Here in Milwaukee, it’s autumn, and scenes like the one in the photo above fade quickly as winter approaches. This is my favorite time of the year, with pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving meals, and cool, crisp weather encouraging me to wear a warm sweater. I hope all is well wherever you are! — Mike Rohde, editor What’s in this issue? Five cool things to share. Sketchnote Army Podcast season 16 has begun. A new in-person Sketchnote Workshop for educators is happening in Western Wisconsin on March 12, 2024. Concepts Sketchnote Workshop Video is now available for anyone ..read more

Sharing a visual taste of my wonderful experiences at ISC24TX in San Antonio, Texas while capturing these precious moments for myself. Two weekends ago, I had a fantastic experience at the International Sketchnote Camp (ISC24TX) in San Antonio. Since last year, I’ve made it a tradition to capture my travelogue in sketchnote form — with images, drawings, and writing on my iPad Pro in Paper by WeTransfer. You can see my sketchnote travelogue from 2023 right here. So, I present to you these sketchnotes so you can have a taste of the fun that weekend: Special thanks to my good buddy and event org ..read more

Black and white, color sketches, and the final project from a design job, 1988. Traditional graphic design in “ye olden days,” before computers revolutionized the design scene, was slow, labor-intensive, and, much of the time, a royal pain in the butt to do. However, I feel fortunate to have been a design student when I was because it taught me to love and embrace constraints. Here’s how I define the “ye olden days” for a little context: It was eons before Figma layouts in the browser, a millennia before the iPhone put the world in your pocket, and a century before Adobe Photoshop would crash ..read more

I spent a day with Andris Lagsdin, the inventor of the Baking Steel. We talked about my experiments with Detroit-style pizza and made a pizza together. Here’s episode 2 of the Sauce Talk Podcast:: We also talked sketchnotes, and I shared the visual note I created while we prepared and made Detroit-style pizza: Detroit-style pizza sketchnote. 10% Discount on Baking Steel! Andris has created a special code for readers of the Rohdesign Weblog for 10% off a Baking Steel with the code STEELROHDE at bakingsteel.com at checkout ..read more

A sketchnote of the Steve Jobs Stanford commencement address was created in the app Concepts on the iPad. Happy Spring! Here in Milwaukee, it’s rainy, but soon we’ll have warm weather. I can’t wait! While I’m waiting for the nicer weather, I’ve been enjoying the vector-based drawing app Concepts for sketchnoting. I love the flexibility of vectors. If you’re curious to try the tool, Concepts are offering you a 30-day trial of the Pro version. I’m working with Concepts to offer a sketchnote workshop showing how I use Concepts for sketchnotes. Sign up to be alerted when that happens at this sign ..read more

ON WEDNESDAY, I had a great time hanging out on Zoom with Andris Lagsdin, the creator and founder of Baking Steel. Mike’s sketchnote of a live dough-making session with Andris Lagsdin of Baking Steel. Andris made his signature 72-hour pizza dough while I sketchnoted his process — all live. You can see the finished sketchnoted above. 10% Discount on Baking Steel! Andris has created a special code for readers of the Rohdesign Weblog for 10% off a Baking Steel with the code STEELROHDE at bakingsteel.com at checkout! Video Session Replay You can watch the replay below, including the Q&A and t ..read more

This season with Jordan Love as the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers I decided to sketchnote every game of this historic season, win or lose, and capture the season visually. Each sketchnote is a little different as I experimented with concepts I have wanted to try out — and as it turns out, Jordan Love and the young Packers team found their way into the NFL Playoffs at the end of the season! I’ll add new Packers playoff game sketchnotes to the bottom of the page ..read more

An old church in Leiden, The Netherlands where I relaxed with a beer and a friend this summer. Autumn is here! This is my favorite time of year in Wisconsin, with leaves falling and crisp temperatures. Now I can wear my favorite hoodies and sweaters! If you’re down under, happy Summer! What’s in this issue? The Sketchnote Live Workshop Set is now available for $50. This includes all 3 of my in-depth workshops: lettering. layout, and icons, in one nice set! That’s 6 hours of teaching! Sketchnote Army Podcast season 14 is now underway with episodes released weekly on Tuesdays. Next Tuesday ..read more

Happy 2023! I hope the year has had a good start for you. Around here we’ve endured some pretty cold weather but today it’s warm-ish and sunny. That little sketch on yellow paper you see above was created by my 10-year old son, Landon. I just love that sketch! It’s a great reminder to me that the simplest of sketches can carry so much meaning and character. What’s in this issue? Announcing: Master Icons & Metaphors Live Workshops w/ earlybird pricing! Dario Paniagua and I are hosting 2 live workshops on icons and metaphors on March 11, 2023. You’re hearing about it first ..read more

Hello everyone, It is winter here in Wisconsin and I’m excited for Christmas! What’s in this issue? The Sketchnote Layout Live Workshop Video-on-Demand is available for pre-order at Vimeo.com and you get a 20% discount! See details for that discount down below. The Sketchnote Handbook turns 10 today and there’s a great 50% off deal to celebrate its birthday. Sketchnote Army Podcast season 12 is nearly done! But first, here are 5 cool things to check out: — Mike Rohde 5 Cool Things ❥ 1. Sketching as a safe space for your emotions Eleanor Beer provides a great article on using sketchin ..read more