Sketchnote Mini Workshop - Interaction South America 2017

Summary

Dans cet atelier, l'orateur partage son parcours passionnant avec les notes de croquis, expliquant comment il a transformé une mauvaise expérience de prise de notes en une opportunité créative. Il enseigne les bases du dessin pour les non-artistes et met en avant la combinaison de textes et d'images pour capturer des idées de manière efficace. Des techniques de dessin de base, des exemples de notes de croquis et des astuces pour améliorer sa prise de notes sont présentés pour aider les participants à créer leurs propres notes de croquis.

Takeaways

• 🎨 L'importance de l'écoute dans le sketchnoting est soulignée, considérée comme plus importante que le dessin lui-même.
• 📝 Le sketchnoting est une technique de prise de notes combinant textes et images pour mieux comprendre et retenir des informations.
• 🚀 Le changement de support de prise de notes (de grands cahiers à papier A4 aux petits carnets) a permis au narrateur de se concentrer sur les idées principales.
• ✍️ L'utilisation d'un stylo à la place d'un crayon permet de se concentrer et de s'engager plus profondément dans les informations notées.
• 🌟 Le narrateur a transformé son expérience personnelle en un moyen de créer et de partager le sketchnoting avec d'autres.
• 📚 La publication de livres sur le sketchnoting et la création d'un workbook en ont fait une figure reconnue dans le domaine.
• 🎨 Sketchnotes sont des notes plus que des notes traditionnelles, elles ajoutent des éléments visuels pour organiser et mettre en valeur les informations.
• 👀 L'écoute active permet de repérer les mots-clés et les phrases importantes, aidant ainsi à la compréhension globale du sujet.
• 📈 L'interprétation des informations auditionnées est préférable au simple enregistrement verbatim, car elle implique une compréhension plus profonde.
• 💡 Le sketchnoting est comparé à une camionnette plutôt qu'à une voiture de sport, soulignant son utilité et sa simplicité.
• 🌳 L'exercice du 'Treehouse' est présenté comme une activité pratique pour mettre en pratique les compétences de sketchnoting apprises.

Q & A

Quel est le point principal de ce workshop de croquis ?

Le point principal de ce workshop est d'apprendre les compétences de base du croquis pour les aider, en particulier ceux qui se considèrent comme n'étant pas des artistes, à faire des notes de croquis et à améliorer leur prise de notes.

Pourquoi l'orateur a-t-il commencé son parcours de croquis ?

L'orateur a commencé son parcours de croquis parce qu'il éprouvait beaucoup de douleur avec son approche de prise de notes, il prenait des notes très détaillées mais ne les révisait jamais, ce qui le stressait sans vraiment améliorer sa compréhension ou son retention des informations.

Comment l'orateur a-t-il résolu son problème de prise de notes ?

L'orateur a résolu son problème en se limitant à un cahier plus petit et en utilisant un stylo au lieu d'un crayon, ce qui l'a aidé à se concentrer sur les grandes idées et à écrire moins de détails, améliorant ainsi sa prise de notes et sa compréhension.

Quels sont les éléments de base du croquis selon l'orateur ?

Les éléments de base du croquis selon l'orateur sont le carré, le cercle, le triangle, la ligne et le point. Ces éléments servent de base pour construire des dessins simples et représentatifs.

Comment les notes de croquis sont-elles différentes des notes traditionnelles ?

Les notes de croquis sont différentes des notes traditionnelles en ce qu'elles combinent des textes et des images pour capturer les idées clés et les informations importantes, plutôt que de simplement transcrire verbatim tout ce qui est dit ou présenté.

Quelle est la valeur des notes de croquis selon l'orateur ?

Selon l'orateur, la valeur des notes de croquis est qu'elles permettent de capturer et de communiquer les idées de manière visuelle et mémorable, en se concentrant sur les grandes idées et en utilisant des illustrations pour renforcer la compréhension et la mémorisation des informations.

Comment l'orateur a-t-il utilisé ses compétences en notes de croquis pour améliorer sa carrière ?

L'orateur a utilisé ses compétences en notes de croquis pour devenir un conférencier et un auteur de livres sur le sujet, ainsi que pour travailler avec des équipes de développement de logiciels en tant que designer UX, aidant ainsi à améliorer leur processus de conception et de prise de décision.

Quels sont les avantages de la création d'une visual library selon l'orateur ?

La création d'une visual library permet de mémoriser et de repérer rapidement les formes et les icônes fréquemment utilisées dans les notes de croquis, ce qui facilite la prise de notes rapide et la reconstruction des idées principales à partir de ses notes plus tard.

Comment l'orateur recommande-t-il de dessiner des personnes dans les notes de croquis ?

L'orateur recommande deux méthodes pour dessiner des personnes : la méthode Dave Gra qui consiste à dessiner le corps et les jambes en premier, et la méthode 'star person' qui consiste à dessiner la tête en premier suivie du corps en formant un étoile. Ces méthodes permettent de dessiner rapidement des personnages avec une certaine personnalité et de les utiliser pour capturer des idées ou des actions dans les notes de croquis.

