Skip to the sketches

Jono Hey · since 2013

One idea,
drawn simply.

729 hand-drawn sketches from the Sketchplanations archive, hung in 16 rooms — psychology, science, design, parenting, and the rest of a curious life.

Every plate is one idea. Click any of them to pin it to the wall.

16rooms

729plates

533unique ideas

2013started

01

Teachers

How people learn, teach, and remember.

20 sketches

Coach John Wooden's 8 Laws of Learning: Explanation, Demonstration, Imitation, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. With learning juggling analogy. — Wooden's 8 Laws of Learning

The automation paradox explanation, or paradox of automation, summary with a hiker choosing their phone in place of a physical map and then getting lost in a landscape when there's no signal — The Automation Paradox

Rose Thorn Bud reflection technique summary showing a rose with thorn and bud highlighting successes, challenges and potential — Rose, Thorn, Bud

The upward spiral from Stephen Covey illustration: showing a spiral growing from the bottom with Learn Commit Do repeating as it rises and someone reading a map, packing their gear and heading off determinedly on a trip illustrating each step — The Upward Spiral

The Feynman Learning Technique illustration: a flow diagram of picking a topic, writing about it to explain to someone until it's clear and then simplifying and adding analogies — The Feynman Learning Technique

A speaker is saved from confusing the listeners with a chart when one brave soul asks what on earth a TLA is — Ask the question at talks

Blooms Taxonomy explanation: A series of 6 building blocks are stacked on top of each other, decreasing in size as they go up, creating a pyramid-style construction. Each block represents one of 6 thinking skills. These skills become more sophisticated as the pyramid climbs and reminds us that the foundation of learning is knowledge. — Bloom's Taxonomy

Replicate, then Innovate illustration: inspired by seeing a peer present their decorative star, a young creative sets to; making lots of stars in different styles and sizes, seemingly without any plan in mind. Some are hung up on the wall, some coloured in, some combined with other shapes, until a large, multi-coloured, multi-layered star decoration comes together and hangs majestically from 2 hooks. The young creative seems pleased with themself. — Replicate then innovate

The Learning Pit illustration: a journey from left to right; an individual faces a learning challenge represented by a large pit they need to reach the other side of. Having fallen down into the pit, the challenge seems more difficult than first anticipated. As the picture becomes clearer they discover what they need to climb up the other side to a point where they can look back down at the pit having mastered the challenge. — The Learning Pit

A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of Y-intercept illustration: on a line graph, a red line starts well below the blue line, but over time, it overtakes and surpasses the blue line because it has slightly more gradient to it. — A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept.

The meaning of the third teacher as the environment from Reggio Emilia together with teachers/parents and peers — The Environment as the Third Teacher in Early Childhood and Beyond

What is the OODA Loop example explained: military strategist John Boyd's framework for action in conflict is shown as a closed loop cycle of Orient, Decide, Act, Observe and back to the beginning. The cycle also applies to business when you reconsider the points on the cycle as Frame, Strategize, Test, Gather. — OODA Loop

Goldilocks Tasks: a spectrum where the challenge is not too easy, not too hard, but just right for flow and mastery — Goldilocks tasks

Conscious competence learning model matrix framework, plotting competence (incompetent to competent) against consciousness (unconscious to conscious), showing the four learning stages: conscious incompetence, conscious competence, unconscious incompetence, and unconscious competence. — Stages of competence framework

A teacher gets more participation and minds whirring by asking "What else?" instead of "Anything else?" — Get more participation

Why beaches are amazing for play showing a parent and child at the beach and listing out many aspects of what make beaches amazing — Beaches: amazing for play

Zone of proximal development

A good teacher is a DJ for learning

Someone gets a much better response by asking 'How was your day?' instead of 'Good day?' — Prefer open-ended questions

Babies learn control from the top down

20 sketches

02

Managers & Leaders

Teams, judgement, and how work actually happens.

35 sketches

Explanation of SMART goals meaning, showing that SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound, and how setting SMART goals leads to clearer progress — SMART Goals

Chart showing the chances of getting what you want if you ask for what you want vs if you don't — Asking for What You Want

What is the Eat The Frog time management and productivity technique and its meaning with a person about to eat a frog and a to-do list — Eat the frog

Leading from any chair, the fifth practice from The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander. From Eugene Lehner's story: What would I say should I suddenly be called upon to lead? — Leading from Any Chair

Normalisation of deviance: A person looks dubiously on at a building site which seems to be ignoring all the safety signs. (Normalization of deviance) — The Normalisation of Deviance

Whose job is it? or The Responsibility Poem illustration: four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. Everybody is given a job but in the end Nobody takes responsibility for it — Whose job is it?

VUCA illustration: Examples of Volatility (a stock-like chart), Complexity (a circuit-like confusion), Uncertainty (a direction splitting into 3) and a person sweating over Ambiguity (a Necker cube). — VUCA

Three types of "no" illustrated animation with parenting examples. The Yes No (no to ice cream, yes to eating). The Material No (Yes I'd get it down if I had a ladder). The Priority No (Yes we can take the bear but we'll leave to have one of the others) — Three Types of "No"

The bus factor summary - A poor soul squashed by a bus lamented because they were the only one who knew the password — Bus factor

What is Groupthink: People acquiescing to the manager's and what they see as others' views during a meeting — Groupthink

What Clear is Kind means example with someone explaining clear is kind and not being clear along the way — Clear is kind

A sketch of extrinsic motivation with a donkey being followed by a man with a stick and in turn following a carrot that's strapped always just out of reach — Extrinsic motivation

A meeting with some in-person participants and one remote participant showing the disadvantages of each — Hybrid meetings

The janitor and the CEO story inspired by Steve Jobs illustrating how reasons stop mattering somewhere between the janitor and the CEO — Reasons stop mattering

Push Authority to Information principle from David Marquet example explained: on the left in a position of authority, a boss waits expectantly to hear the latest updates from their team in order to make a decision. On the right, a leader distributes their authority out to team members who become empowered to make decisions themselves based on the information they have. Everyone seems happier on the right. — Push authority to information

Umbrella and Funnel management style example explained: Todd Jackson's shit umbrella or shit funnel metaphor shown with on the left, the effective manager uses an umbrella to shield their team from a downpour of tasks and requests coming from all directions. This sheltered team are focussed and productive and celebrate their achievements. On the right, in place of the umbrella, the less effective manager uses a funnel as a catch-all, showering their team with actions, sending the team members running scared. — Umbrellas and funnels

Looking under the lamppost, the streetlight effect, or the drunkard's search: a person asks someone scrabbling on the floor under a lamppost at night if they've lost their keys. The person replies they lost them elsewhere, but the light's much better here. — Looking under the lamppost: the Streetlight Effect or the Drunkard's Search

What is the spectrum policy from the practice of creativity by George M. Prince — The spectrum policy

What is Manager Time Maker Time example explained: Paul Graham's manager schedule maker schedule illustrated with Manager Time, on the left shows someone in their office at their laptop, scheduling in meetings and calls throughout the day, neatly managing time with hourly and half-hourly slots in their calendar. On the right, Maker Time ideally does away with any scheduled meetings or calls to allow for an open day for our worker at their desk to grind through a complex problem or new project. The passing of time is only marked by day turning to night. — Manager time, maker time

RACI framework illustration: A family making a sandcastle highlights who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed — RACI

The transparency paradox: In an open classroom one student secretly passes a note to the other illustrating the transparency paradox — The transparency paradox

