REVIEW: Visual Notes by Mike Rhodey

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

Visual Notes is a book by illustrator Mike Rhodey, in which he explains how and why to replace ordinary text notes with visual sketches. As it turned out, sketching is not only fun, but also a very useful activity, accessible to absolutely everyone. It helps to develop concentration, teaches to listen and, of course, to draw.

Sketches are a variety of visual notes consisting of handwritten text, drawings, diagrams, and visual elements.

According to Mike, he began to think about sketching when he became unhappy with the text recordings that he made at work meetings and other events. He tried to grasp every detail of the speech, but instead of detailed notes, he received a complexly written text that he did not want to re-read. But what is the use of notes that you don't want to go back to again? Yes, no.

Sketches were born out of frustration

Rather than writing everything down as text, Rhodey decided to sketch and capture only the most important ideas. This approach allows you to concentrate on listening and perceive information both verbally and visually. This is called the double coding theory, which was proposed back in 1970 by Allan Paivio.

Mike was pleased with the result of the experiment and was so carried away by sketching that he even published his own book about it.

By the way, the book itself is like one big sketch. These are sketches of Rhodey himself, as well as other sketchbooks from around the world.

The book contains many techniques and techniques for creating sketches. Get to know their main types, get advice from the author and other sketchers, and in general, get a purely visual pleasure from the book, which was made and translated just fine ("MYTH" - well done!).

It is important to understand that Visual Notes is a book not about how to draw(although there are some basic lessons here). This is a book about how to visually capture your ideas in the form of visual notes. You don't have to be an artist, designer, or illustrator to sketch. Remember: sketches are not about art, they are about visual fixation. the mainideas.

You can and should make the sketches that are easiest for you to draw. If you like the text, experiment with typography. Love drawings - please draw. Do not mind adding any embellishments - for God's sake. Just relax, focus on listening, and sketch however you like.

A complex idea is often easier to express in a simple drawing rather than a paragraph of text.

It's very cool that the book contains exercises for drawing laymen like me. After all, even if you do not like or do not know how to draw, you still have to sometimes do some kind of sketches. The book describes several of the simplest methods for sketching objects, people and faces. It helps to gain self-confidence and (after all, even a poorly drawn tree remains a tree, right?).

This is how, for example, I learned to draw people:

It turned out awful, but it is clear that the person is depicted:) And this is the main thing.

Having started reading this book, I decided not to make a summary in the form of text, but to try to make sketches from the book. And you know, I liked it! I went to a stationery store, picked out a few pens and markers, and enjoyed sketching the book. That's what I did:

At first, I made sketches with a regular pen - it was a big mistake.

Then I used a marker, but the rod was too thick, so …

I switched to a thinner green marker

Of course, it is difficult to call it masterpieces, and much of what has been written is difficult to make out. But the main thing is that I understand this. They are more useful, because it is much easier to refresh the memory of a fragment of a speech when you have all kinds of visual images in front of you, and not just dry text. It is much more pleasant to refer to such notes later.

Sketches can be used for more than just taking notes on a book. You can sketch with:

• Workshops, presentations
• Educational events, lectures
• Watching video lessons, TED lectures
• Listening to podcasts, educational programs

Just try it! Everywhere and always. Constant practice is the key to success.

Don't forget to share your sketches with others, or at least store them digitally for yourself. For example, in some cloud storage. In the case of the abstract of "Visual Notes", I simply uploaded all the photos of the sketches to Evernote and now I always have a visual summary of the book at hand.

Of course, sketches are unlikely to be suitable for recording lectures at an institute, where you need to record absolutely everything, not because all this is useful to you, but because you do not know what exactly you will get on the exam. But for everything else, it will do.

The book can be read in literally a day, it is rather short, but its practical benefits can be really huge. The main thing is to practice every day, try it and don't be afraid. Your task is not to become a good artist, but to learn how to visually capture really important ideas, remember that. And in this "Visual Notes" helps as well as possible.

Draw sketches and read good books! Good luck:)