes can be a tool for reflection and problem solving, but until now I’ve struggled to see where that can apply to my life. Now I have a much clearer sense of direction, thanks to you.
Daniel, this is fantastic to hear! Really this is why I wanted to make a Sketchnote Lab because there is that disconnect from many people between wanting to do sketchnoting and seeing how it would be useful to them.
One thing to note: if you’re the kind of person who visualizes ideas fully in your head, you can think of sketchnotes as maps of that idea. The sketchnote helps you navigate around what is in your head so you can find things but also to see where maybe there are blind spots you hadn’t considered. It can amplify what’s in your head by having a visualization that reminds you of places in your mind where these ideas live.
I’m excited to see how sketchnotes can help the areas that you mentioned!