What is the Peter Principle explanation: a confident and competent junior worker gets promoted to a senior level. At the senior level, they appear very happy and excel such that they get a promotion to Director. As a Director, their competence has been exceeded and we see them in a state of stress and disarray. Oh dear. — The Peter Principle

The cost of being late illustration: an executive walks into a meeting 10 mins late adding up to 100 total lost minutes of everyone else's time — The cost of being late

What is The Shirky principle explained — from Clay Shirky — illustration in a garage where a manager is astonished by a mechanic fixing the cars so they'll never need to come back — The Shirky Principle

What is the accountability ladder example explained: A child explains to a parent why homework wasn't done, illustrating each rung of increasing accountability on the accountability ladder from a victim mindset to a powerful accountable one — The accountability ladder

What is the trust battery example, from Tobias Lütke at Shopify, explained with a manager considering how interactions fill or deplete the trust battery — The trust battery: A handy metaphor to think about trust

The Abilene paradox: a family sets out on a trip to Abilene on a hot dusty day only to discover on the way back that none of them actually wanted to go — The Abilene paradox

Autonomy Mastery Purpose summary of Dan Pink's book Drive — What drives us: autonomy, mastery, purpose

Conway's law showing how the organisation of a company, as small, distributed teams or large colocated teams can reflect the architecture of the software as modular or monolithic — Conway’s Law

Bugs and releases illustration: an upward curve line graph shows the increase in risk for bugs or problems with software as the size of release increases. Instead of one large release, a series of smaller software updates each with smaller, more manageable risk is suggested. — Bugs and releases

What is MOSCOW Prioritisation with example: Must, Should, Could, Would — MOSCOW Prioritisation

Match challenge with skills illustration: a chart of skills and challenge shows flow in the center and anxiety and boredom at the edges — Match challenge with skills for flow at work

An office worker glumly thinks about their lack of window while a frustrated manager looks on which is transformed when the employee asks for a window — Ask for what you need

What is Hofstadter's Law quote explanation: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you account for Hofstadter’s Law.” — Hofstadter’s Law

Connect with a colleague through affinities

35 sketches

03

Writers

Craft, voice, and the work of putting ideas down.

44 sketches

What is an endonym and exonym with examples of countries Deutschland – Germany, Espana – Spain, Nederland – Netherlands, Ellada – Greece, Nihon – Japan — Endonym and exonym

Eminem rhyme with orange example: "I put my orange four-inch door hinge in storage and ate porridge with George" showing how "nothing rhymes with orange" is wrong — So Nothing Rhymes with Orange?

Front-load key words in lists and when writing for the web for clearer communication with a conference features example — Front-load Key Words

What is the newsletter paradox: your email newsletter subscriber list grows when you do nothing and people unsubscribe when you send — The Newsletter Paradox: Your newsletter grows when you do nothing

What are collective nouns for animals? Illustration of African animals showing examples of collective nouns: a tower of giraffes, a crash of rhinos, a pride of lions, a dazzle of zebra, a murder of crows, a bask of crocodiles, and others. — Collective Nouns: Examples, meanings, and the best ones for animals

The Repeated Word Illusion using "I love Paris in the the Springtime" with a repeated "the" set in a pyramid layout — The Repeated Word Illusion

What is chiasmus? Illustration showing JFK's quote "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" arranged as A-B-B-A symmetry of thoughts. — Chiasmus

F-Shaped Reading of content on the web from eye-tracking — F-Shaped Reading

The writer's in the writing, the artist's in the art visual showing a red writer writing red words in a book, and a blue painter painting a canvas of The Wave in blue — The Writer's in the Writing. The Artist's in the Art.

Word spectrum examples and explanation showing what is a word spectrum as gradations of description and examples of different word spectrums for size, frequency, talk volume, intelligence and taste — Word spectrum

Simple grammar rule for when to use me or I in a sentence with example — Me or I? When to Use “Me” vs “I” in a Sentence

RAS Syndrome illustration: Redundant Acronym Syndrome shown with a person using their PIN Number in an ATM Machine — RAS Syndrome

The Pyramid Principle - Barbara Minto: a muddled message of a burst water main becomes clear that the school is closed when someone uses the pyramid principle — The Pyramid Principle

Fortnightly: a person considers whether 'biweekly' really means "twice a week" or "every two weeks" and resolves to use fortnightly for "every two weeks" in the future. — Fortnightly

Anadiplosis illustration. Yoda speaks his famous lines: Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering—on a dusty desert planet with two moons — Anadiplosis

Braille reading and writing system: the letters of the alphabet in english braille showing how it's constructed from 6 dots — Braille

When to use advise vs advice, licence vs license, practice or practice explained. Fellow devising a device as a way to illustrate how Devise, Advise, License, and practise (with an s) are all verbs in British English and device, advice, licence and practice (with a c) are all nouns — Advise vs advice and other s and c's

What does pleonasm mean? An unexpected surprise seeing a personal friend in a museum with exact replicas and free gifts — Pleonasm

The first draft is always perfect: A person creating multiple drafts of a sketch before reaching the one that hangs on the wall — The first draft is always perfect

Happy Talk Must Die example: explained with an example web page with lots of useless happy talk and a person thinking blah blah as they look for the payments button — Happy talk must die

Short Words Are Best illustration: A quote by Winston Churchill, about how using short words is best, appears next to an iconic portrait of the man himself wearing a Homburg hat and bow-tie, whilst smoking a big cigar. — Short words are best

The Rhyme As Reason Effect illustration: whilst on a stroll, one friend shrewdly convinces the other about how aphorisms that rhyme tend to be more believable, by including a rhyme in their statement. — The Rhyme As Reason Effect

Micro-Editing Redundant Words illustration: A list of frequently used phrases in web copy is shown, with redundant words highlighted in red. A good reminder when writing these image captions! — Micro-editing redundant words

What is Ablaut reduplication example explained: showing zig-zag, hip-hop, and splish-splash-splosh — Ablaut reduplication

By Monkeys writing principle explained: on the left, representing passive communication, a group of monkeys climb all over a typical office work station causing havoc; seemingly without much productivity. On the right, representing active communication, a diligent worker sets to fixing a software bug. There's no sign of those pesky monkeys. — By monkeys

Ordering adjectives in English example - opinion, size, age, shape / colour, origin, material, purpose — Ordering adjectives

Capitonym illustration: a large turkey and a map of the country Turkey shows how adding a capital changes the meaning — Capitonym

Acronym vs initialism illustration: comparing the acronym laser—pronounced as a word— and the initialism FBI—pronounced by saying the letters — Acronyms and initialisms

Matrix of spelling and sound showing the place of homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronyms, synonyms and antonyms — Homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronyms…

Inverted pyramid writing illustration: giving a rowing sports example from the most important at the start to the details later — Inverted pyramid writing

What is Muphry's Law example explained: a reviewer of a manuscript makes a spelling mistake in their review — Muphry’s Law

How to speak plainly illustrated by Owl-speak and Pooh-speak from Winnie-the-Pooh — How to speak plainly, by Pooh Bear

Rewrite to avoid click here

What is an Em dash, En Dash, Hyphen - and when and how to use them table with examples — Know your dashes: the hyphen, en dash and em dash

Contranym explained — Contranym

Quotiquette: The etiquette of quoting

Heteronym illustration with the examples: present, windy, read, and close — Heteronym: spell it the same, say it differently

Try a mindmap travel journal

Only quote quotes

Stationary and Stationery

Omit unnecessary words

The difference between compliment and complement explained with someone complimenting a shirt and a wine complementing a cheese — Compliment and Complement

The best writing is re-writing

When to use Affect vs effect: one person affects another by pushing them into the water. The effect is a big splash. — Affect. Effect

44 sketches

04

Developers

Systems, software, and the trade-offs of building.

