Sketchplanations
A Decade of Drawing the World
Abstract
This will be a very special dual session.
Join Jono Hey as he shares the origin story of Sketchplanations, a decade-long project dedicated to turning complex ideas into simple, memorable visuals.
While Jono presents, Oliver Caviglioli will be taking live sketchnotes: quietly building a visual synthesis of the key ideas, examples, and audience questions (the image below is a sample of the kind of real-time sketch he'll create).
You'll see how little pictures spark big conversations and illuminate challenging concepts through clarity and creativity. Attendees will gain insight into Jono's unique visual storytelling process and how sketching can build a visual encyclopedia of ideas that enhances personal learning, note-taking, and communication. After the talk and Q&A, Oliver will reveal his sketchnote and spend 10-15 minutes walking through his drawing, sharing his reflections on the structure of the session, the pedagogical choices, and how visual abstraction supports memory and understanding.
Speaker Bio
Jono Hey
Jono Hey is a visual storyteller, illustrator, and creator of Sketchplanations, a widely celebrated project that simplifies complex concepts through hand-drawn sketches. With a background spanning software development, education, and visual communication, Jono crafts visuals that help people understand and remember ideas more effectively. Over the past decade, he has built a vast visual encyclopedia of explanations that inspire curiosity and dialogue worldwide.
Speaker Bio
Oliver Caviglioli
Oliver used to be a headteacher of a special school, wrote several books on visual teaching strategies and was a trainer in schools and colleges for nearly a decade. After an inspired visit to the 2008 Berlin VizThink conference, he invented the HOW2s — visual step-by-step guides to teaching techniques. Now, he designs and illustrates books, produces poster summaries of educational ideas, creates visual branding, visualises CPD packages, and makes the occasional presentation in the UK and Europe.
Watch the Session
Session Summary
This session, featuring visual storyteller Jono Hey, creator of Sketchplanations, and author/sketchnote artist Oliver Caviglioli, explored the genesis of Jono's unique visual project, the practical and philosophical insights behind it, and Oliver's contrasting, structured approach to live sketchnoting.
The session was introduced by Zsolt Viczián and followed a unique format: Jono presented his talk while Oliver simultaneously created a live sketchnote, which was then reviewed and discussed.
Jono Hey: The Power of Simple Visual Explanations
Jono Hey's project, Sketchplanations, is a long-term commitment to "explaining the world one sketch at a time." The project was born from his frustration during his PhD studies at UC Berkeley, where he realized that long, nuanced discussions and extensive reading often failed to result in retained knowledge. This observation led to the project's core questions: "Have you ever struggled to get your message across? Have you ever struggled to remember what you learned?"
Core Thesis and Inspiration
Jono argues that the power of his work lies in the combination of simple words and drawings, which is more effective for communication and memory than text or images alone (referencing Dual Coding theory). He draws inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci, seeing his work as "art for purpose"—a means of exploring and making visible one’s thinking.
In his professional life as a product designer, he routinely worked to make thinking visible to align teams, describing the challenge as "cutting cubes out of fog." His idea selection for Sketchplanations is driven by personal curiosity, believing that if an idea is new or interesting to him, it is likely worth sharing (e.g., The Fun Scale or The Curb Cut Effect).
The Evolution and Process
The project began as a disciplined personal practice: "One Sketch a Day" to build the habit, followed by a switch to dedicated "explaining in sketches" in small notebooks with strict constraints (limited color, one frame). To ensure sustainability, he later settled on a more manageable pace of one sketch per week.
Jono shared key operational insights learned over a decade:
- Keep at it: Long-term consistency ("Enough molehills make a mountain") accumulates a substantial body of work.
- Share your work: Public accountability improves quality, and sharing inevitably leads to "unexpected benefits"—such as people using his work in teaching, or opportunities like working with the Bill Gates team to visually explain complex topics like pandemic prevention.
- Process (Gem Finding and Polishing): His methodology involves constantly Noticing interesting concepts, Collecting them into a growing backlog, and then Processing and Polishing them. He revealed that he now utilizes AI (such as ChatGPT, often via voice) as a "thought partner" to verify research and refine explanations.
Jono's ultimate motivation is encapsulated in the quote: "What is the purpose of existence, but to discover truth and beauty and share it with others?"
Oliver Caviglioli: The Case for Structure and Words
Oliver Caviglioli provided a live demonstration of his structured sketchnoting style and offered a strong philosophical counterpoint to the common, highly "organic" or "flowy" visual styles often seen in the field.
The Structured Approach
Oliver argues that purely visual, organic styles often lack graphic rules, alignment, or hierarchy, making them useful only to the creator, not the public. His methodology prioritizes clarity and public usefulness:
- Structure: He uses squared or dotted paper to maintain alignment and structure, favoring the use of a simple, limited color palette.
- Readability: He advocates for uppercase writing and the strategic use of words over excessive imagery, emphasizing that "more words than pictures" is essential for true dual coding and preventing misinterpretation.
- Process: Live sketchnoting involves intense pressure, requiring constant listening, making split-second decisions on what information to capture (e.g., abbreviating words like "QUE, PE, ID"), and accepting the discomfort of imperfect work.
Oliver noted a preference for the physical friction of pen on paper over the slippery surface of digital tablets, which he believes is crucial for maintaining good handwriting. Ultimately, he views a live sketchnote not as a final product, but as a "basis for a conversation," capable of later development and refinement, much like an architect's initial drawing.