Quelle est la méthode recommandée par l'orateur pour dessiner des lettres grasses rapidement ?

L'orateur recommande la méthode de la double ligne pour dessiner des lettres grasses rapidement. Il s'agit de dessiner une lettre, puis de tracer une autre ligne parallèle à côté, en reculant les extrémités. Ensuite, on rempli la forme créée par les deux lignes, ce qui donne un aspect de lettre grasse tout en étant rapide et facile à faire.

Quel est l'exercice proposé par l'orateur pour pratiquer les compétences de croquis ?

L'orateur propose un exercice appelé 'Treehouse exercise' où les participants doivent dessiner une maison d'arbre de leur choix en deux sessions de 5 minutes, en se concentrant sur les éléments clés et en utilisant les compétences de croquis apprises lors du workshop.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Sketchnoting

The speaker introduces the concept of sketchnoting, a method of note-taking that combines drawing and writing to enhance understanding and retention. They share their personal journey with sketchnoting, which began 10 years ago as a solution to their pain with traditional note-taking. The speaker emphasizes that sketchnoting is accessible to everyone, regardless of artistic ability, and encourages the audience to follow along with paper and pen to learn basic drawing skills.

05:01

🖌️ Sketchnoting Techniques and Elements

The speaker delves into the techniques of sketchnoting, explaining that it involves using simple shapes like squares, circles, triangles, lines, and dots to create visual representations of ideas. They demonstrate how these basic elements can be combined to form more complex drawings, such as a house or a book, and how these drawings can be enhanced with additional details. The speaker also introduces the concept of a visual library, where one can store and reuse drawings of common objects.

10:03

🐟 Drawing Simple Objects and Icons

The speaker provides examples of how to draw simple objects and icons, such as a fish, bird, camera, pizza, and submarine, using basic shapes. They emphasize the importance of simplicity and speed in sketchnoting, as the goal is to capture ideas quickly and efficiently. The speaker also shares some icons they use in their own note-taking, such as a clock for deadlines, stars for hierarchy, and a light bulb for ideas, to help organize and prioritize information.

15:05

✍️ Lettering and People Drawing

The speaker teaches methods for drawing bold letters and people in sketchnotes. For letters, they introduce the two-line and three-line methods, which involve creating a template for the letter and then filling it in. For drawing people, they present two techniques: the 'Dave Gra method' which starts with the body and legs, and the 'star person' method which starts with the head and uses a star shape for the body. These methods are designed to be quick and easy, allowing even those who don't consider themselves artists to effectively capture people in their sketchnotes.

20:06

👂 The Importance of Listening in Sketchnoting

The speaker stresses that listening is the key to effective sketchnoting, even more so than drawing. They suggest listening for keyword words and phrases, interpreting the information rather than simply writing it down verbatim, and reading between the lines to understand the bigger picture. By focusing on listening, one can capture the essence of the content and create sketchnotes that are valuable and meaningful.

25:09

🌳 The Treehouse Exercise for Idea Mapping

The speaker introduces a practical exercise called the Treehouse exercise, which involves drawing a treehouse using the sketchnoting techniques learned. The exercise is designed to be done in two five-minute sessions, allowing participants to either refine their initial drawing or explore a new idea. The speaker encourages participants to share their treehouse sketches online using a specific hashtag for further interaction and feedback.

30:10

🙌 Conclusion and Call to Action

The speaker concludes the workshop by encouraging participants to apply the sketchnoting tips they've learned to enhance their note-taking at future events. They invite participants to share their treehouse sketches and interact on social media platforms, offering to provide feedback and answer questions. The speaker expresses gratitude for the opportunity to share sketchnoting concepts and hopes that the skills learned will be beneficial to the participants.

Keywords

💡Sketch noting

Sketch noting est une technique de prise de notes qui combine le texte et les dessins pour mieux encapsuler et retenir les informations. Dans le script, l'orateur explique comment il a adopté cette méthode pour améliorer sa prise de notes et combler les lacunes de ses notes détaillées mais inutilisées. Sketch noting permet de se concentrer sur les grandes idées et de les capturer de manière ludique et mémorisable.

💡Limitations

Les limitations sont des restrictions volontaires que l'on se impose pour résoudre un problème ou améliorer un processus. Dans le contexte du script, l'orateur a imposé des limitations à lui-même en passant à un cahier plus petit et en utilisant un stylo au lieu d'un crayon, ce qui l'a aidé à écrire moins mais à se concentrer sur les informations essentielles. Les limitations ont ainsi été un moyen de résoudre son problème de prise de notes inefficace.

💡Big Ideas

Les 'Big Ideas' font référence aux concepts ou idées principales qu'il est essentiel de comprendre et de retenir d'une présentation ou d'un événement. Le script met en évidence l'importance de se concentrer sur ces idées clés plutôt que de tenter d'écrire tout ce qu'on entend. En identifiant et en notant les 'Big Ideas', on peut capturer la substance de l'information partagée de manière plus efficace.