38 sketches

Moravec's Paradox meaning for AI with examples — Moravec's Paradox

To scale, you first have to do things that don't scale, advice from Paul Graham and Brian Chesky of AirBnB for scaling companies shown with a founder packing boxes themselves like Jeff Bezos of Amazon — To Scale, First Do Things That Don't Scale

What is Fauxtomation explained with claims of automation actually done by people, often across the world — Fauxtomation

Pillars of hope, steel starter bars or starter rods stick out of a house so that in the future it's easier to add an extra storey — Pillars of hope

Rose Thorn Bud reflection technique summary showing a rose with thorn and bud highlighting successes, challenges and potential — Rose, Thorn, Bud

The Wheel of Death illustration: a pie chart of last week's support issues from large categories of login problems, and payment issues to smaller ones at the end in shades of blue. A tool to help review and prioritise issues. — The Wheel of Death

Chickens and pigs illustration: also known as the bacon and eggs principle, shows a bacon and fried egg breakfast with an egg for the chicken's involvement and a cleaver for the pig's — Chickens and pigs

The XY Problem (or X-Y Problem): a child tries to reach a balloon by precariously stacking chairsand asks how they can stick them together to someone outside of the room who, eventually, wonders what for? — The XY Problem

VUCA illustration: Examples of Volatility (a stock-like chart), Complexity (a circuit-like confusion), Uncertainty (a direction splitting into 3) and a person sweating over Ambiguity (a Necker cube). — VUCA

Three types of "no" illustrated animation with parenting examples. The Yes No (no to ice cream, yes to eating). The Material No (Yes I'd get it down if I had a ladder). The Priority No (Yes we can take the bear but we'll leave to have one of the others) — Three Types of "No"

Read-Do and Do-Confirm checklists illustration: examples of a Dinner party fail and an Expedition checklist — Two types of checklists: Read-Do, Do-Confirm

Cake wreck: a cake where instructions for the cake—"Happy birthday in purple, no nuts"—have been smartly written across the front. Intended as a metaphor for literal misinterpretation. — Cake wreck

The frog boil metaphor illustration: showing a frog put into cool water that is slowly raised not complaining until it's too late. Poor frog. Don't try this. — The frog boil metaphor

The bus factor summary - A poor soul squashed by a bus lamented because they were the only one who knew the password — Bus factor

In theory practice is the same as theory, but not in practice, or In theory practise is the same as theory, but not in practise - confused parents wondering at babies not sleeping — In theory, practice is the same as theory, but not in practice

The cost of fixing bugs: Chart showing how the cost to fix bugs rises the longer you leave before fixing them — The cost of fixing bugs

Chaos monkey illustration: A monkey hangs from a girder in a room of servers cheekily pulling out wires to simulate the servers turning off at random and to build resilience, the Netflix principle — Chaos monkey

Features are like pets illustration: a series of images shows different practical roles and responsibilities involved with owning a pet dog, compared with a solo image of how simple and rewarding one might imagine it to be - all presented as a simile for the time, effort and cost involved in developing new software features. — Features are like pets

What is yak shaving and what does it mean example: someone looks on confused as another explains the convoluted story which led to them sitting there shaving a yak, just like solving problems in software development — Yak shaving

By Monkeys writing principle explained: on the left, representing passive communication, a group of monkeys climb all over a typical office work station causing havoc; seemingly without much productivity. On the right, representing active communication, a diligent worker sets to fixing a software bug. There's no sign of those pesky monkeys. — By monkeys

A breakdown of constructing the number 13 in the decimal system of base 10 next to 13 written in the base 2 of binary — Binary

The Two Generals Problem: Two Generals fighting for the same side, have set up their camps on the high ground either side of a castle to be attacked and use a messenger running between them to coordinate their attack. The problem is that the messenger has to run right past the hostile castle to relay the Generals' messages and confirmation of receipt of messages and there's no guarantee they'll make it past the castle unharmed. — The two generals problem

Conway's law showing how the organisation of a company, as small, distributed teams or large colocated teams can reflect the architecture of the software as modular or monolithic — Conway’s Law

Rival and non-rival goods illustration: a scale with rival goods at one end (left) and non-rival goods at the other (right) displays items at each extreme and along the scale in between. eg. (left to right) cup of coffee; roads; software. — Rival and non-rival goods

What is Rubberducking? Example explanation: a developer talks through their problem with the “therapist” rubber duck on their desk, only to discover the insight they need. Often useful for debugging. — What is Rubberducking? An Explanation of the Rubber Duck Debugging Technique

Bugs and releases illustration: an upward curve line graph shows the increase in risk for bugs or problems with software as the size of release increases. Instead of one large release, a series of smaller software updates each with smaller, more manageable risk is suggested. — Bugs and releases

Henrik Kniberg's release strategy for happier customers, sooner showing a car built piece-by-piece and a car built skateboard, to scooter, to bike, motorcycle then car. — A release strategy for happier customers, sooner

Idempotence, or idempotent, illustrated with an idempotent action of look_at_cake that always has the same effect, compared with a non-idempotent action of eat_slice_of_cake — Idempotence

What is MOSCOW Prioritisation with example: Must, Should, Could, Would — MOSCOW Prioritisation

What is an information radiator in agile and software development sharing information passively in an office — Information radiator

Koomey's Law — Koomey’s Law

Moore’s Law

Fitts’ Law

Desire path: the difference between design and use illustrated by a person crossing a corner of grass — Desire path

Yesterday’s weather

The Big Data equation: big data + machine learning + cloud = informed, intelligent decisions — The big data equation

Remove text formatting

What is Hofstadter's Law quote explanation: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you account for Hofstadter’s Law.” — Hofstadter’s Law

38 sketches

05

Entrepreneurs

Starting, shipping, and staying in the game.

31 sketches

When there’s a gold rush, sell shovels and picks, a classic business and entrepreneurship quote with prospectors chasing gold and suppliers lining the road — When there's a gold rush, sell shovels

To scale, you first have to do things that don't scale, advice from Paul Graham and Brian Chesky of AirBnB for scaling companies shown with a founder packing boxes themselves like Jeff Bezos of Amazon — To Scale, First Do Things That Don't Scale

Unknown Unknowns or the Awareness-Understanding matrix, or the Rumsfeld Matrix illustrated with the example of having a baby — Unknown Unknowns

The One in a Row principle: the way it all starts - with a person pushing over the first bowling pin — wisdom from Matthew McConaughey — One in a Row

Leading from any chair, the fifth practice from The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander. From Eugene Lehner's story: What would I say should I suddenly be called upon to lead? — Leading from Any Chair

Sell painkillers, not vitamins illustration: showing two stores, one for vitamins with just one customer and vague future benefits, next to a busy store selling painkillers with a queue of people seeking "relief now!" — Painkillers and vitamins

The Wheel of Death illustration: a pie chart of last week's support issues from large categories of login problems, and payment issues to smaller ones at the end in shades of blue. A tool to help review and prioritise issues. — The Wheel of Death

Biz Stone quote: Timing, perseverance and 10 years of trying will eventually make you seem like an overnight success — illustrated by someone on the tip of an iceberg with a whole lot of it underwater — Overnight success

The Pyramid Principle - Barbara Minto: a muddled message of a burst water main becomes clear that the school is closed when someone uses the pyramid principle — The Pyramid Principle

Whose job is it? or The Responsibility Poem illustration: four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. Everybody is given a job but in the end Nobody takes responsibility for it — Whose job is it?

