The Sketchnote Handbook in Chinese!

真棒! AWESOME!

Just a few weeks ago, Yuxian Mao (Ms. Bubble 毛泡泡) from Shanghai reached out to tell me The Sketchnote Handbook was being translated by a publisher into Chinese — and she was the translator. I was instantly excited to hear the news!

Here are 3 sample pages Yuxian sent for me to see:

Licensing is an interesting thing

Licensing a book is interesting, because the publishers can choose to do what they like with the content. On REWORK I've seen some versions (Thailand) completely re-do the illustrations in my style and others (Japan) completely omit the illustrations. So it's a wild west in that sense.

In this case, Yuxian is a graphic facilitator and recorder, so she has strong visual skills. She has lived in Holland and knows English, so she knows how to move ideas between the two cultures fluidly.

It's fascinating to see her translating concepts, text and images into a Chinese context. I think this native understanding and western knowledge makes for a much better book that's geared to the Chinese reader while sharing my original ideas on sketchnoting.

For instance, in image 1 you can see a little crab character added to the page. When I talked to Yuxian via Skype, she mentioned this is a very common image reference for a Chinese reader that relates to the idea on the page of "letting go to try something new" which makes sense in context.

I'm excited to see this develop and will share more as the launch in China gets closer. The goal is to have the book ready for Christmas in China.

Can't wait to see it!

Sketchnote Videos from Design Recharge & Web414

LAST WEEK I was busy, appearing on Design Recharge with Diane Gibbs on Wednesday and speaking at Web414 on Thursday.

Design Recharge with Diane Gibbs

1:05 discussion on Design Recharge about sketchnoting with host Diane Gibbs.

Web414

59:50 talk at Web414 on how I wrote, sketched and illustrated the Sketchnote Handbook. Jump to 4:40 to watch the start of my talk.

Here's my slide deck for reference:

Enjoy!

The Sketchnote Handbook Texas Tour 2013

I HADN'T PLANNED on visiting Texas, until my friend Michael Clayton, design chair and professor at University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio, Texas, invited me to speak to the local AIGA and lead a workshop at UIW. Next thing you know, I was booked for SXSW and partnering with Moleskine.

But I had the most fun being able to take my son, Nathan to Texas with me, for his first taste of the bigger than life state.

AIGA San Antonio Sketchnote Talk

My first event after arrival was a talk on sketchnoting to the San Antonio AIGA chapter. I was honored to speak to a full house — 90 people — at the Southwest School of Art. After my presentation, I was able to sign 20 or so books for attendees and say hello at the same time.

  

UIW Sketchnote Workshop

In the morning, I had the privilege of presenting a sketchnoting workshop to 15 of Michael's students at the University of the Incarnate Word.

Together, we worked from the basics of sketchnoting to practicing sketchnotes by watching videos and then critiquing work of the students. We had a great time and I learned about designing a sketchnoting day workshop later this year.

Sean McCabe

After the workshop, I took time to meet and talk with Sean McCabe, designer and hand-letterer. We had a great time at Local Coffee talking type, our current projects, how we got where we are now and illustration secrets.

Exploring San Antonio

With my work completed, Nathan and had time to explore the San Antonio River Walk, and The Alamo. The River Walk is quite beautiful. We capped the night perfectly with BBQ on the River Walk with Michael and his wife, Mindy.

  

SXSW 2013

On Saturday, Michael, Nathan and I headed North to Austin to get our jam-packed SXSW day going. By the time we arrived in Austin, lines were already forming for parking structures. We were able to find a spot on 6th & Brazos.

My first event was a Moleskine sponsored meet-up at Jo's Coffee Downtown, where we met with people and gave away custom designed Moleskine Pocket Sketchbooks. We had a good turnout at the busy coffee shop and I had a chance to see friends like Ryan Irelan and Todd Sattersten and meet new people too.

  
  

At noon I met with a local friend, Keith Pearce, and we all had BBQ for lunch at Lambert's. After lunch, we were off to the Austin Convention Center (ACC) to register for badges and find my green room, to prep for my mentoring session.