💡Visual Library

Une 'Visual Library' est une collection de formes et de symboles que l'on peut utiliser répétitivement pour représenter des objets, des concepts ou des idées dans les sketch notes. Elle permet de simplifier le processus de dessin et d'accélérer la prise de notes. Le script mentionne la création d'une 'Visual Library' comme un moyen de faciliter et d'améliorer la pratique du sketch noting.

💡Icons

Les 'Icons' sont des représentations visuelles simplifiées d'objets ou de concepts qui servent à organiser et à structurer les informations dans les sketch notes. Elles permettent de mettre en évidence des éléments clés, de faciliter la compréhension et la mémorisation des notes. Dans le script, l'orateur aborde l'utilisation d'icônes pour ajouter des couches de sens et de priorité aux informations notées.

💡Lettering

Le 'Lettering' fait référence à l'art de créer des lettres et des mots avec un style particulier pour mettre en évidence des mots clés dans les sketch notes. Cela aide à attirer l'attention sur des éléments importants et à donner une apparence esthétique aux notes. L'orateur discute des techniques de base pour créer des lettres audacieuses et faciles à suivre, telles que la méthode à deux lignes et la méthode à trois lignes.

💡Listening

L'écoute est un élément crucial du sketch noting, car elle permet de saisir les informations essentielles à noter. L'orateur souligne que l'écoute active et l'interprétation des informations auditionnées sont plus importantes que les compétences en dessin. En écoutant attentivement, on peut identifier les mots-clés, interpréter les idées et comprendre les relations entre les différentes informations partagées.

💡Idea Maps

Les 'Idea Maps' sont des représentations visuelles qui organisent et lient les différentes idées et concepts pour faciliter la compréhension globale d'un sujet. Elles aident à voir les relations entre les éléments et à avoir une vue d'ensemble de l'information. Dans le script, l'orateur utilise les 'Idea Maps' pour planifier et visualiser des solutions de conception en tant que designer UX.

💡Treehouse exercise

L'exercice 'Treehouse' est une activité de création de sketch notes où les participants sont invités à dessiner une maison d'arbre de leur choix en deux sessions de cinq minutes. L'objectif est de pratiquer les compétences en sketch noting tout en apprenant à traiter les informations rapidement et à faire preuve de créativité. Cet exercice permet également de mettre en pratique les techniques d'écoute et de visualisation appris au cours de l'atelier.

💡Personalization

La personnalisation est le processus d'adapter ou de modifier des techniques, des outils ou des méthodes pour qu'ils correspondent à vos besoins ou préférences personnelles. Dans le script, l'orateur encourage les participants à personnaliser leur pratique du sketch noting en utilisant des techniques qui leur conviennent et en créant leur propre 'Visual Library' pour faciliter la prise de notes.

💡Feedback

Le feedback fait référence au processus d'échange d'informations ou d'opinions sur un travail ou une performance. Dans le script, l'orateur invite les participants à partager leurs sketch notes de maisons d'arbre sur les réseaux sociaux pour recevoir des commentaires et des suggestions. Le feedback est un moyen de validation et d'amélioration continue du travail.

Highlights

The speaker shares their journey into sketch noting, starting 10 years ago due to dissatisfaction with their note-taking approach.

The transformation from detailed note-taking to focusing on key ideas and sketch noting led to a reduction in stress and an increase in enjoyment of the process.

Sketch noting is described as 'notes plus', combining textual information with visual elements to enhance understanding and retention.

The speaker's switch to a smaller notebook and a pen limited their space and commitment to each note, leading to a focus on the most valuable information.

Sketch noting not only improved the speaker's personal note-taking but also opened opportunities for them to write books, speak at conferences, and encourage others.

The concept of sketch noting is explained as a practical tool for capturing and communicating ideas, rather than focusing on the artistic aspect.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of listening in sketch noting, arguing that it is more crucial than the drawing itself for effective note-taking.

The 'Treehouse exercise' is introduced as a practical activity for participants to apply the sketch noting techniques learned during the workshop.

The speaker encourages participants to share their treehouse sketches online using a specific hashtag for further interaction and feedback.

The five elements of drawing (square, circle, triangle, line, and dot) are presented as the basic building blocks for creating any sketch.

The speaker demonstrates how to create a visual library by repeatedly drawing objects, which becomes a handy resource for future sketch noting.

Icons and symbols are used in the speaker's work to represent actions and ideas, such as a clock for deadlines or a light bulb for ideas.

The speaker provides techniques for drawing letters quickly and boldly, such as the two-line method and the three-line method.

Two methods for drawing people are introduced: the 'Dave Gra method' starting with the body and the 'star person' method starting with the head.

The speaker concludes by encouraging participants to use the sketch noting tips shared to improve their note-taking at future sessions.

