An Introduction to Visual Note-Taking
Tap into the power of your visual brain.
Reconnect to making marks by hand as you learn to use text, layout, imagery, and color within your notes to engage your visual brain and reach your full creative and professional potential.
Illustrated Instructional Videos
With each video lesson you'll not only learn about visual note-taking, you'll get to see it in action:
Module 1:
Introduction
An overview of the course and the philosophy that guides it.
1.1 Course Overview
1.2 A Goal-Oriented Learning Framework
1.3 The Verbal to Visual Mindset
1.4 Materials: Getting Started
Module 2:
Text
Techniques for writing text in a visual way.
2.1 Text Turned Visual
2.2 Developing Custom Fonts
2.3 An Introduction To Handlettering
Module 3:
Layout
How to tap into your built-in spatial reasoning skills.
3.1 Layout Overview
3.2 How To Separate & Connect Ideas
3.3 A Structured Approach To Layout
3.4 An Organic Approach To Layout
3.5 Layout & The Verbal To Visual Mindset
Module 4:
Imagery
Develop basic drawing skills to access your visual brain.
4.1 The Power Of Imagery
4.2 How To Build Your Visual Vocabulary
4.3 How To Draw People & Faces
4.4 Build A Scene, Make A World
4.5 Imagery & The Verbal To Visual Mindset
Module 5:
Color
Add more visual engagement and meaning to your notes.
5.1 Why Add Color To Your Notes?
5.2 How To Add Color To Your Notes
5.3 Colorful Examples
5.4 Mapping Materials To Process
Module 6:
Learn
How to use visual note-taking as a learning tool.
6.1 Learn With Visual Notes
6.2 Learning Environments & Processes
6.3 The One-Page Process Summary For Learning
Module 7:
Solve Problems
Use visual notes to tackle the challenges you face in your professional and personal life.
7.1 Solve Problems With Visual Notes
7.2 Problem-Solving Example: Habit Change
7.3 The One-Page Process Summary For Problem Solving
Module 8:
Share Ideas
Merge the verbal with the visual to become a better sharer of ideas.
8.1 Idea-Sharing Principles
8.2 Sharing Ideas Visually
8.3 Example + Deconstruct: A High School Chat
8.4 The One-Page Process Summary For Ideas Sharing
Module 9:
Onward
A look back for perspective and a look forward to keep building.
9.1 Where We've Been
9.2 How To Continue Building
9.3 Where We're Going
Additional Resources
Following each video lesson you'll get the opportunity to put into practice what you just learned with these digital downloads:
A 100%-sketched set of 128 skill-building activities, all of which are designed to help you develop the skills you need to become a proficient visual note-taker.
A set of ready-to-use hand-sketched icons (in PNG and SVG format) plus an actionable guide that will walk you through the steps of building you own personalized visual vocabulary.
Live Visual Thinking Workshops
Connect with Doug and other visual thinkers from around the globe in these regular live events.
Monthly Q & A
Bring questions related to the course you're working through or share your latest sketchnoting project for feedback. Open to all skill and experience levels. Join us for some rich discussions about the world of visual thinking!
Upcoming Q & A:
December 12th at 9:00am Pacific Time
Quarterly Book Club
Each quarter I share two books that I'll be reading and I encourage you to pick one (or both!) to read and sketchnote along with me. We meet once a month to discuss the ideas within the books and how you're going about making them visual.
Upcoming Book Club Event:
January 23rd at 9:00am Pacific Time
Learn from Anywhere
Built on top of the Mighty Networks platform, you'll be able to access all of our resources from any browser or by using the native iOS or Android app.
What Students are Saying
Doug Neill is an excellent sketchnoter and educator. I really enjoyed his course and the methodology he uses. He has a lot of material and of very good quality for anyone who wants to deepen the art of making sketchnotes. I am currently doing sketchnotes for my corporate strategy consulting website.
This is a wonderful introduction to making your doodles meaningful. A great resource for anyone wanting to learn the nuts and bolts of visual note-taking. I have been able to implement so much of my learning in day-to-day activities at home and work.
I improved my visual language and my white-boarding skills thanks to this course, even after 30 years as a presenter and facilitator, and use my much-improved skills for both professional and personal endeavors.
With Doug’s course, you have a step-by-step process that teaches you all that you’ll need to know for visual note-taking. When I started, I didn’t know how to draw, but that was not a problem. This course taught me everything that was important. I could do it and have results I was happy with. This has all you need to know, without any blah blah blah, and very good questions that you and only you can answer and will guide you with your learning.
Awesome!!! Sketchnoting has helped me to understand complex legal issues by breaking the issue into simple, easy to understand images. More importantly, sketchnoting is helping me visually communicate those issues (and my solutions) in a compelling way.
Become a Visual Thinker
Develop the instinct. Hone the craft.
The Full Curriculum
Lifetime access to our library of complete-at-your-own-pace courses:
- An Introduction to Visual Note-Taking
- Digital Sketchnoting
- How to Make Sketchnote Videos
- Building an Online Course with Sketchnotes
- Learn in Public
- Learn a New Language with Sketchnotes
- Sketchnoting Side Hustle
The Learning Community
Lifetime access to all of the resources within the Curriculum package, as well as one year of access to:
- Monthly live Q & A sessions with Doug
- Quarterly book clubs with monthly live check-in events
- Share your sketchnotes and get feedback on your work
- Connect with a global community of visual thinkers
At the end of the year you'll have the option to renew your community membership for $495 per year.
The Coaching Accelerator
Access to all of the resources within the Curriculum and Community packages, as well as:
- Four hour-long one-on-one coaching sessions with Doug
- Ongoing email mentoring with Doug
If you're interested in a stand-alone coaching package, reach out: doug@verbaltovisual.com.