Sketch your ideas

Welcome to the Sketch your ideas "course." I was never a fan of the course structure, either in school or as an adult. It's too rigid and doesn't allow me to flow naturally. This course is broken into parts, but it's all on one page so you can skim it. You can jump to a part that calls for you, or you can go through it cover to cover. It's all good. You do you.

How this series works

Welcome to the first series at Nineteen80.IO. We've structured this series in a modular format with three main sections.

1. The Primer - think of this as your cliff notes of the whole section.
2. Three Topics - we cap the topics to three sections to make them easier to digest. Each of these is modular and does not require any order to read.
3. Recap and Practice - this final section brings it all together similar to this primer but now with the application. Use the practice module over and over. Think of it as your learning mediation practice. Finally, we include additional resources for you to dig further.

Sketching your ideas primer

The majority of our brain is built around visual processing. When we sketch our ideas, we help activate those neurons and create new connections. As kids, we start out separating drawing from language, but at some point in our adulthood, we shed the drawing part away. This series is intended to help you get that back.

‍Visual alphabet and your icon library

We have an alphabet for words and numbers but there is not an agreed-upon alphabet for visuals. Below is one of my favorite sets.

With these basic building blocks, you can start to build your own library. These are icons that you can recall quickly and sketch quickly. In my experience, I suggest keeping this core set to no more than 10-15, building up more as you get more experience.

Framing your ideas

Now that you can sketch out basic ideas, another skill is to add a visual metaphor or frame to your ideas. It can be as simple as a story frame like the beginning, middle, and end, or alternatively past, present, and future.

Or it can be as creative as a metaphor like a tree, cliff, or path forward.

Hand lettering

Most of us mortals can't handwrite anymore because we type everything out. Slow down to increase your legibility. Handwriting is important because we are going to label our sketches. Remember that this isn't Pictionary, it's sketching your ideas.

Putting it all together and building a practice habit

In the final section, you'll learn how to put all this together and build a sketching habit. I included a practice video which is really like a self-guided meditation.