Transcripts

thanks for joining me on the sketch note

mini Workshop I hope you uh follow along

with me if you've got paper and Pen

please uh take a moment and uh pause the

video If You' like get the paper and pen

so you can follow along we're going to

be doing some drawing and it's very

important because um this is an

opportunity for you to learn some really

basic drawing skills that may help you

especially those of you who feel like

you're not artists and because of this

you're not able to do sketch noting I

think that's not true at all and I think

you should be able to do sketch noting

wonderfully so follow along so first I

have to start with the backstory 10

years ago I started this sketch noting

journey I started it because I was in so

much pain with my note-taking uh

approach I was very good at note-taking

and I hated taking notes it was a really

terrible combination uh the problem that

I faced was I'd come to this place in my

life where I was taking notes of

everything that I heard I felt that I

needed to take notes of every detail and

in order to do that I had to have large

A4 size notebooks uh with lined pages uh

and then I used a pencil because I was

concerned that if I made a mistake I

should have the opportunity to go back

and fix that mistake well the reality of

this was that I didn't actually um

review the notes that I took I I wrote

all these detailed notes and it was very

stressful but I never went back and

looked at them so the solution for me

was how do I change this situation uh my

choice was as a designer to put

limitations on myself to see if I could

find a way out of this problem and what

I did was I switched over to a smaller

notebook partly because I thought that

if I could limit the pages that I could

write on I wouldn't write so much uh and

then I switched to a pen so that

anything that I wrote I would have to

commit to I'd have to be very careful

about it and the combination of limited

space and committing to a pen combined

to refocus my thinking towards listening

for key information Big Ideas so instead

of writing everything down in this case

I actually just wrote down the things

that were valuable to me the things that

I felt I could make use of in in a

conference I would just go and listen

for those key ideas and it worked so

well uh that it freed me up not having

to write everything down to actually

start drawing things doing lettering uh

enjoying the process of noing again to

really listen to what the speaker was

saying and then capturing it a fun way

next thing you know I was doing it

regularly I was invited to come to

conferences eventually hired to go to

conferences this led to an opportunity

to write one book the book uh the sketch

note handbook so really well it's in

many languages uh and then I was able to

write a second uh book called the sketch

note workbook so both are out and doing

well both bestsellers and that it's

given me opportunities to speak to

people like you and encourage you to do

sketch noting that it's definitely

possible and that you can do it too

so as you can imagine sketch noting

really changed my life uh not only from

improving my note taking but then seeing

other people having their note taking

improved as well and having a door open

for them just like it was for me so you

may be asking if you've not heard what

sketch notes are what are these things

that I'm talking about well I I like to

call them notes plus I call them notes

plus because you're not really throwing

away the notes you take now you're still

writing notes with text in the same way

you did before now you may be uh writing

a little bit fewer notes because you're

listening more intently at the

information but you're simply writing

and then you're adding lettering so

you're emphasizing some words making

them bigger uh and then you're using

drawings could be drawings of the

speaker drawings of the concepts you're

hearing or you may have a selection of

icons that you use regularly that you

build over time that help you organize

your information so that you can scan

back through it and draw value from it

at a future time and then finally

because because you're not writing as

much and you're focusing on the Big

Ideas you're really capturing you're

listening very carefully and you're

applying in the moment and making

choices about what to Remember by

writing it down and what to let go so

many of these conferences we attend have

their sessions recorded So in some ways

it doesn't even make sense to record

every word it's much more important to

find the things that are valuable to you

and this is a way to do it by taking

notes Plus or sketch

notes so here are some samples just a

few samples to show you what sketch

notes can look like these are uh sketch

notes from sermon notes that I take so I

attend a church every Sunday and I look

at it as an opportunity to practice

every week and try out new ideas so you

can see that I've got a sketch note of a

sermon here talking about uh the The

Book of Mark and sort of capturing these

Concepts that I was hearing uh in real

time while I was listening drawing

pictures of people and concepts of the

layout of a page and other information

that was really interesting to me as

well as text so you'll see that there's

a fair amount of writing here as well as

drawing so I don't throw away the

writing I simply add visuals to it and

make them work

together another sample is of idea

mapping so this is what I do at work

very much as a ux designer working with

software teams uh on whiteboards or uh

with large screens that I can write on

and what we do is we take Concepts

requirements for software and we map

them out on the board and we work

together to imagine what a solution to

these problems could be in this case I

just uh picked up an iPad Pro and a

pencil and I was observing the things

that I felt like could be improved like

a screw on cap so you wouldn't so easily

lose it or maybe the charger actually

inverted so I can use any lightning

cable to charge it and maybe that the

length is a little bit shorter so it's

easier to put in my pocket so that's an

example of what idea mapping can look

like this is an example of capturing

documentation uh in the in the moment

this was a latte art Throwdown that I

attended and was a judge for and what I

did is I captured the criteria for

judging the coffees as well as uh the

action that was happening during the

event the making of the coffee as well

as the the bracket of the people

competing against each other for the

best latte artwork finally resulting in

one winner at the very end so again even

