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Sketchnote Handbook, The: the illustrated guide to visual note taking 1st Edition
This gorgeous, fully illustrated handbook tells the story of sketchnotes--why and how you can use them to capture your thinking visually, remember key information more clearly, and share what you've captured with others. Author Mike Rohde shows you how to incorporate sketchnoting techniques into your note-taking process--regardless of your artistic abilities--to help you better process the information that you are hearing and seeing through drawing, and to actually have fun taking notes.
The Sketchnote Handbook explains and illustrates practical sketchnote techniques for taking visual notes at your own pace as well as in real time during meetings and events. Rohde also addresses most people's fear of drawing by showing, step-by-step, how to quickly draw people, faces, type, and simple objects for effective and fast sketchnoting. The book looks like a peek into the author's private sketchnote journal, but it functions like a beginner's guide to sketchnoting with easy-to-follow instructions for drawing out your notes that will leave you itching to attend a meeting just so you can draw about it.
- ISBN-100321857895
- ISBN-13978-0321857897
- Edition1st
- PublisherPeachpit Press
- Publication dateDecember 3, 2012
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7 x 0.85 x 8.95 inches
- Print length224 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Entertaining and memorable (just like sketchnotes), this fast-reading, fact-packed book by the godfather of sketchnoting provides everything you and your team need to know about the creative, mnemonic, and business benefits of this brilliant new method of note taking.” –Jeffrey Zeldman, author of Designing with Web Standards
“The perfect introduction to visual note taking and the most useful how-to guide I’ve ever read, no contest.” –Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
“Mike Rohde has taken his original, fun, and smart approach to note taking and broken it down into simple, clear steps. Now anyone can use sketchnotes to capture ideas–even you and me.” –Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup
“I hear a lot of people talk about sketchnoting, visual thinking, and how best to harness your ideas. Mike Rohde is the real deal. When Mike Rohde puts pencil and ink to paper, you should damn well be paying attention.” –Shawn O'Keefe, SXSW Interactive Festival Producer
“Anyone who utilizes the practical methodology Mike demonstrates in this book will not only improve their retention regarding the collating of notes, they'll fundamentally increase their overall creative potential as well. As Saul Bass so eloquently stated, ‘Design is thinking made visual,’ and sketchnotes are an ideal way to archive intellectual assets and flesh them out via simple drawing methods. This is a profoundly simple book, yet the results will be simply profound because it equips anyone to be able to do this.” -Von Glitschka, Glitschka Studios
“Sketchnotes are a great way to capture the highlights of an idea in a way that'll naturally work for your brain. Nobody will teach you how to do it better than Mike. –David Heinemeier Hansson, 37signals and co-author of REWORK
“I use sketchnoting as a way to calm my brain–and help me focus on the task at hand–while it is trying to run off without me. With The Sketchnote Handbook, Mike gives you the backstory and the method to creating truly beautiful notes. It’s a marvel to behold.” –Myke Hurley, founder of the 70Decibels network
“Mike Rohde practices what he preaches. This beautiful, simple book has everything you need to sketchnote like a pro! The Sketchnote Handbook is destined to be the definitive guide to a new, practical, and innovative discipline.” –Dave Gray, X-PLANE, author of The Connected Company and co-author of Gamestorming
“Something magical happens when you take notes with pictures and words together. In this friendly, encouraging book, sketchnote wizard Mike Rohde shares his secrets so that anybody can steal his tricks for capturing ideas with pen and paper.” –Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist
“The Sketchnote Handbook is an informative, hands-on book designed to quickly share the principles of sketchnoting, so you can get right to creating sketchnotes for yourself. Mike’s fun, illustrative style energizes you to pick up a pen and sketchnote!” –Nancy Duarte, CEO Duarte Inc, best-selling author of Resonate and Slide:ology
“This book is not really a book. It’s a tool kit for learning a new and better way of capturing and understanding information, and it’s perfectly aligned with the way our brains actually work. If you’re a student, or a teacher, or a businessperson, this book has the potential to change the way you learn, and the way you think.” –Daniel Coyle, The New York Times best-selling author of The Talent Code and The Little Book of Talent
“Never fear note taking again. Rohde demystifies the practice and mak
Product details
- Publisher : Peachpit Press; 1st edition (December 3, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0321857895
- ISBN-13 : 978-0321857897
- Item Weight : 1.24 pounds
- Dimensions : 7 x 0.85 x 8.95 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #330,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #34 in Desktop Publishing
- #54 in Design & Graphics Software Books
- #1,098 in Communication Skills
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Mike Rohde is the author of two books: The Sketchnote Handbook (2012) and The Sketchnote Workbook (2014). He presents sketchnoting workshops around the world that encourage people to use visual thinking skills to generate, capture and share ideas more effectively.
His popular first book, The Sketchnote Handbook, convinces people around the world to become sketchnoters every day. Translated into German, Russian, Chinese, and Czech, it guides readers in using their natural visual capabilities to create sketchnotes for better understanding, and to have fun taking notes. The video edition of The Sketchnote Handbook includes 70 minutes of documentary-style instructional videos.
