Free Intro to Sketchnotes Cheatsheet

A while ago I created a sketchnotes ‘cheatsheet’, it’s something that I give out to all my workshop participants whenever I hold a session but thought I would also post it here for free so anyone can grab a copy.

It doesn’t go into too much detail and obviously practise makes perfect, but could be useful as a quick reference guide, to print out and stick in the front of your sketchbook.

It’s at the bottom of the article, but you can also download it as a Hi-Res PDF for free from here.

Some initial tips for extra context:

• Sketchnotes are all about capturing your ideas on paper, not the quality of the artwork. People get worried their drawing isn’t good enough, or that they can’t draw, neither of these should stop you exploring the benefits that visual thinking has to offer. Overcome these first hurdles, have some faith in yourself and you’re on your way!
• You can draw ANYTHING by using the simple shape visual alphabet, combine and adapt these shapes and the world is your oyster. Practise looking around your desk and breaking things down into their component shapes, soon you’ll have 5–10 items nailed down and that’s the start of your own visual vocabulary or Icon Library to draw upon.
• We all deal with people, and people have a range of emotions, simply by varying the eyebrows and mouths you can easily draw a wide range of expressions and start upgrading your stickmen into something more useful and expressive.
• Likewise with bodies, again by combining the simple shapes together you can quickly and easily generate a far wider and expressive set of figures.
• Structure is important, would a mind map be best for the problem you’re tackling? How about 3 columns, or ‘skyscrapers’ that will easily allow you to compare different categories? Maybe you’ve got lots of information that needs organising so a grid system would work best. Take a few mins to think about how you need to organise your sketchnotes before you start, they’ll look far more professional and be more useful as a result.
• Use different fonts to differentiate between headers, core content and other types of info you’d like to draw peoples attention to. Fonts are an easy place to start introducing more creative elements to your notes.
• Use containers, and dividers to separate individual pieces of information, to help you remember different topics and layout things clearly. Use arrows or dotted lines to connect related information together.
• Lastly, and most importantly, remember to have fun! There’s loads of benefits from sketching, both professionally and personally. Enjoy yourself :)

The world is a better place with your ideas in it. Capture and share them so that others can benefit, hopefully this cheatsheet might help you, look forward to seeing your work online :)

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