unusual things can provide opportunities

to do sketch noting and capture

information that's valuable to you in a

way that maybe you couldn't have

imagined if you uh didn't give it a

try travel experiences are also a

valuable thing that you can do I I did

this many years ago and I traveled with

my family to Washington DC and what we

did is we went around the city and just

experienced the city together um it

wasn't practical to sketch note in my

book in the moment because it was just

too busy with children and and travel

and so forth so what I did was I took

notes during the day of the things that

really stood out took photos with my

camera on my phone and then at the end

of the night when the kids were in bed I

sat at the hotel desk and with my

notebook I reconstructed the day using

my notes and the images putting them

together in sketch notes so this is

definitely something you can do as well

to document an experience of almost any

kind it doesn't have to be

travel and to prove that another way

that you can capture experiences is uh

the food that you're eating so I really

enjoy when I go to memorable dinners or

dinners that I hope are memorable to

sketch note them this in this one I

happen to have my uh daily diary along I

made use of uh two pages to capture um

some Thai food that I had in New York

City with my wife so again it's just an

opportunity to remember the moment with

drawings and writing and in this case

you'll notice the quality of the

drawings isn't very detailed it's very

much uh impressionistic and loose and

really all it's doing is capturing that

moment in time in my Impressions so when

I look at this image I remember the

moment I remember what it was like in

the restaurant and the food we had and

the experience it's a sort of of a

marker that brings that memory back to

life and that's the value of sketch

notes of

experiences so ultimately sketch notes

are designed to capture your thinking

it's a way of capturing your thinking in

a physical way whether it's pen and

paper or even a digital way if you're

using some kind of a digital tool to

capture those ideas doesn't really

matter it's still the same principles

applied in different

ways so I like to think of sketch notes

as much more like a pickup truck than a

Corvette a Corvette I see is like um you

know fancy art things you see in a in a

in a museum of course they're very

important I love artwork I think art is

important for our lives but I think

there's a place for something practical

like a pickup truck something you can

throw you know dirty boots in and put

your dog in or go camping in climbing in

the mountains with it or something that

you wouldn't take Corvette and or a

sports car in that kind of a situation

so think of it that way so ultimately if

there's one thing you take away from the

session it's that ideas not art so we're

focusing on capturing and communicating

ideas if you're not a great artist

that's okay it's not required for sketch

noting if you are a good artist and you

can do visual drawing very well that's

just an advantage that you have but

ultimately you have to focus on

capturing those

ideas so let's get started now this is

where I want you to take your pen and

paper or your your computer tablet and

Pen whatever it is that you're capturing

and follow along with me so the first

thing I had to decide was how would I

communicate the idea of sketch noting

unless people had some comfort in

drawing and what I discovered after

years in the visual thinking uh

community that many people had different

ways of expressing a visual um way of

taking taking down drawings uh some use

many objects I boiled it down to five uh

elements of drawing and these elements I

see as a square a circle a triangle a

line and a DOT and the concept was these

basic building blocks allow me to build

almost anything I can imagine by just

putting them together almost like Lego

blocks and what that does is it makes it

easier for me to imagine drawing things

when it's not so much uh a concern about

perfect proportion or making details

ideal or you know exactly what I see

it's more an approximation it's a

representational way to take down image

uh ideas and make them into drawings so

why don't you follow along as I draw and

you'll see what I

mean so first of all uh if you imagine a

house you could probably get away with

simply drawing a

square and putting a triangle on top

that would certainly be enough that you

would be able to do and somebody would

understand what you're meaning now of

course having the word house underneath

the drawing of the house certainly helps

and that is the key idea of sketch

noting you're combining the power of

words and images together but what's

kind of cool about this is you don't

have to be limited to just the those

simple objects what if I drew another

rectangle and a line across and maybe a

little dot for a door knob now I have a

door on my

house I can certainly put a square in

the in the upstairs and make a a window

finally I can use a rectangle on the

roof to make a smoke stack and even have

a squiggly straight squiggly line single

line to make

smoke now the same goes for a book so if

I wanted to draw a book I would simply

draw a rectangle like this and then

maybe a line down the middle and that

would probably be enough to communicate

that idea however again we can add more

detail so I can put another line below

like so connect it to the upper part now

I've got a little bit of

depth and now I can do things like I can

put lines down the left Page to suggest

writing or text on the right I can use a

rectangular Square to indicate an image

maybe it's an image of a mountain so I

use a triangle and then maybe another

line below so you're representing the

idea of a book with writing and images

on it it just adds a little bit more

detail the next one I'm going to show

you is coffee so it might be very

tempting to in this case Draw Something

in three dimensions using circles and

things like that but I recommend if you

can get away with drawing something in

two dimensional two-dimensional space

like from the side that you do that

because it just makes your life easier

so in this

case I'm drawing just two rectangles one

a little bit smaller underneath and the

idea about these is the the coffee cups

you see that Stack Up in say a

cafeteria and then you simply add a

handle on the side and then on top you

can do something like again our our

Vapor coming off and that can suggest

that it's hot coffee what's really

interesting about this approach is of