I was fortunate to meet Elaine Wherry, co-founder of Meebo while waiting for our sessions to start. She was interested in drawing and note-taking, so I gave her a custom Moleskine and a copy of my book. It was cool to share with Elaine.

My mentoring session was at the other Hilton hotel a few blocks away, so I headed there with my SXSW guide. After setting up, 2 of the 6 mentees came over (not sure if the other 4 got lost or just bailed out) but the time with the two visitors was great.

Book Reading & Signing

I had to get back to the ACC for my book reading, so once my session was done, I headed back over and got myself setup backstage, while my friend C.C. Chapman read from his latest book, Amazing Things Will Happen.

When my turn came up, rather than read from my very visual book, I chose instead to share my book writing process through images and stories, which was well received. You can hear the audio here:

After my talk, I met with audience members, then made my way to the book signing table to sign Sketchnote Handbooks at a table near the bookstore.

It was great to get to know readers and sign their books in fun ways. It seemed as though I signed 20 or 30 books during my 20 minute window, then I signed a bunch more for the bookstore's stock. I've heard that my book sold 80+ copies at SXSW — Peachpit's best seller!

Moleskine Meetup at Mulberry

After my book signing, I was interviewed by a film crew from an Alberta university, then it was off to the wrap-up meet-up at Mulberry, to see what fans had captured and to hang out to end the day. I learned that Michael had been wandering around the ACC, giving away custom Sketchnote Moleskines to whomever he saw drawing.

The Moleskine promotion went very well. So well, in fact, that I keep hearing for people who missed the giveaway or who weren't at SXSW at all being interested in one of these custom sketchbooks. I think I need to chat with Moleskine.

Mike, Nathan and I were wiped out after a day of working hard at SXSW. Back at the car, we crawled in and began the hour trip back to San Antonio, feeling really great about our 3 days promoting The Sketchnote Handbook in Texas.

On Sunday, we spent time exploring the San Antonio River Walk, riding on the barge tour and just having a great time together on our last day in Texas. That evening, we hung out with Michael's family before departing for Milwaukee.

Lessons Learned

Here are a few lessons learned on my Texas book tour:

• In-person is important - It's critical to be on the ground, meeting people and sharing your book. I met so many great people, and I believe personal contact really makes the difference. Being on stage to share my story, in mentoring sessions to talk with people, or just meeting folks at the Moleskine events was very rewarding and encouraging.
• Have something to give away - When I travel I always carry a copy of my book to give to someone. I've given books away in Portland and now Austin, and in every case the recipients are so pleased. I had the double fortune of having custom Moleskines to give away in Austin, and people loved them! Even if it's something small, like a card, it makes a difference.
• Build in downtime - With Nathan along, I was quite busy. I built in some downtime for us to explore, but the SXSW trip was pretty intense. If I had to do it all again, I would have built in more downtime in Austin.
• Pack light - This was probably the lightest I've packed for 4 days and it was a great feeling having so little to haul along. Now that I present my workshops and talks only with the iPad 2, I leave my MacBook Pro 13" at home. It's great to do so much with just an iPhone and iPad.

Travels Ahead

I have a few more Sketchnote Handbook events coming up in the next few months — Judson College in April, Grand Rapids IxDA in May and most likely Minneapolis/St. Paul this June. I can't wait for these events to come now!

Custom Moleskine Sketchbooks & Meet-Ups at SXSW 2013

I'M PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE I've teamed up with Moleskine to produce very cool, custom Moleskine Pocket Sketchbooks to share with fans of Moleskine and The Sketchnote Handbook, in Austin at SXSW 2013!

We're organizing 2 free meet-ups at SXSW Interactive in Austin on Saturday, March 9th, to meet fans and give away a bunch of custom sketchbooks.

Here's a mockup of the custom Sketchnote Handbook branded Moleskine Sketchbooks we're giving away:

We're challenging recipients of these custom sketchbooks to sketchnote panels and other experiences — then share their work with the #mSketchnote hashtag on Flickr, Twitter, Instagram and other social media channels.

