If I am going to try this sketchnote business, where do I start? What do I sketchnote?
To help us answer the question, what should I sketchnote? let’s consider two contexts:
- Identifying good occasions to sketchnote.
- Feeling confident in what we choose to emphasize or record in our sketchnotes.
What makes a good occasion or subject to sketchnote?
This is kind of a trick question because the answer is ultimately, “anything you want,” but that would make for a pretty short chapter.
Taking an informal inventory of the sketchnotes shared on social media, a lot of what I see are notes around a common topic of interest from a given conference, webcast or other gathering of professionals. They use regular white computer paper, a sketch book or even drawing apps on a tablet or smartphone.
Perhaps a religious equivalent might be any setting where you are receiving religiously-themed instruction or commentary like a sermon, Sunday school lesson, or devotional that you would like to share or remember.
I find myself most motivated to sketchnote when one or more of the following factors are present:
- I want to summarize a big idea or show the relationship between multiple themes.
- I want to give myself visual cues or hints that are easy to navigate when I come back to my notes.
- I want to share what I learned with others.
More specifically, I’ve sketchnoted in the following settings:
- Watching LDS General Conference
- Listening to a talk in Church
- Summarizing the main themes from the chapter we’re studying for Sunday School
- Illustrating a scene, concept or other detail in my personal journal
- Capturing the ideas of a brainstorming session
- Augmenting a teaching outline with visual cues
- Annotating my scriptures with icons that help call attention to a theme or event on that page
When I sit down to sketchnote, what kinds of things should I include in my notes?
Let’s lead with a general answer again. As with any note-taking setting, take notes around those things you want to be able to recall in greater detail or that you might otherwise forget.
This might include:
- Capturing a quote or statement that helps you understand the topic better.
- Visualizing a story that helps give context to the rest of the address or passage.
- Mapping out the relationship between different subjects.
- Calling out a reoccurring theme or motiff.
- Keeping yourself creatively engaged in a learning setting.
Just remember that sketchnotes are still notes. You are allowed to use words and plenty of them. Put your focus on making your notes relevant and meaningful to you. Avoid the temptation to get hung up on trying to think of the most creative way to illustrate something.
We’ll talk a little bit more about text, call outs, and general layout stuff soon enough, but let’s first identify and practice with some of the common building blocks of a sketchnote. Let’s start with basic shapes and icons.
Next Chapter: Basic Shapes and Figures