course the word coffee supports the

image I can cross that out and simply

write

te and now it's a teacup so again this

combination of images and drawing

together make it get very flexible

finally I have a little dog named Rufus

and if I draw this for my children they

immediately know who I'm drawing and who

I'm talking

about is just the simple circle triangle

and then some shapes around and that's

Rufus for me so that's a really quick

way to draw a dog and finally a

hamburger imagine again instead of

worrying about making circles and

proportions and getting lost in that

think about this in a three-dimensional

in a two dimensional way instead of

threedimensional so if you look at the

side of a burger it would start with a

rectangle at the

bottom another rectangle maybe you fill

that in there's your Patty for some

reason I tend to draw Big Mac so I put

the bread in the

middle and then another burger here

maybe some squiggly lines that's my

lettuce and then finally then the top

would be a half circle bun for the very

top and then maybe if it's fancy there's

a sesame SE seeds and then a little

toothpick with a flag to sort of finish

it off so again how simply can you draw

something is very valuable when you're

trying to move fast and you're taking

notes this is an interesting way to

think about using these very simple

shapes to

draw so what really interesting as you

start doing this work you end up with

something called a visual library and

that's that as you draw more and more

objects and you start to do them again

and again they get memorized or you can

put them in the back of your notebook so

that if you need to refer to them you

can find them again a really handy

resource that you may may may or may not

know about is called the noun project so

if you're interested in ideas for ways

to express things as icons that's a

really helpful resource where you can

take ideas and use those to draw images

but in this case just follow along with

me and we're going to do some more

drawing so a fish can be as simple as

this this simple shape that you may have

seen two intersecting curves what's

interesting is you can continue you can

close off the end and now you've got a

tail I can put an eye smiley face I can

put fins on

him and now I've got a little fish maybe

there's one other curve uh for his gills

so a really simple way to draw a fish

this is a simple way that I've learned

to draw a bird I start with a an oval

and a line in another oval or Circle so

that's his head and his body off the

body I put uh bird feet just like that I

put a triangle on his head for his beak

and a little dot for his eye and then a

curve like this for his wing finally a

little triangle for his tail so again

I'm trying to find what's the most

optimal way that I can draw this image

that gets the idea across but is quick

to draw that's really the ultimate goal

with this approach a camera so if we

draw again the most simple thing I can

do is a rectangle and a circle I

probably could stop there maybe I would

add another rectangle up on top top that

would be the minimum for a camera but

you can again add more detail so I can

close off the top here and the bottom

maybe I'm I'm imagining this could be a

1970 style camera so I've got the

leather and then in the middle maybe I

draw another Circle and then finally I

can put a smaller Circle here and when I

fill in this lens it almost looks like a

shine on the lens it gives a little bit

of

three-dimensionality

pizza you might be tempted to simply

draw a rectang or a triangle but I think

in this case using a little bit of a

curve suggests that this piece of pizza

comes from a circle right so it's going

to fill out if you put all the pieces

side by side another way to reinforce

that imagery is if you're drawing let's

say pepperoni pizza maybe the pepperonis

actually are cut off from the side of it

like this and then finally a submarine

you can draw sort of a rounded Edge tube

almost like a cigar something like that

on the top there's something called the

conning Tower which is where the the

sailors climb up and down you can have a

a little Periscope so they can see

what's happening on the back a square

and then some a couple of ovals for

the propellers and then a little line to

suggest that they're going through the

water then uh you can also do a little

thing like a torpedo tube and maybe some

lines and show a little

torpedo coming to hit the pizza so you

can have a little fun with that again

notice how we're using really simple

objects to draw here we're not doing

anything to Super complex so if you

start thinking in this way it's kind of

a fun game to see how simply you can

draw things with these basic

shapes so icons this I'm I wanted to

share with you some icons that I like to

use in my note taking uh at work so

sometimes um when I'm at work I'm taking

notes uh from a meeting that I'm in and

I use these images within my notes

within my text to help me scan through

and find actions CU ultimately the notes

that I'm taking need to be turned into

actions so that I can do work work for

my clients and my colleagues the first

one I like is is uh the clock and that

is basically a circle like this and then

the hands of the clock now a lot of

times um I use this for deadlines so a

lot of times I'll put the actual time of

the due date in there so if it's due at

3:00 I might write that in there as just

a reminder but you could certainly add

you know 3 p.m. to that note uh with

that image I like using two stars I keep

my hierarchy really simple so it's a

regular star and then an asterisk

sometimes I'll fill it in I sort of look

at this as level one and this is level

two and it it keeps my structures

somewhat uh flat so I only have two

levels that I typically use if I need to

go to a third level maybe I would use a

circle or something but it helps me not

to get too deep in my structure when I

take notes so that I focus on the

content and not get too worried about

organizing it in the

moment I like using to-dos in my note

taking and meetings and what I'll do is

I'll do a square like this if it's a

project that I've already begun I might

put a dot in the middle and what's nice

about the little dot is you can do

things like this let's say you started a

project and you complete it well you can

check it off right on top of the dot or

if you started the project and you

decide I'm not going to do that you can

cancel it and finally if you've got a

dot in the middle to suggest you've

started it you can draw an arrow like

this and then delegate that to someone

else a lot of times I'm meetings and I

