6 sketchnoting books I've read and loved

Plus a PKM bonanza and a go to resource for years to come.

Welcome back to Sketchy Ideas.

I hope you’ve had a good time while I was on another break. I was busy ferrying supplies for my wife in the hospital and on full-time dad duty while celebrating our daughter’s birth.

This week I have a quick tip from me, a sketchnote of inspiration, and a new resource you should definitely check out!

Let’s dive in!

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6 great sketchnoting books

There are hundreds of sketchnoting books out there, but not all are great.

I found this out the hard way when my wife accidentally bought me a rip-off book on Amazon.

It was about 20 pages long, no pictures inside and typos all over it. Worst of all, it was imitating one of the best sketchnoting books there is.

I don’t want you to suffer the same mistake, so here are 6 of my favourite sketchnoting books.

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Building a Second Brain by Maggie Appleton

I’ve been very interested in the ideas behind PKM, zettlekasten and building a second brain, especially coming from a sketchnote background. Seeing Maggie’s sketchnotes on perhaps the most famous of the PKM courses really intrigued me, not least because she has a fantastic visual style and uses several elements I haven’t really seen other use.

One part I love is the use of gradient in her progressive summarization explanation.

I’d also recommend reading her disclaimer against the course.

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David Gray introduces Visual Frameworks

David Gray is the man behind Xplane.

He recently (It was when I drafted this email!) launched Visual frameworks, a collection of frameworks he’s curated over his career. With over 100 different ways of arranging information, there’s a ton of inspiration here. Some do seem kind of similar to others, but there’s beauty in that. While two metaphors may reflect the same arrangement of information (i.e. parts of a whole, or before and after), using a different metaphor can stir up unique emotions.

Have a look for yourself.

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See you next week