type tuesday: sketchnotes

You might have noticed the top sidebar ad for "The Sketchnote Typeface". It's an extensive and useful font made from designer Mike Rohde's own lettering. The sketchnote is a process that Mike uses while taking live notes at events or otherwise getting ideas down on paper. Using handlettering and simple drawings, he jots down the experience of listening and learning while creating engaging and memorable pages in his journal.

The Sketchnote Handbook is a guide for this technique, teaching readers how to balance the act of visual note-taking while still remaining engaged in the live content. For the design of the book, which emulates his own sketchnote visual style, Mike worked with Delve Withrington to digitize Mike's lettering. "I saved literally hundreds of hours by using this typeface," Mike says. You can read about their process here.

A few years ago, Carolyn Sewell was our correspondent at Typecon. Carolyn employs a similar technique for her live notes. I'm inspired to try my hand and sketchnotes during next week's Nearly Impossible conference.