Illustrating REWORK (Part 2 of 2)

A few weeks ago, my guest article Illustrating REWORK (Part 1 of 2) appeared on the 37signals blog, Signal vs Noise. In that article I shared how Jason Fried and I worked together to create illustration ideas for the business book, REWORK.

Today, Illustrating REWORK (Part 2 of 2) appeared on Signal vs. Noise, to complete the story. In part 2 of the guest article, I reveal my process for translating pencil sketch concepts described in part 1, into final artwork ready for print production.

Here's an excerpt from part 2:

Inking

Using batches of approved pencil sketches, I began inking illustrations for the book. Batching was important for inking the illustrations, as I could get into a groove and knock out multiple pieces at a time. It also provided a consistency of style, important with such a large group of closely related illustrations.

When I live-sketchnote an event, I listen to a speaker and capture ideas in real-time, using only a gel pen and a Moleskine pocket sketchbook. On the REWORK project I had the luxury and flexibility of taking a more methodical approach to the final illustrations for the book.

Chances were high that I’d see late, last-minute changes in the publishing process and I wanted the ability to make those changes quickly. Rather than inking each illustration as a complete unit, I inked multiple elements separately which were scanned and stitched together in a layered Photoshop document.

First, I created a variety of separate elements on a single spread for multiple illustrations, then used the elements which worked best after scanning the entire page into Photoshop. –Photo by Brian Artka.

Here’s a photo of the final illustration, printed in REWORK. This photo shows how various elements were scanned and stitched together in Photoshop to create a single, unified illustration. –Photo by Brian Artka.

Read: Illustrating REWORK (Part 1 of 2) and Illustrating REWORK (Part 2 of 2)

A big thank you to Brian Artka for shooting my sketchbooks for both of the articles, and Gabe Wollenburg for proofreading and editing tips on the pieces.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the 37signals Podcast No. 9. At 28:43 into the podcast, Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson and Matt Linderman talk about why they hired me for the illustrations and their perspective on the illustration process. Here's the MP3 file.

Review 5 Chapters

Check out Scribd to read 5 chapters of the book, including my illustrations.

Buy REWORK!

I'm very excited now that REWORK has been released. It became a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller only a week after release! If you pick up a copy, please leave a comment here about the illustrations.

Order REWORK at Amazon

Illustrating REWORK (Part 1 of 2)

I'm thrilled to share with you an opportunity I've had to write a guest post for the 37signals company blog, Signal vs Noise.

Jason Fried of 37signals invited me to write the post Illustrating REWORK about the process of illustrating their new business book, REWORK.

I went into detail about how we started the book illustration process, worked with Crown Publishing, generated illustration concepts and prepared pencil sketches for review, approval and final production.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Pencils vs. Inking
Initially I’d planned on inking each illustration in a Moleskine sketchbook, making the reviewable artwork as close to final artwork as possible. But after thinking about what would best suit the review and feedback process, I decided it would be smart to review uninked pencil sketches instead.

Pencil concept sketch for “Everyone on the Front Lines”. –Photo by Brian Artka

This proved to be a time-saving decision. Had I inked pieces as near-final art, I would have lost time re-inking multiple illustrations to accommodate changes.

Because I invested up-front time in solving the illustrations as pencils, I only had to ink once before moving to Photoshop for final artwork.

Writing Part 1 of 2 was great fun to do, because I've learned over the years here that people are fascinated by the design process. You can also read Illustrating REWORK (Part 2 of 2) for the full story.

Many thanks to Brian Artka for shooting my sketchbooks for the articles, and to Gabe Wollenburg for proofreading and editing tips on the pieces.

Listen to the Podcast

You can also listen to the latest 37signals Podcast. At 28:43 into the podcast, Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson and Matt Linderman talk about why they hired me for the illustrations and their perspective on the illustration process. Here's the MP3 file.

Review 5 Chapters

Check out Scribd to read 5 chapters of the book, including my illustrations.

Buy REWORK!

I'm very excited now that REWORK has been released. It became a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller only a week after release! If you pick up a copy, please leave a comment here about the illustrations.

Order REWORK at Amazon

NaNoDrawMo '09 Sketchnotes: Completed!

I've successfully completed the challenge of NaNoDrawMo (National November Drawing Month) as dreamed up by Steven Frank.

According to Steven:

Loosely defined goals are: 50 individual works/drawings produced between Nov 1 and Nov 30. Extra points if they work together to tell a story or otherwise share an overall theme (people you know, people you saw on the bus, etc).