VUCA illustration: Examples of Volatility (a stock-like chart), Complexity (a circuit-like confusion), Uncertainty (a direction splitting into 3) and a person sweating over Ambiguity (a Necker cube). — VUCA

What is Optimism bias example explained: A stunt rider overestimates their chance of leaping a canyon thanks to optimism bias. Various onlookers gasp. "Huh" says the rider — Optimism bias

What Clear is Kind means example with someone explaining clear is kind and not being clear along the way — Clear is kind

A sketch of extrinsic motivation with a donkey being followed by a man with a stick and in turn following a carrot that's strapped always just out of reach — Extrinsic motivation

The janitor and the CEO story inspired by Steve Jobs illustrating how reasons stop mattering somewhere between the janitor and the CEO — Reasons stop mattering

For want of a nail poem: from the shoe, to the rider, the battle and the kingdom it's all lost because that fellow dropped the nail — For want of a nail

Altruism and Ambition Richard Reed quote illustration: a determined character soars through the clouds miles above the earth below and has a large wing strapped to their back. On the left hand side of the wing is a jet engine labelled "Altruism". On the right hand side is a jet engine labelled "Ambition". — Altruism and ambition

Push Authority to Information principle from David Marquet example explained: on the left in a position of authority, a boss waits expectantly to hear the latest updates from their team in order to make a decision. On the right, a leader distributes their authority out to team members who become empowered to make decisions themselves based on the information they have. Everyone seems happier on the right. — Push authority to information

Umbrella and Funnel management style example explained: Todd Jackson's shit umbrella or shit funnel metaphor shown with on the left, the effective manager uses an umbrella to shield their team from a downpour of tasks and requests coming from all directions. This sheltered team are focussed and productive and celebrate their achievements. On the right, in place of the umbrella, the less effective manager uses a funnel as a catch-all, showering their team with actions, sending the team members running scared. — Umbrellas and funnels

Starting a Company - Reid Hoffman quote illustration: a brave soul leaps off a tall coastal cliff with only a backpack for survival. On their way down, they quickly assemble a plane from the components in the backpack and pilot it away from the beckoning sea - just in time! Written in the sky is the quote: "Starting a Company is like jumping off a cliff and assembling a plane on the way down." — Starting a company

What is Manager Time Maker Time example explained: Paul Graham's manager schedule maker schedule illustrated with Manager Time, on the left shows someone in their office at their laptop, scheduling in meetings and calls throughout the day, neatly managing time with hourly and half-hourly slots in their calendar. On the right, Maker Time ideally does away with any scheduled meetings or calls to allow for an open day for our worker at their desk to grind through a complex problem or new project. The passing of time is only marked by day turning to night. — Manager time, maker time

Net Promoter Score illustration: How to calculate NPS from the spectrum of responses to the question "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" — Net Promoter Score

What is the accountability ladder example explained: A child explains to a parent why homework wasn't done, illustrating each rung of increasing accountability on the accountability ladder from a victim mindset to a powerful accountable one — The accountability ladder

What is the trust battery example, from Tobias Lütke at Shopify, explained with a manager considering how interactions fill or deplete the trust battery — The trust battery: A handy metaphor to think about trust

What is the Business Flywheel example explained: the model of The Business Funnel, where prospects are filtered to yield end customers is compared with The Business Flywheel, where customers are at the centre, acting as the driving force behind your business momentum. — The business flywheel

Autonomy Mastery Purpose summary of Dan Pink's book Drive — What drives us: autonomy, mastery, purpose

The "virtuous cycle" of Amazon and Uber illustration: closed loop flow diagrams demonstrate the effect of growth on factors like demand, price and service for Amazon and Uber. — The ‘Virtuous Cycles’ of Amazon and Uber

What is the OODA Loop example explained: military strategist John Boyd's framework for action in conflict is shown as a closed loop cycle of Orient, Decide, Act, Observe and back to the beginning. The cycle also applies to business when you reconsider the points on the cycle as Frame, Strategize, Test, Gather. — OODA Loop

What is Metcalfe's Law diagram the value of a network and its users — Metcalfe’s Law

What is The golden circle from Simon Sinek example explained: illustrated with the start with why circles, and Martin Luther King and the "I have a dream," not the "I have a plan," speech — The golden circle

"Be stubborn on vision, be flexible on details" quote from Jeff Bezos — Be stubborn on vision. Be flexible on details

31 sketches

06

Product managers

Discovery, delivery, and what to build next.

28 sketches

Explanation of SMART goals meaning, showing that SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound, and how setting SMART goals leads to clearer progress — SMART Goals

To scale, you first have to do things that don't scale, advice from Paul Graham and Brian Chesky of AirBnB for scaling companies shown with a founder packing boxes themselves like Jeff Bezos of Amazon — To Scale, First Do Things That Don't Scale

Rose Thorn Bud reflection technique summary showing a rose with thorn and bud highlighting successes, challenges and potential — Rose, Thorn, Bud

Chickens and pigs illustration: also known as the bacon and eggs principle, shows a bacon and fried egg breakfast with an egg for the chicken's involvement and a cleaver for the pig's — Chickens and pigs

The XY Problem (or X-Y Problem): a child tries to reach a balloon by precariously stacking chairsand asks how they can stick them together to someone outside of the room who, eventually, wonders what for? — The XY Problem

VUCA illustration: Examples of Volatility (a stock-like chart), Complexity (a circuit-like confusion), Uncertainty (a direction splitting into 3) and a person sweating over Ambiguity (a Necker cube). — VUCA

Three types of "no" illustrated animation with parenting examples. The Yes No (no to ice cream, yes to eating). The Material No (Yes I'd get it down if I had a ladder). The Priority No (Yes we can take the bear but we'll leave to have one of the others) — Three Types of "No"

Cake wreck: a cake where instructions for the cake—"Happy birthday in purple, no nuts"—have been smartly written across the front. Intended as a metaphor for literal misinterpretation. — Cake wreck

The frog boil metaphor illustration: showing a frog put into cool water that is slowly raised not complaining until it's too late. Poor frog. Don't try this. — The frog boil metaphor

The bus factor summary - A poor soul squashed by a bus lamented because they were the only one who knew the password — Bus factor

What is Groupthink: People acquiescing to the manager's and what they see as others' views during a meeting — Groupthink

The cost of fixing bugs: Chart showing how the cost to fix bugs rises the longer you leave before fixing them — The cost of fixing bugs

Sneaky averages: A statistician sinking in the deep part of a pond by a sign saying the average depth is 3ft — Sneaky averages

Leading metrics and lagging metrics: illustrated by diet and exercise as a leading metric with weight loss as the lagging metric — Leading and lagging metrics

What is yak shaving and what does it mean example: someone looks on confused as another explains the convoluted story which led to them sitting there shaving a yak, just like solving problems in software development — Yak shaving

By Monkeys writing principle explained: on the left, representing passive communication, a group of monkeys climb all over a typical office work station causing havoc; seemingly without much productivity. On the right, representing active communication, a diligent worker sets to fixing a software bug. There's no sign of those pesky monkeys. — By monkeys