Mike’s second book, The Sketchnote Workbook, expands the application of sketchnotes, showing readers how to use them to generate ideas, plan projects, document processes, and capture experiences. The Workbook is packed with challenges and worksheets that help readers accelerate their sketchnoting skills. All versions of The Sketchnote Workbook include 2 hours and 41 minutes of documentary-style instructional videos.
He is the founder of SketchnoteArmy.com a site dedicated to finding and showcasing the work of sketchnoters from around the world.
Mike is the illustrator of bestselling books REWORK, REMOTE, The $100 Startup, and The Little Book of Talent. He has been commissioned to create live sketchnotes for conferences and events, including SXSW Interactive, An Event Apart, Summit Series, World Domination Summit, Storyline Conference, and Chick-fil-A Leadercast.
Mike is a veteran designer who creates usable, compelling design solutions for software and web applications. He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and 3 children.
Follow Mike on Twitter at @rohdesign or visit his blog at rohdesign.com to follow his latest activities and to sign up for his free email newsletter.
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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## Why buy this instead of another book?
If you're like me and are primarily looking to improve your communication skills, you might be inclined to buy a "drawing 101" type book. I've been down this road and it's hard to recommend as a first step.
Those books tend to focus on concepts like drawing accurate 3D perspective, human figure drawing, shading/shadows, etc. Those are great skills to have, but it's way overachieving if you're just trying to get ideas across. I would say it's icing on the cake, but it's more like sprinkles _on top_ of the icing on the cake.
## OK so...what, exactly, is in the book?
To oversimplify, the book covers the following topics:
- Sketchnoting 101: What is it? Why do it?
- Sketchnoting Process and Structure: How does it work? What does it look like?
- Basic Sketching Skills: Help! I can't draw.
I didn't completely understand the whole book would be fully illustrated, somewhat like a children's book. So it's sort of a living example of the principles, and there are also many sketchnote examples specifically included. It's very engaging and makes it easy to get through.
Although it's a fast read, take the time to stop and practice drawing the simple shapes mentioned in the text. You're wasting your time if you don't. If you can't draw your way out of a paper bag, the drawing tips toward the end of the book will get you going and build your confidence.
One more tip: watch the videos. You will pick up great details like how Mike holds the paper flat and works in a slow, deliberate manner. This yields a clean, simple style that works as well on a whiteboard or iPad as it does on paper.
This book will also give you a basic lesson in graphic design. Even though it’s about sketchnoting you’ll learn about all sorts of things like how to create different objects from basic lines and shapes. There is also a practice section in the book to help you refine your skills. You will also learn important concepts about typography. Mike shows you how to effectively combine all of these elements to create amazing sketchnotes.
This book has tremendously helped me develop my user interface design skills. When I create my UI designs it all starts with pencil and paper (sketching). After studying and applying the techniques found in this book my UI sketches look 10x better. I think this book is a must have for UI/UX designers and definitely recommend it to anyone wishing to take more visually interesting notes that will help the main points stand out.
Printed in two colors on creamy thick paper, the book itself is a joy to hold and browse through, as he has filled the pages not only with his own sketchnotes, but examples from other sketchnoters from a cross-section of disciplines, proving that sketchnotes aren't just the domain of artists. The sketchnotes of software developers, teachers, user experience designers and others are interspersed throughout the seven chapters of the book and the videos (full disclosure: one of my sketchnotes are seen as he scrolls through examples of sketchnotes on an iPad in one of the videos).
I suggest you fill the workbook pages to get the full benefit of this visual thinking toolkit. Even if you don't intend on sharing your sketchnotes with others, I believe that once you get started making sketchnotes through Mike Rhode's method, you'll find you will be compelled to show others why you're doing a better job at remembering events and conversations you've put down on paper (or iPad) in this creative way.
Top reviews from other countries
Received the book with creases on some pages plus the paper is very thin, a bit like religious books type thin. At first I thought someone just used a homeprinter for the pages..... I'm afraid I'll rip a few pages
Reviewed in the Netherlands on September 5, 2023
Received the book with creases on some pages plus the paper is very thin, a bit like religious books type thin. At first I thought someone just used a homeprinter for the pages..... I'm afraid I'll rip a few pages
Tamanha a minha surpresa com ele, que posso afirmar que ao mesmo tempo que tem, ele não tem. Mike tem um foco em outra coisa: como anotar de uma maneira mais leve, divertida e marcante.
Apesar do livro ter 200 páginas, ele pode ser lido muito rapidamente, pois, ele tem muitos desenhos (ahh, vá). A grande vantagem é que Mike vai direto ao ponto. No meu caso deu muita vontade de sair anotando qualquer coisa na forma de sketch para praticar. Vale muito a pena ter esse livro para qualquer atividade que você exerça, mas principalmente (TI) para minha deveria ser leitura obrigatória.
Si legge velocemente e piacevolmente.
Una volta concluso resta comunque un ottimo riferimento su cui tornare in futuro per rinfrescare alcuni concetti.








