This year I had the pleasure of meeting Marianne Rady and she warmly welcomed me into the sketchnoting community. In previous years there have been bootcamps in which a lot of sketchnoters from all over the world met, but because of this year's events, Marianne decided to organize an online conference. That weekend was a bit complicated for me because I was attending a testing conference that same week, but I ended up attending Sketchnote Connect and I had a blast! They had THE best Miro board I've ever seen (I wasn't expecting any less of this community, tbh!). The conference had an open space format, and we know how inspiring those spaces can be.
(Inner voice says: GET TO THE POINT, ANTO) One of the conversations I had was how did I transition from paper to digital and so this is more or less what this post is about (sorry for the long intro).
BACK TO THE PAST
I distinctly remember being very picky about my notebooks in elementary school, I always wanted a specific brand called Rivadavia (they're popular in Argentina) and I always wanted pens with a specific shade and thickness. Writing with a fountain pen was compulsory in elementary school and I always wanted to buy the same pen (I think it was Bic). However, as we grew older, they allowed us to use ballpoint pens and I always wanted the same see-through blue Faber Castell, thick stroke, not navy and not light blue...it was the perfect shade of blue.
My love for notebooks started when I watched Harriet the Spy for the first time. She was so picky about her notebooks and it made me feel validated.
PRESENT TENSE
Although I've started sketchnoting "officially" this year, as my Instagram bio says, I've been sketchnoting since the first grade. I remember doodling things that helped me remember what I was being taught...perhaps it's intuitive and we lose it with age? Anyway, I won Mike Rohde's sketchnote book at a meetup this year and I've been experimenting ever since.
I have a lot of notebooks, paper, and pens, but I decided to go digital (most of the time, especially if it's live sketchnoting) and I'll tell you why. You can scroll down all the way to the bottom of the page if you don't want to read a lot.
PAPER MATTERS
INK MATTERS
Do you like using watercolor? Then you better check that your pen is waterproof! But what if you are looking for a bleeding effect and your pen doesn't do it?
Do you make mistakes? Everyone does...maybe you need a pen you can erase!
The pen(s) you choose need to agree with the paper you chose (unless you like surprises!).
BE A TESTER
The ink you use will depend on the paper your notebook has - or at least that's what I do...but I always had accidents until I started having a "Tester page". This is not my idea, I think I either saw it here or here (blog in Spanish).
Whenever I get a notebook, I use the last page as a tester page. I use each pen I think will agree with the notebook and write its name on the page and then add some water (but only to part of the writing!). When it's dry, I turn the page and see if it has bled through the page. By writing the name of the pen with the pen itself, I don't have to remember which is which, the name is right there.
ADD COLOR (IF THAT'S WHAT YOU LIKE)
There are different ways of adding color to sketchnotes, and some are wetter than others. If you're using thin paper then you might not want to use wet markers unless you don't cringe when the paper starts to wrinkle :D
PAPER DISTRIBUTION
Sometimes, you know exactly how long a presentation will last and how big your paper needs to be in order to fit the information you think you'll write down. I get really disappointed when I reserve space and then the speaker doesn't say anything that resonates with me and I have a huge blank. I also get a bit frustrated when I run out of space...but there's something someone mentioned on Sketch Connect I think, which is that you can always add more paper and just stick it to the page! Seems like an obvious solution that I never thought of :O
MONEY
I have a stationery shop across the street and I used to visit them every month. Is it the smell of stationery that relaxes me and makes me think that ain't no mountain high enough? I don't know, but it's a sanctuary. However, I started paying attention to my receipts and I realized I was spending a lot of money there! That's what made me think that perhaps going digital would be cheaper in the long run. Sure, iPads and tablets cost money too, but it seems to be a one time purchase (at least for a good couple of years).
THE UNDO BUTTON AND BEING ABLE TO RESIZE PAGE ELEMENTS
Finally, resizing text and the undo button. Those are two features that both of the software I use have (GoodNotes and Procreate) and what, in my opinion, makes it all worth it.
Yes, I will continue to use paper because the feeling is different, and there's something amazing, a sense of achievement that I get when I'm able to fix/conceal mistakes without the magic of the undo button...but there are days in which my brain wants to experiment and undo, as quick and easy as that, and I'm happy I give my brain the chance to do so.
PS: An iPad has its own problems, like screen glare, Apple Pencil tips, etc. Maybe I'll blog about it in the future ;)