Umbrella and Funnel management style example explained: Todd Jackson's shit umbrella or shit funnel metaphor shown with on the left, the effective manager uses an umbrella to shield their team from a downpour of tasks and requests coming from all directions. This sheltered team are focussed and productive and celebrate their achievements. On the right, in place of the umbrella, the less effective manager uses a funnel as a catch-all, showering their team with actions, sending the team members running scared. — Umbrellas and funnels

Looking under the lamppost, the streetlight effect, or the drunkard's search: a person asks someone scrabbling on the floor under a lamppost at night if they've lost their keys. The person replies they lost them elsewhere, but the light's much better here. — Looking under the lamppost: the Streetlight Effect or the Drunkard's Search

What is the accountability ladder example explained: A child explains to a parent why homework wasn't done, illustrating each rung of increasing accountability on the accountability ladder from a victim mindset to a powerful accountable one — The accountability ladder

What is the Business Flywheel example explained: the model of The Business Funnel, where prospects are filtered to yield end customers is compared with The Business Flywheel, where customers are at the centre, acting as the driving force behind your business momentum. — The business flywheel

What is Rubberducking? Example explanation: a developer talks through their problem with the “therapist” rubber duck on their desk, only to discover the insight they need. Often useful for debugging. — What is Rubberducking? An Explanation of the Rubber Duck Debugging Technique

Bugs and releases illustration: an upward curve line graph shows the increase in risk for bugs or problems with software as the size of release increases. Instead of one large release, a series of smaller software updates each with smaller, more manageable risk is suggested. — Bugs and releases

Henrik Kniberg's release strategy for happier customers, sooner showing a car built piece-by-piece and a car built skateboard, to scooter, to bike, motorcycle then car. — A release strategy for happier customers, sooner

What is an information radiator in agile and software development sharing information passively in an office — Information radiator

Watch out for barnacles illustration: One barnacle on the left seems like nothing, but if you have enough of them coating the back of a ship and its propeller then the cost of prevention, drag and removal will cost you — Watch out for barnacles

Yesterday’s weather

What is Hofstadter's Law quote explanation: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you account for Hofstadter’s Law.” — Hofstadter’s Law

Learn the Kano model

28 sketches

07

Parents

Raising people — with patience and a few maps.

27 sketches

Unknown Unknowns or the Awareness-Understanding matrix, or the Rumsfeld Matrix illustrated with the example of having a baby — Unknown Unknowns

The 5 Gift Guide for Christmas: for a meaningful Christmas with less stuff. Showing the 5 categories "Something: I want, I need, to wear, to read, to do." — The 5 Gift Guide for Christmas

Three types of "no" illustrated animation with parenting examples. The Yes No (no to ice cream, yes to eating). The Material No (Yes I'd get it down if I had a ladder). The Priority No (Yes we can take the bear but we'll leave to have one of the others) — Three Types of "No"

What is attribution bias example explained: a parent consoling a child and correcting their attribution of winning and losing to the situation and actions not to personal traits — Attribution bias

A parent and child entering an immaculate living room with perfectly behaved children unwisely find themselves comparing with their own chaotic house. — Front of house, back of house

Joy and Vulnerability illustration: as a parent tucks their young child into bed at night, they simultaneously acknowledge their deep-felt love and anxiety for if anything should happen to the child; they simultaneously experience joy and vulnerability. — Joy and vulnerability

Fact Tennis illustration: two individuals with tennis racquets knock unproductive, point-scoring arguments back and forth over a pile of laundry. — Fact tennis

Examples of the 4 horsemen of relationship apocalypse from John Gottman: criticism, defensiveness, contempt, stonewalling — The 4 horsemen of relationship apocalypse

Lego faces are awesome: a comparison of the expressions on Lego faces from the Lego Movie 2 with one from the 1980s — LEGO faces

What is The Destiny Instinct example explained: the meaning of the destiny instinct shown by an individual, bent over on hands and knees, inspecting a line of ants through their magnifying glass. At some point later in time, they return to find an enormous anthill that towers overhead. — The Destiny Instinct

Square cube law illustration with volume increasing faster than length and an elephant, an ant carrying a giant leaf and a child on the monkey bars as examples — The Square-Cube law

Family tree explained chart showing the meaning of second cousins, once removed and twice removed, and how cousin relationships work across generations — Understanding Second Cousins Once Removed: A Simple Family Tree Guide

The meaning of the third teacher as the environment from Reggio Emilia together with teachers/parents and peers — The Environment as the Third Teacher in Early Childhood and Beyond

Emotional hot potato cartoon: spreading a bad mood through a family to the dog who pees on the floor — Emotional hot potato

How to speak plainly illustrated by Owl-speak and Pooh-speak from Winnie-the-Pooh — How to speak plainly, by Pooh Bear

Addiction definition: An increasing or compulsive tendency to avoid pain or boredom and replace inner development with outer stimulation. — Felicitas Vogt — Addiction: an alternative definition

Why beaches are amazing for play showing a parent and child at the beach and listing out many aspects of what make beaches amazing — Beaches: amazing for play

Film credits: the best source of baby name inspiration

The expanding circle of attention

Lessons from Lewis

Save some landfill with reusable nappies/diapers

Don’t push your socks on. Pull them on instead

Don’t hold grudges

Live in the present

Childhood is not a race

Build a play tent

Babies learn control from the top down

27 sketches

08

Data scientists

Evidence, models, and the stories numbers tell.

27 sketches

The McNamara Fallacy, also known as the quantitative fallacy, where we measure what is easy and ignore what is hard — The McNamara Fallacy

Chihuahua syndrome illustration: an analyst wonders at the number of dog breeds when most of them are misspellings of chihuahua — Chihuahua syndrome

An employee is flummoxed by a set of opinions without data about how to proceed on a project — Without data you're just another person with an opinion

Peeling away the intent and subtlety behind what seems a simple metric. Next to an onion. — The metrics onion

Sneaky averages: A statistician sinking in the deep part of a pond by a sign saying the average depth is 3ft — Sneaky averages

Correlation is not causation illustration: A chart of the correlation between storks nesting on roofs and children in a household is shown above a street of progressively larger family houses with more and more storks and someone wondering if the storks are bringing the babies — Correlation is not causation

Sankey Diagram illustration: a diagram shows an example of the flow of materials in a system. The example illustrated is the point of disposing of domestic waste. The jumbled, inbound mix of waste brought in on the left gets separated into outbound flows on the right including card recycling; plastic, glass & metal recycling; compost; landfill and directly re-useable items (such as milk bottles). The width of each outbound arrow represents size of flow. — Sankey diagram

Leading metrics and lagging metrics: illustrated by diet and exercise as a leading metric with weight loss as the lagging metric — Leading and lagging metrics

Content drift illustration: A cat-lover is seen on their mobile device, delighted at having linked to an online article containing pictures of cute cats. When they check the same link at a later date, they are confused / annoyed that it now navigates to an article with pictures of cute dogs! — Content drift

Sampling bias: a presenter proudly shows the conclusion of a bar chart of responses from people who were asked if they love responding to surveys. A resounding 'yes'. — Sampling bias

A funnel of dots of information emerge as a shining ball of wisdom at the bottom — the DIKW chain — Data Information Knowledge Wisdom

A fisherman illustrates the parable of the fishing net by concluding a minimum size of fish because they never see any smaller in their nets — you get what you measure — You get what you measure

The BS Asymmetry principle, also known as Brandolini's law explained with one person struggling to persuade their friend that the moon isn't made of cheese — The BS asymmetry principle