Here are the details of the meet-ups:

Jo's Coffee Shop - Downtown: 10:30 AM -12 NOON

The first event is a meet-up at Jo's Coffee Shop Downtown (242 W. 2nd Street - between Colorado and Lavaca Streets), giving away 80 of the Sketchnote Handbook inspired Pocket Moleskine Sketchbooks and free coffee to those who want to take the sketchnote challenge.

Mulberry - 7:00 - 9:00 PM

The second meet-up will be at Mulberry on 360 Nueces Street at W. 3rd Street from 7-9. We can share a drink and your sketchnotes together, and have fun meeting others in the Moleskine and sketchnote communities. I'll be excited to see some of the sketchnote challenge work in-person at this event, and we'll have more custom books to give away to keep you sketchnoting SXSW all week.

Go RSVP for these events on Eventbrite, and I'll look forward to meeting you at an event! Come join us!

Follow Moleskine and me on these social media channels for more info and to see this work as it comes in on March 9th and beyond:

Twitter: @moleskine and @rohdesign
Instagram: @moleskine_world and @rohdesign

The Sketchnote Podcast

THE SECOND EPISODE of The Sketchnote Podcast went live today, so it's time to give you a little background on this extension of The Sketchnote Handbook and share what's coming in future episodes for the next few months.

Here's episode 1 - Sketching Concepts:

Subscribe to the podcasts at Peachpit.tv or over at iTunes to get new episodes sent to you upon release.

Origins of The Sketchnote Podcast

I've been a huge fan of podcasts since 2004, mainly listing to audio podcasts when I drive, walk, mow the lawn or shovel the walk. I've played with the medium a few years back, but it never made sense to produce a continuous podcast without a great topic as the focus.

So, when Peachpit pitched the idea of a video podcast as a way to extend the teachings from The Sketchnote Handbook, I knew I had the right topic, medium and timing to make something really cool. I got Brian Artka, my friend and video master from the book videos to help create the podcasts, and said yes.

Shooting Podcasts

Brian and I agreed to create 10 episodes, featuring three types of episodes: interviews, sketching ideas and critiques of reader sketchnotes.

  

Brian and I wanted to continue the alternative approach started with the Sketchnote Handbook video, by shooting every podcast with a 5D Mk II in a documentary style. On a lark, I decided to include my iPhone with The Sketchnote Handbook logo as a unique way to mark each podcast.

We've also been trying to use different techniques — drawing in a pocket Moleskine with a gel pen, and then a sharpie, doing critiques, interviews and drawing techniques on the iPad as well. As we continue to shoot these episodes, we're improving the details and nailing down the best practices.

Podcast Release Schedule

We've now created 8 of 10 episodes — 2 more to shoot. We've released episode 2 today and will be releasing the remaining episodes every 2 weeks through May. We've shot an interview with Sacha Chua on digital sketchnoting, critiques of 2 more sketchnotes, and 3 sketching concepts and sketching serif type.

Here's the current list of upcoming episodes:

• EP01 - Sketching Concepts
• EP02 - Critique w/ Gabe Anzelini
• EP03 - Sacha Chua Interview
• EP04 - Sketching Concepts 2
• EP05 - Critique w/ Andrea Pietkiewicz
• EP06 - Sketching Concepts 3
• EP07 - Critique w/ Jake Palmer
• EP08 - Drawing Serif Type
• EP09 - TBD
• EP10 - TBD

Subscribe today and each episode will appear in your podcasting app or iTunes every 2 weeks through May 2013 — and hopefully beyond.

Podcast Feedback and Suggestions

If you're interested in keeping these podcasts going past the first 10 episodes, let Peachpit know by sending feedback, let me know via email or comments below and rate the podcasts in iTunes.

If we get good feedback on these, there is a great chance Peachpit will extend a contract with Brian and I to make more of them.

Finally, be sure to check out and join the Sketchnote Handbook Flickr Group. There are some great samples of reader work there, which we will be using for future critiques — maybe yours can be one of those!