hear uh ideas based on discussions we're

having or ideas that pop up in my head

and I like to use the light bulb icons

so I can scan through and find those

ideas quickly after the meeting and then

turn those into action and then finally

if I'm seeing scope creep or some

problem that I'm worried about I might

use an alert symbol just as a way to

indicate that and then when I need to

deal with that I can scan through again

the notes take action and move

forward so drawing letters I think this

is really help helpful for those of you

who want to get bold letters but maybe

you're worried about the time there's a

couple of reasons why this these methods

are beneficial is they're one they're

very fast and they're also easy so in

this in this case let's

do

I

a and what I do is I I teach the two

line method which is basically you take

the line the words that you've drawn and

you draw a line on the on the parallel

right next to it just like this and then

you cap the

ends basically what you're doing is

you're creating a template for yourself

to fill in the beauty of this is when

you fill it in no one's going to know

like where the template was and let's

say in this case I fill in the S I can

see already that there's some issues

with that which is okay I'll I'll

continue filling it

in and now is the time when I can come

in and fix things like if I want to make

this a little bit thicker I can do that

and clean up the edges a little bit and

now I've got a nice bold letter but it's

really quick the beauty of this approach

is you can use the single line if you're

in a hurry and don't worry about making

it double and come back after the talk

or whatever the notes are you're taking

and fill in that letter and make it bold

again or you can even do it a week later

or a month later or a year later once

the letter is in place you can double it

really easily so it's a convenient way

to do that work the second one I'll

teach you is called the three line

method for this one

I'm simply going to draw an H because it

demonstrates the concept so I would

start with the H like

this like on the other one I would draw

a line on one side but the beauty of the

three line method is you can get very

bold letters by drawing a line on the

other side again you cap the ends right

just like this and what I'm going to do

is I'm going to copy

this move one over and then you'll see

now I can fill it in and you'll see what

the filled in one looks like compared to

the template and again what you're doing

here is you're building a template for

yourself and if it's imperfect you just

tune it up no one's going to know

because you're filling in the template

and it's covered up so all your your

secret is hidden that way so it's just a

very quick way to do lettering that um

that helps you capture things and

emphasize words that you think are very

important so drawing people there's two

different ways I like to show drawing

people one is called the Dave Gra method

and Dave suggests that if you start with

uh the body first and then the legs you

can get a lot of expression so in this

case we'll do a body as a rectangle and

two legs and then the feet as just

ovals now what you can do then is you

can make the arms lines as well you can

curve

them I like to do almost like Lego hands

on there really simple and then finally

a neck and a head now here of course you

can add more detail you can can have you

know a face on there or something you

can add more detail to the body if you

like what I really like about this is

how quickly I can draw people

standing so if I want to do a crowd it's

not too hard and you'll notice that

sometimes I'll do a straight line for

feet that's fine too and you can do all

kinds of different you know positions if

you like somebody rowing a boat right so

there's somebody rowing a boat so again

you can do all kinds of different shapes

the other person I like to share is

called the star person this is a little

bit different so you start with the head

first and then you do a the Four Points

of a star as a body like so you just

connect it back to the circle and then

you can do things like give pants you

know again you can give that

personality you can also make really

tall thin people by simply stretching

the star out like

so sometimes I'll draw the head second

and then my favorite of all my friend

Michael Clayton taught me the this way

of drawing a star person so you make a

really big guy like

this put a little thing on here and now

he's star person Sumo person so we got a

sumo wrestler that quickly so again use

these really simple ways to drop people

to capture people in your imagery uh if

you're not an artist this gives you a

way to express people and it's got a

little bit more personality and it's a

little bit more um body than a thin

stick person might be when you compare

that all right now listening Concepts

these are things I think that listening

is actually the secret weapon of sketch

noting I think listening is more

important than drawing in many ways now

drawing is of course important to

capture the ideas but I think you can

have bad drawings but good listening and

have great sketch notes or I don't think

it works the other way if you have great

drawings but there's no listening

there's not a lot of meat to that sketch

note so the first thing that I suggest

is you need to listen for keyword words

and phrases so there's certain things

that you'll hear sometimes they're

repeated so they're repeated many times

you start getting a feeling this thing

must be important if it's being said

again and again but you start getting a

picture by scanning through and

listening for key words and the things

that are being said you start making an

image in your head and you start

analyzing when you listen and you hear

these things coming

through the second thing I would say is

um verbatim is okay but I think

interpretation is better because I think

when you interpret things you internally

Anze it in your mind and you start to

understand and sort of turn it around in

your head even very briefly and

understand what that concept is when you

simply write for btim you don't really

buy into the idea you're just simply

writing down what you hear um and it

doesn't have as much meaning so you're

not fully understanding that concept so

I think it's really important that you

interpret things in this case the

example is I can simply write down what

an iPhone 5S is but it's much more

impactful if I draw the different parts

you know the body of the 5S and the

brains of the success or whatever it is