Analytics Maturity illustration: A young character is very happy, sat at their makeshift lemonade stand next to the sidewalk. When they close their stand, our young entrepreneur can assess their performance today using hindsight and insight to inform preparation through foresight for next weekend. — Analytics maturity

Net Promoter Score illustration: How to calculate NPS from the spectrum of responses to the question "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" — Net Promoter Score

The Data Prison illustration: shows 2 tables with identical data describing a schedule of work and fun for every day of the week. The "imprisoned" data in the table on the left is separated by lines in a grid. The "freed" data in the table on the right has no lines, and instead uses shading and spacing. — The data prison

Beyond developing and developed world views: a world of 4 income levels from Sketchplanations, Factfulness and Gapminder — A world of 4 income levels

What is the Streisand Effect explained and its meaning: the attention of two passers by is drawn by a glut of warning and security signs mounted on a high security perimeter wall. — The Streisand Effect explained

Goodhart's law illustration showing a manager frustrated by 1000's of tiny nails when measuring on number of nails made, and pulling their hair out when presented with giant nails when measuring on weight — Goodhart’s Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

The half-life of caffeine illustration: showing the effect of caffeine rising then decreasing over time — The half-life of caffeine

A cheetah vs a horse showing the legs leaving the ground in the tucked position from famous photos by Eadweard Muybridge — Do horses' legs leave the ground at a gallop?

Best travel choices in London

The lie factor in data charts and graphics — Watch for the lie factor

Wealth inequality in America

Maximise data-ink

Understanding reliability and validity

What gets measured gets better

27 sketches

09

Marketers

Attention, trust, and how ideas travel.

13 sketches

Front-load key words in lists and when writing for the web for clearer communication with a conference features example — Front-load Key Words

What is the newsletter paradox: your email newsletter subscriber list grows when you do nothing and people unsubscribe when you send — The Newsletter Paradox: Your newsletter grows when you do nothing

Business without marketing is like winking at someone in the dark illustration: with three panels including someone winking in the dark, someone leaving, and then concluding that they weren't interested (from the Steuart Henderson Britt quote) — Winking in the dark

Sell painkillers, not vitamins illustration: showing two stores, one for vitamins with just one customer and vague future benefits, next to a busy store selling painkillers with a queue of people seeking "relief now!" — Painkillers and vitamins

The Rule of 7 illustration: two people walk together along the street, bombarded by imagery of apples; on posters, on the front page of newspapers, by a large promotional 3-D apple perched atop a news-stand. By the end of the scene, their conversation about whether they are hungry has turned to one specifically about buying an apple to eat. — The rule of 7

Sampling bias: a presenter proudly shows the conclusion of a bar chart of responses from people who were asked if they love responding to surveys. A resounding 'yes'. — Sampling bias

The Goal-Gradient Effect: the closer we get to a goal the harder we try - coffee stamps example — The goal-gradient effect

Sexy value illustration: the Venn diagram overlap of better and cheaper — Sexy value

What is the Business Flywheel example explained: the model of The Business Funnel, where prospects are filtered to yield end customers is compared with The Business Flywheel, where customers are at the centre, acting as the driving force behind your business momentum. — The business flywheel

What is The Effect Effect explained: two colleagues are left in no doubt as to the veracity of research presented to them because it has been labelled as an "effect". Indeed, one heads straight off to tell their friends about it. — The Effect Effect

The Big Ideal ™

The decoy price

What is the SUCCESS framework for making ideas sticky from the book Made to Stick, highlighting six principles: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Stories — Make your idea sticky

13 sketches

10

Designers

Seeing, making, and the craft of the obvious.

121 sketches

What makes a swimming pool fast and how is a fast pool different from a slow pool? Physical and psychological factors in swimming pool design to help swimmers swim fast and compete at their best — Fast Pool, Slow Pool

Front-load key words in lists and when writing for the web for clearer communication with a conference features example — Front-load Key Words

What is diagonal billing in cinema, film credits, titles, and design? Example of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman from the Towering Inferno in a movie theatre. Also staggered billing. — Diagonal Billing (or Staggered Billing)

Apples and ideas quote (not) from George Bernard Shaw illustrated as a concept - giving an apple vs sharing an idea — Apples and Ideas

Spectrum of abstraction for finding and the essence of a symbol for communication and design. From realistic to abstract: symbols for love, death, excellence, awareness, and growth, as examples. Abstract-o-meter concept and heart example from Christoph Niemann — Spectrum of Abstraction

What is a rich picture diagram — a group of people sketching a rich picture about planning a group holiday, showing connected ideas, icons, and notes on a large whiteboard to visualise a complex situation. — Rich Pictures: Making Sense of Complex Problems

Pace Layers: Six layers of robust and adaptable civilisations

What is Murphy’s Law? Meaning and example shown by a giant box labeled “This Way Up” lying upside down showing "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." — Murphy's Law

Illustration of Adam Smith’s quote about trade: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker…” showing how self-interest leads to mutual benefit in trade and a tipsy baker. — The Butcher, the Brewer, the Baker — Adam Smith quote

F-Shaped Reading of content on the web from eye-tracking — F-Shaped Reading

What is the Blur Your Eyes Test for testing designs and communication for structure showing an example of little and clear structure — The Blur Your Eyes Test

Skeuomorph meaning and examples with icons of floppy disks, phones and others for save and call — Skeuomorph

Eponym examples, explanation and etymology explained in a sketch with Erno Rubik of the Rubik's Cube, the Jacuzzi brothers, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, László Biró, Etienne de Silhouette and Rudolf Diesel and his diesel engine — Eponym

Zigzag trenches in WWI: explaining why trenches were built in zigzags to protect against blasts from artillery and to slow enemies if a trench was attacked or captured — Zigzag trenches

Gestalt principles of visual perception showing proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, figure and ground, symmetry and order, and common fate. — Gestalt principles

The magic of open-air kitchens for Asian street food shown calling out each aspect that makes it such an ingenious set up — The street food open-air kitchen

Pillars of hope, steel starter bars or starter rods stick out of a house so that in the future it's easier to add an extra storey — Pillars of hope

Greeble or greeblie illustration: showing a panel of buttons on a wall and a ship in a spaceport rather like the Millenium Falcom full of small elements that give detail and scale — Greeble

Affordance illustration: one person effortlessly pushes open a door with a flat plate while a victim of poor design struggles to pull open a door with a bar handle and a discreet push sign — Affordance

Blending buildings illustratiion: example of two large distribution warehouses one coloured in greens to blend better into countryside, and one in shades of blue to blend better into the sky. — Blending buildings

Design by committee illustration: A person demonstrates a camel as the solution to all the requirements for Horse 2.0 — Design by committee

Dark patterns: using design to deceive, like hiding the 'I don't need insurance' option in the country list rather than as its own option — Dark patterns

The isolation effect: remembering better what stands out from a set of otherwise like items in a set. Also known as the Von Restorff effect — The isolation effect

Read-Do and Do-Confirm checklists illustration: examples of a Dinner party fail and an Expedition checklist — Two types of checklists: Read-Do, Do-Confirm

Siphon illustration: how a siphon works draining a reservoir by running a water uphill, unaided, until it empties into a lower reservoir. — Siphon

Cake wreck: a cake where instructions for the cake—"Happy birthday in purple, no nuts"—have been smartly written across the front. Intended as a metaphor for literal misinterpretation. — Cake wreck