Participants were to draw 50 images in November, post the images to Flickr, join and submit them to the NaNoDrawMo Flickr group. You can also keep track with a NaNoDrawMo Twitter search.

I was a bit crazy for doing a project where I had to create 1.67 sketchnotes in my Moleskine sketchbook each day, but hey, life is short and I was able to just pull it off.

Here are all 51 sketchnotes:

The 51st sketchnote is by my 7 year old son Nathan, who joined the fun. :-)

See my NaNoDrawMo Sketchnotes Set on Flickr.

Hope you've enjoyed them as much as I have.

Molecover Review

About a month ago, I came across the Molecover, a leather Moleskine cover. Being a huge Moleskine fan, I was curious about this accessory.

Tyler from Molecover was happy to provide a black pocket sized Molecover to review. Below is the video review I've recorded with my iPhone 3GS camera, showing details of the Molecover and how it wraps around a Moleskine notebook.

I'm impressed with the build quality of the Molecover. The leather is very precisely cut, with fine stitching. I'm amazed at how thin the leather is, which keeps the cover from getting overly bulky once it's wrapped around a Moleskine.

Molecover is a great way to cover a beat up Moleskine, or protect a Moleskine and add a bit of added elegance.

Michelle George's Global Leadership Summit Sketchnotes

A few weeks ago I received an email from Michelle George, who had questions about the pens and Moleskine notebooks I use to capture sketchnotes. I shared my thoughts and about a week later Michelle emailed to share her sketchnotes:

It was very cool to see Michelle use sketchnotes at her event. I was curious to hear her feedback after trying out the sketchnote approach at the Global Leadership Summit she attended, so sent Michelle a few interview questions:

Michelle, I’m curious to hear how the sketchnote approach worked for you. Was it easy to do? Were there specific challenges you found while capturing your sketchnotes?

I found it difficult to start with because sketchnoting is a totally different style of note-taking to what I use most of the time. I occasionally work as a scribe in government recruiting processes, and that involves taking LOTS of very detailed notes during the interviews.

To get the speed and accuracy I need for that I type on my little laptop (Fujitsu Lifebook 1620P), and end up with three or four pages full of single-spaced notes after a 30 minute session.

The sketchnote approach forced me to slow down and process the information on the fly and what I ended up with was a much more distilled representation of the information.

The sketchnotes that I filled my little Moleskine with are about what was impacting me as the speaker delivered his or her message, as opposed to being a slab of recorded information that was disconnected from how I felt about it.

Once I got going it was pretty easy. I have doodled in journals for years, and have played around with graphic design a bit, and letting those things flow as I processed really was a meditative process. I loved it!

Challenges? Hmmm... yeah that my sketching ability sucks when I’m under pressure! Normally my drawings take several hours…to whip out a sketch in less than a minute takes some serious skill! Practice!

How do you feel about your sketchnotes after the fact? Are they easy to read? Did they capture the detail you had hoped for?

Usually I take notes at a conference, the notebook gets tucked away and I rarely go back over them unless I’m looking for material for an article, but with sketchnotes, they are like little pieces of art… I have to confess that I love looking at them.

I am really pleased with the way they turned out as a first attempt. I don’t think they are particularly aesthetically pleasing, or anywhere near as wonderful as yours, but I have enjoyed the process itself as well as going back over the notes.

I have found it remarkably easy to remember the context and even some of the mannerisms of the speaker, which is a real surprise to me given the notes are not a verbatim account of what happened at the conference. I would have liked to draw a little more to reinforce the words, but I think that will come with time as I practice.

Michelle, what do you do professionally?

I work for myself as a technical writer. I work with government ICT sections and small businesses to produce user documentation, process and procedural documentation, and help desk material.

I also do some scribing and editing work, and the occasional graphic design job. I am passionate about clear communication, and I am fascinated with the connection between the written word and good design.

My business website Robertson Studios is being given a facelift at the moment, though you can see my personal blog and my online drawing board, to see more of my work online.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your sketchnotes and thoughts on using them!

Mike, thanks for the opportunity to share this stuff! I love the way the Net connects people all over the world!

You're welcome Michelle! Thanks for taking the time to talk and share your work. I hope it encourages others to try out the sketchnote technique at their next meeting or event.

(Ed. - Michelle lives in Canberra, Australia with her husband and two sons.)