these

days I love it when you add opinion or

analysis of course the facts are

important they're a starting point but

opinion is very important because it

lets me see what it is that you're

thinking about it or it reminds you when

you look at your own notes what you're

thinking about in that moment so you can

reconstruct those Concepts put yourself

in the same place and hopefully get that

same information and value from the

notes as when you were taking them

months or years

later and finally listen between the

lines not everything is is told to you

directly you have to listen and sort of

put things together and start seeing the

way things fit together and then you

read between the lines so you know it's

not you it's me actually it's

you so now we're going to make

stuff and what we're going to make our

sketch note idea Maps we made a mention

of these earlier in the in the session

and uh we talked about how important

they are for me as a ux designer when

when I work with developers to map out

ideas I think this is probably one of

the most valuable tools that I could

share with you as designers is this way

to sketch note idea maps on paper on an

iPad and with a pencil or on a

whiteboard it doesn't really matter what

the what the surface or the materials

are it's more about this communication

style and in this case I'm going to

challenge you to do a personal idea map

to sort of experience what this feels

like so why would you create IDM Maps

well it's very important that to get a

mental overview of what what it is that

you're trying to understand it really is

a way of processing the information and

then you can look at the the information

at different levels so you can look in F

detail at one or two things or you can

look at the whole thing from a super

high level from 50,000 ft up and then

you can start looking at how things fit

together when you map things on paper or

whiteboard or chalkboard whatever it is

you can start to see how pieces fit

together in a different way than when

it's just inside your head or in a

computer program I think it's really

valuable and a good skill to

have so what we're going to do is one of

my favorite exercises to do in the

sketch note mini Workshop is the

Treehouse exercise and what we're going

to do is uh we're going to have two

sessions uh for you where you draw a

treehouse now I'm going to have to trust

that you'll time yourself I keep it time

boxed simply because it forces you to

keep moving if I didn't have a time box

on this activity you know you might

wander off often and not really do a

whole lot you might spend too much time

on one thing the limited time actually

forces you to process information and

work quickly so what I want you to do is

find some kind of a timer it can be on

your phone it can be a kitchen timer

whatever it is uh to alarm you when 5

minutes are up and what I want you to do

is keep it rough and loose what I would

like you to do is draw a treehouse uh

Imagine The Treehouse that you always

wanted as a child or maybe you've never

imagined having a tree house maybe now

is the first time you thought of it this

is your opportunity to explore tree

houses it doesn't have to be beautiful

uh but I think it's really helpful if

you can process through this activity

and we're going to have two time box

Windows each of five minutes uh the

reason I do this is uh after the first 5

minutes you may have had some other

ideas come into your head as you were

drawing and you may want to decide to go

in a different direction for your second

5 minutes what this does is it allows

you to make a shift if you want now of

course it's just fine if you were

working on your treehouse for the first

5 minutes and you want to spend the

second 5 minutes to improve that house

that's just fine what this does though

is it gives you options so if there was

some great idea that You Came Upon as

you were exploring and you want to shift

gears now you can do that so one final

note before we get started um I want to

see more tree house and less tree when I

first ran these exercises uh some people

came up and they had beautifully drawn

trees and no how houses because they

were so focused again on the tree before

they even got to the house so if you

like you can

even operate with the idea that the tree

is implied you can simply draw the house

and we'll understand that there's a tree

supporting it in some way or another

unless of course that's critical to the

design so what I want you to do now is

stop this recording pause it and then

record uh turn on your timer for 5

minutes and start drawing your treehouse

you can use all the symbols and the

lettering and the drawing skills that I

taught you in the session Square Circle

lines triangles and dots you can use

people you can use icons you can use any

of these objects to build your treehouse

and then after 5 minutes I want you to

stop drawing sort of look at what you've

done and make a decision would I like to

continue with another Treehouse or would

I like to continue making this treeh

house even more detailed and better

that's your opportunity so after the

first 5 minutes are done and you make

this reflection start your timer again

and record five more minutes and at the

end of the 10 minutes total what I'd

love love for you to do is to take a

photo of your treehouse and put it

online and and post it for me so that I

can see it and and react to you and give

you feedback about the Treehouse that

you've done I think it would be really

valuable for me to see that and to start

to interact with you and also to answer

any

questions and what I'm going to have you

do is show your work on this keynote uh

this uh this hashtag

Isa 17 sketch note so if you if you tag

it with Isa 17 sketch note I'll be

watching that that hashtag and looking

for your sketch notes of tree houses and

we can interact further so um please at

the end of the session go ahead and do

your work and post it online and I look

forward to interacting with you so

finally Q&A again you can reach out to

me at R design on Twitter or Instagram

I'm on both of those happy to uh

interact with you in questions that you

may have or tree houses that you'd like

to share and then finally thank you so

much for this opportunity uh to present

this concept to you and I hope that it's

really helpful for you especially as you

listen to some great sessions at uh

interaction South America that you can

use these sketch noting tips to take

better notes and remember more so you

can share it with your colleagues and

remember it for yourself thanks so

much