# Sketchnoting and Graphic Recording

> Notes of a talk, book or meeting drawn live by hand on a single page, mixing hand-lettered headings, simple icons, containers and connectors. Scope: this entry treats personal sketchnoting and professional graphic recording as one practice, though graphic facilitation is older than the term. Clarity matters more than aesthetics.

- Period: 2007–present
- Where: Global / networked, North America
- Origin: United States: the designer Mike Rohde began calling his notes mixing handwriting and drawing sketchnotes in 2006-2007 (Wikipedia gives 2006; Rohde's own site says he coined the term in 2007), and spread it through The Sketchnote Handbook (2012) and The Sketchnote Workbook (2014). It builds on the older practice of graphic facilitation and graphic recording at meetings and conferences, which predates 2006.
- Branch: Postmodern
- Also known as: Sketchnotes, Visual note-taking, Graphic recording, Doodle notes
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/sketchnoting/

## How it works

- Draw the notes live while listening, and capture ideas rather than a transcript.
- Letter titles and key phrases by hand in bold capitals and box them in banners, bubbles and frames.
- Carry ideas with improvised icons, stick people and metaphor objects instead of finished illustration.
- Tie the page together with arrows and connectors in a linear, radial, column or path-like flow.
- Keep to black line with one accent colour and grey shading on a white ground.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Organic flow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/organic-flow/) (defining)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Radial & concentric](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/radial-and-concentric/) (occasional)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (defining)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (occasional)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Pictogram](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pictogram/) (defining)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Squiggles & confetti](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/squiggles-and-confetti/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Rules & bars](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rules-and-bars/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Icons & pictograms](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/icons-and-pictograms/) (defining)
- [Diagram & data](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagram-and-data/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Rational & objective](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rational-and-objective/) (occasional)

Avoids: Abundant decoration, Straight photography, 3D render, Gloss & highlights, Skeuomorphic material, Modular grid, Script, Geometric sans

Palette: #ffffff, #1a1a1a, #e8452c, #9a9a9a, #d8d8d8

Typefaces: Hand-lettered bold capitals, Faux-bold outlined lettering, Informal printing-style handwriting

Known for: Mike Rohde, The Sketchnote Handbook (Peachpit Press, 2012); Mike Rohde, The Sketchnote Workbook (Peachpit Press, 2014); Sunni Brown, The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Influenced by: [Isotype Pictorial Statistics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/isotype.md) (1925–1971)
- Alike in its design choices: [Data Humanism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/data-humanism.md) (2014–present), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Polish Information Picture Book (Dwie Siostry)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/polish-picture-book-renaissance.md) (2008–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Moomin Graphics (Tove Jansson's Pen-Drawn World and its Licensed Afterlife)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/moomin-graphics.md) (1945–present), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Russian Futurist Book](https://stylogeny.com/styles/russian-futurist-book.md) (1910–1920), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Garo and Heta-uma (Japanese Underground Manga and 'Bad-Good' Illustration)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/garo-heta-uma.md) (1970–1989), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Conversational Brand-Voice Packaging](https://stylogeny.com/styles/conversational-brand-packaging.md) (1998–present), 52% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchnoting
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_recording
- https://rohdesign.com/about
- https://rohdesign.com/sketchnotes
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Brown
- David Sibbet, 'A Graphic Facilitation Retrospective' (2001), on the history of graphic facilitation
- Mike Rohde, The Sketchnote Handbook (Peachpit Press, 2012)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Sketchnoting and Graphic Recording”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/sketchnoting/