Advices

Sketchnoting – what it is and why it’s worth starting?

24

Apr

Sketchnoting is a technique of creating creative notes using illustrations, symbols, and letters. It stimulates creativity, improves concentration, and enhances the retention of information. Its popularity has grown worldwide in recent years due to its numerous advantages, which can be utilized in work, school, and daily life.

The 21st century is overloaded with information that comes at us from all directions. Every day, we are bombarded with visual stimulations that cause us to remember only a handful of the content. Sketchnoting comes to the rescue. What is it, and when can it be useful?


Sketchnoting is the creation of visual notes through the combination of handwriting, letters, drawings, shapes, diagrams, and all kinds of visual elements such as arrows, lines, dots, frames, etc. It is a creative, engaging, and visually appealing way of taking notes, brainstorming, and conveying ideas and thoughts. In this way, creative notes are created, allowing us to better process information.

The human brain is divided into two hemispheres. The right side is responsible for visual, creative, and emotional thinking, while the left side is the part that thinks logically, rationally, and verbally.


The simultaneous combination of these two parts opens up many possibilities and develops the brain’s potential. Creating visual notes activates both hemispheres and allows for effective information processing. The left hemisphere forces us to focus on the interested topic, while the right one turns the gathered information into an image. In this way, sketchnoting allows us to easily assimilate all the information and remember significantly more details than when making “flat notes.” Visual thinking also supports learning, develops creativity, helps solve problems, share ideas, and brings psychological benefits as sketchnotes calm and relax. An enormous advantage is also the lack of rigid frameworks for how to create sketchnotes.


Graphic notes can be created in any way that suits your learning style, personality, or working style with others. All you need is a piece of paper or a whiteboard with markers – if you are looking for a more durable and larger surface. It does not require artistic skills or large financial investments

Prepare the appropriate sketchnoting tools and adapt them to your needs or your audience. If you are using graphic notes for personal purposes, it’s worth choosing a whiteboard where you can create colorful sketchnotes using markers with dry-erase properties. Thanks to these properties, you can easily create drawings and wipe them with an eraser if you make a mistake or come up with a new idea.


Sketchnotes catch attention when you use different colours, but be careful not to overdo it. An ideal idea is to use flipcharts or whiteboards, which are a perfect base for creating sketchnotes. When it comes to fonts, use dark colours such as black, blue, or grey. Bright colours, on the other hand, are suitable for drawing shapes, arrows, and diagrams.


Also, keep in mind to carefully consider how you want to convey the information and which of them are most important to the recipient. Unfortunately, we tend to fill flipcharts or whiteboards with as much space as possible, which significantly reduces the clarity, readability, and attractiveness of notes. Plan the surface of the board to effectively draw the issue at hand.

You can use creative notetaking in both work and daily life. In personal life, sketchnotes can be useful when studying vocabulary, history, biology, or any other subject. You can easily organize your ideas and remember them faster. Prepare for exams, transcribe notes from classes in an eye-catching way, or create a plan for a vacation trip or even make a shoping list. With sketchnotes, there are no limitations as to the topic or content. Create what you need. It’s worth using a board and hanging it above your desk so you can glance at the sketchnotes several times a day, increasing the likelihood of remembering them. Choose a size that suits your needs, as well as a surface: chalk or dry-erase, depending on whether you prefer to draw graphic notes with chalk or markers.


How to use sketchnoting at work? Visual notetaking is primarily an excellent way to summarize a corporate meeting, presentation, or training. You can effectively and efficiently use visual notetaking during various conferences and workshops by presenting graphic notes on boards or flipcharts. Thanks to the dry-erase surface, you can change drawings multiple times and create new ones. Flipcharts with additional arms will allow you to create more extensive notes. Thanks to sketchnotes at work, you can effectively summarize information from meetings, conversations, or presentations. You’ll record key points and ideas in a memorable way. During long presentations, sketchnoting will help you maintain audience engagement and focus. In team meetings, it will help you reflect on ideas and create an effective brainstorm. It will also help you explain someone’s idea or complex concept. Visual notetaking will also be useful in project management. You’ll quickly define project goals, analyse problems, or convey the most important content to the team.


For employees, sketchnoting is a valuable tool for taking notes during meetings. It helps capture key ideas and reference points in a concise but attractive way. Visual notes also help remember key points and decisions made during meeting sessions.


Visual notetaking supports creativity in the workplace. Use flipcharts or mobile boards to visualize your ideas easily and share them with your colleagues. Thanks to the easy movement of boards on wheels, you can use them for meetings in conference rooms or in rooms where your team members work.


Sketchnoting is also an excellent way to engage students in the classroom. Instead of repeating the same teaching methods, you can use the tools you already have to conduct an interesting and effective lesson on any subject. Use a chalk or dry-erase board and markers or chalk and start creating sketchnotes that will stimulate creativity, teach organisation and content management. Sketchnoting will help your students who have trouble taking traditional notes and need a fresh approach to studying.

Sketchnoting, as a form of visual thinking, brings many benefits to both the receiver and sender of the message. This technique can be used in work, school, and private life. Here are some of the benefits of using sketchnoting:

  • Improves our memory, attention, and concentration.
  • Teaches us how to summarize our ideas, reduce them to the main message, and create connections between information.
  • Increases creativity.
  • Visual notetaking is much more pleasing to the eye, which increases retention and extends our concentration time.
  • Is more fun, therefore can give a pleasant distraction, and promotes cooperation.
  • Helps with memorization by engaging multiple senses at the same time.

Sketchnoting is a technique that can be used by children, teenagers, and adults. It can be utilised in work, at home, and in school. Don’t hesitate and start drawing sketchnotes today to effectively learn, remember presentations, or convey your ideas.

Also check: Self-adhesive sticky-notes – discover modern solutions.

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Susanna

Content creator and blogger.

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