Feedback fear illustration: A poor soul goes through all sorts of internal doubts about what they might have done wrong and how they might have failed when someone gives a friendly suggestion to ask what others think — Feedback fear

Examples of a ghost grid: a lightly dotted grid, and a grid of ghostly houses so that extension options can clearly be seen — Ghost grid

The bus factor summary - A poor soul squashed by a bus lamented because they were the only one who knew the password — Bus factor

Two houses showing different approaches to heating: heating people and heating spaces — Heating people, heating spaces

A spider constructing a common orb spider web — A common orb spider web

The first draft is always perfect: A person creating multiple drafts of a sketch before reaching the one that hangs on the wall — The first draft is always perfect

Happy Talk Must Die example: explained with an example web page with lots of useless happy talk and a person thinking blah blah as they look for the payments button — Happy talk must die

One-size-fits-men summary: Piano keyboard showing different handspan widths and that standard keyboards advantage larger handspans — One-size-fits-men

For want of a nail poem: from the shoe, to the rider, the battle and the kingdom it's all lost because that fellow dropped the nail — For want of a nail

Features are like pets illustration: a series of images shows different practical roles and responsibilities involved with owning a pet dog, compared with a solo image of how simple and rewarding one might imagine it to be - all presented as a simile for the time, effort and cost involved in developing new software features. — Features are like pets

By Monkeys writing principle explained: on the left, representing passive communication, a group of monkeys climb all over a typical office work station causing havoc; seemingly without much productivity. On the right, representing active communication, a diligent worker sets to fixing a software bug. There's no sign of those pesky monkeys. — By monkeys

The curb-cut effect: A range of people of all ages next to a crossing, road, and park show how the curb cut design for disabilities benefits everyone — The curb-cut effect

Replicate, then Innovate illustration: inspired by seeing a peer present their decorative star, a young creative sets to; making lots of stars in different styles and sizes, seemingly without any plan in mind. Some are hung up on the wall, some coloured in, some combined with other shapes, until a large, multi-coloured, multi-layered star decoration comes together and hangs majestically from 2 hooks. The young creative seems pleased with themself. — Replicate then innovate

Forcing functions in design - 2 examples: a hotel room with the lights controlled by key card and a lawnmower that needs both hands to turn it on — Forcing function — design

Lego faces are awesome: a comparison of the expressions on Lego faces from the Lego Movie 2 with one from the 1980s — LEGO faces

Chindogu example: A t-shirt with a labelled grid on the back could be a useful tool to guide someone to the exact coordinates you'd like your back scratched. — Chindogu

The Data Prison illustration: shows 2 tables with identical data describing a schedule of work and fun for every day of the week. The "imprisoned" data in the table on the left is separated by lines in a grid. The "freed" data in the table on the right has no lines, and instead uses shading and spacing. — The data prison

What is the thesis–antithesis–synthesis model, sometimes erroneously called Hegel’s dialectic? A sketch showing an example for a new idea (thesis), an opposing reaction (antithesis), and the tension resolving into a synthesis that becomes the start of a new idea. — Thesis, antithesis, synthesis

Proxemics illustration: inside a large cathedral we see opposite ends of the proxemics scale; a family whisper to each other as they walk around the cavernous main hall and someone else gives confession inside a tiny booth. — Proxemics

What is Human Risk example: an enormous line of Mongol soldiers easily march through an open gate in the Great Wall of China as the two bribed guards take a nap. — Human risk

What is 2 factor authentication (2FA) and its meaning: using something you know, something you are, and something you have — What is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)?

Conway's law showing how the organisation of a company, as small, distributed teams or large colocated teams can reflect the architecture of the software as modular or monolithic — Conway’s Law

The Kitchen Working Triangle illustration: a plan view of a kitchen is shown with the distances between commonly related appliances and storage highlighted. — The kitchen working triangle

The meaning of the third teacher as the environment from Reggio Emilia together with teachers/parents and peers — The Environment as the Third Teacher in Early Childhood and Beyond

What is the OODA Loop example explained: military strategist John Boyd's framework for action in conflict is shown as a closed loop cycle of Orient, Decide, Act, Observe and back to the beginning. The cycle also applies to business when you reconsider the points on the cycle as Frame, Strategize, Test, Gather. — OODA Loop

What is The golden circle from Simon Sinek example explained: illustrated with the start with why circles, and Martin Luther King and the "I have a dream," not the "I have a plan," speech — The golden circle

60-30-10 colour rule illustration: a man is shown wearing a plain suit, button up shirt and tie. 60% of colour on show is from the suit; 30% is from the shirt; 10% is from the tie. — 60-30-10 Colour rule

The customer value chain illustration: a concave up, decreasing line graph shows the different elements of competitive advantage at play as a new product or market evolves over time. — The customer value chain

What is MOSCOW Prioritisation with example: Must, Should, Could, Would — MOSCOW Prioritisation

What is the golden ratio explained and the golden spiral and the golden ratio in faces, art, nature, architecture and how to calculate it — The Golden Ratio: Nature's Perfect Proportions

What is a technology S Curve with an example explained in a sketch — The S-curve

A cheetah vs a horse showing the legs leaving the ground in the tucked position from famous photos by Eadweard Muybridge — Do horses' legs leave the ground at a gallop?

What is a 2.5D object showing a 2D, 2.5D and true 3D object — 2.5D

What is an information radiator in agile and software development sharing information passively in an office — Information radiator

Let your data speak for itself.

Rewrite to avoid click here

Pace Layers drawing showing the layers of Nature, Culture, Governance, Infrastructure, Commerce and Fashion/Art changing at different speeds — Pace layers original sketch

Fitts’ Law

What is a Thoughtless Act example of a teabag wrapped around a handle of a mug — Thoughtless acts

Compose with the rule of thirds

Cognitive overhead

Desire path: the difference between design and use illustrated by a person crossing a corner of grass — Desire path

Progressive enhancement

Use of the car horn chart showing the uses in decreasing order of "Idiot!", "It's green!", "I'm outside!", and, lastly, the intended "Watch out!" — Use of the car horn

Mobile is snorkelling. Desktop is diving

The one-hoss shay

Cradle to Cradle or circular economy sketch. Production has to be a loop. Known often as the circular economy. Sketch of a loop/production loop — Think cradle to cradle

Mapping illustration: Don Norman's famous example of the controls for a stovetop — Mapping

The lie factor in data charts and graphics — Watch for the lie factor

Edward De Bono's Six thinking hats framework with the 6 thinking hats: White, Red, Black, Yellow, Green and Blue — Six thinking hats

What is the Betty Crocker effect explained with an illustration about adding an egg — The Betty Crocker Effect

Sneaky casinos

Cut out some fluff

Design for a Glance, a Look and a Read

Chindogu: unuseless inventions

The content is the interface

9 Windows

Powers of 10

Common button states

Anti-aliasing

Lateral thinking changes perspective just to be provocative — Lateral thinking: 4. Lateral thinking changes perspective just to be provocative

Lateral thinking: You don't have to be right at every step — Lateral thinking: 3. You don’t have to be right at every step

Lateral thinking: 2. Labels are not collectors but signposts. They are not fixed

Lateral thinking: 1. Lateral thinking is about increasing the breadth of options

Express - Test - Cycle

Enrich your design process

Patnaik’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

3 visuals explaining: Ask open-ended questions, Listen way more than you talk, and Stay focused to the very end — Perform good social research

Plug computing

How many ideas will you get in idea generation quote: "The number of ideas produced in an ideation session is proportional to the size of the stack of paper in front of you." — The number of ideas produced in an ideation session is proportional to the size of the stack of paper in front of you

Designing for adoption

Air-write before inking

Beware of local optimisation

Urge to underline? Use bold or italic instead

5 user tests finds 85% problems

The second rule of improv: be spontaneous — Second rule of improv: Be spontaneous

The first rule of improv: Accept offers — Accept offers

Omit unnecessary words

Use styling instead of colons

Be a type geek

A flat surface has unused potential

Don’t let your thinking be limited by your tools

Building a good framework is like cutting cubes out of fog — Larry Keeley

Learn the Kano model

Solve the 9-dot problem

Do a 2x2

Some sensible interaction design principles — Some sensible interaction design

Use white space with care to make your point

The best writing is re-writing

Don’t stack letters vertically. Turn your words instead

Hit the product sweet spot

Twice as much thought and half as much content

Resolve a contradiction through separation

Get good ideas

121 sketches

11

Wellbeing

Energy, health, and staying human.

50 sketches

Thumbtrap: when your thumb keeps scrolling when you've decided to stop. Subway example with infinite scroll, variable rewards, and personalised algorithms — Thumbtrap

Night owls and early birds couple trying to sleep and get on with things at the same time — Night owls and early birds

The Rose Bush Rule with the life is like a rose bush metaphor: pruning roses to allow the others to bloom — The Rose Bush Rule

The positive and negative reinforcing cycles of try new things and anxiety - with a boat sailing from the harbour — Trying New Things

Little openings: small moments that invite connection - sharing an umbrella, holding a door, carrying a suitcase, sneezing, borrowing eggs, directing someone lost, or picking up dropped papers — Little Openings

What is uitwaaien: Dutch word meaning walking in the wind to clear your head, with worries blown away on a windy beach — Uitwaaien: The Dutch Word for Walking in the Wind

Coffee: the glorious solution to the coffee sleep cycle with poor sleep caused by coffee, leading to tiredness, solved by coffee — Coffee: The Glorious Solution to The Coffee–Sleep Cycle

What is contentment? Happiness, wellbeing and contentment is what you have relative to what you want, from Morgan Housel’s The Art of Spending Money. — Contentment: What you Have Relative to What you Want

John Muir quote illustration: I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in — John Muir quote — Going Out Was Really Going In — John Muir Quote

Calm like a duck quote showing a duck who's calm on the surface, but under the water, I'm paddling like hell. Also, a Michael Caine quote — Calm Like a Duck

How to Instantly Feel Better — a visual guide pairing common feelings like anger, anxiety, or burnout with simple actions like singing, walking, or breathing to feel better, boost happiness, and improve wellbeing. — How to Instantly Feel Better

Everyone's a geek about something with people geeking out on many different activities — Everyone's a Geek About Something — Revised and Expanded

An illustration for Kahlil Gibran’s On Marriage from The Prophet: an oak and a cypress tree with two figures holding hands, grow not in each other’s shadow. — Grow not in each other's shadow

One-Buttock Playing: Benjamin Zander's term for how the music moves us — One-buttock playing

Snerdle meaning in English: To wrap up snugly beneath the covers and ignore the world. 18th Century dialect. By Sketchplanations — Snerdle

What is Rückenfigur example: a person looking out at a mountain scene — Rückenfigur

The 5 Gift Guide for Christmas: for a meaningful Christmas with less stuff. Showing the 5 categories "Something: I want, I need, to wear, to read, to do." — The 5 Gift Guide for Christmas

Brenda Ueland quote: What is the purpose of existence but to discover truth and beauty and share it with others? showing a person finding a flower, painting it, and then enjoying seeing others experience the same emotions they did — Discovering Truth and Beauty and Sharing it with others

What is the paradise paradox explained with a person on a city balcony dreaming of a beach where a person is dreaming of the city — The paradise paradox

Vorfreude explanation and example: what is vorfreude? the pleasure in anticipation shown by someone looking enjoying looking forward to their upcoming holiday — Vorfreude

Hara Hachi Bu meaning summary showing a person, perhaps in Okinawa Japan, declining food at 80% full — Hara Hachi Bu

Box breathing illustration: a person demonstrates breathing in, holding breath, breathing out, holding breath, counting 4 each side around the sides of a box. Also called square breathing: breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold — Box breathing

Anchors and tugboats illustration: a swimmer thinking negative thoughts is pulled back by an anchor and thinking positive thoughts is pulled forward by a tug. Confused fish look on. — Anchors and tugboats

Collective effervescence illustration: two people hold their phones up as lights with 1000s of others in a stadium concert at night — Collective effervescence

Two people are loving soaking up the low winter rays of sun in a park — Apricity

A parent and child entering an immaculate living room with perfectly behaved children unwisely find themselves comparing with their own chaotic house. — Front of house, back of house

Sharpen the Saw principle by Stephen Covey from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People about not having time to stop and sharpen the saw because you are too busy cutting, and the importance of rest, renewal and self-improvement — Sharpen the saw

When Drinking Tea, Just Drink Tea - Zen proverb illustration: a blue tenshi teapot, often used in Japan, sits beside two cups of steaming hot tea, next to an open window looking out onto a calm natural scene of trees, hills and a river.. — When drinking tea, just drink tea

Languishing illustration: an unmotivated, apathetic figure sits slumped in an armchair with a TV remote in hand, clearly fed up and demoralised - for the time being at least. — Languishing

Labyrinth maze: A person lost in a maze with many choices and a person thoughtfully walking through a labyrinth following the path inexorably and peacefully towards the centre — Labyrinths and mazes

What is wabi sabi Japanese wisdom meaning and definition with an old bonsai tree in a bowl and some fallen leaves in wabi-sabi style — Wabi sabi

What is a microadventure: short, simple, local, and cheap adventures / like camping on a school night — Microadventure

What is Flow: the psychology of optimal experience illustrated with climbing, clear goals, feedback and matched challenge — Flow

Notice when you're happy: advice from Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex to stop and say "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is." — Notice when you're happy: If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is - Kurt Vonnegut

Find Your Why Not model by Priya Singh - A Venn diagram of Work that feeds me, Work that feeds the world, and Work that feeds my soul. One project doesn't have to meet all these requirements. — Find your why not

Why do leaves change colour in fall and Autumn and what compounds make the colours? — Autumn leaves and the compounds that cause their colours

What are the 5 Ways to Wellbeing poster: in a busy park scene the 5 ways to wellbeing are depicted as families and friends come together to socialise and interact with their surroundings to Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give. — 5 Ways to Wellbeing

Continuous partial attention illustration: A family spill the dinner and miss what's said while a baby paints the floor and another child has to go to yoga for some focus to remain in the present — Continuous partial attention

Does this spark joy illustration: As they sort through their t-shirt collection to determine what stays and what needs to go, an individual holds up a shirt and is reminded how much they love it. — Does this spark joy?

What is The Overview Effect example explained: the classic moonrise photo from the Apollo 11 moon missions with 2 astronauts have a bit of a moment and need to sit down when taking in the majestic view of Earth from the moon and realise this is all we've got. — The Overview Effect A Profound Shift in Perspective

The three-day effect: spending three days in nature improves creativity, clarity and wellbeing — The 3-day effect

What is Tsundoku meaning and example: the act of collecting books without reading them shown by a person snoozing happily on their bed surrounded by books, books and books — Tsundoku

Forest bathing illustration — shinrin-yoku — Forest bathing

9-enders (nine-enders) explanation: people approaching their 30s, 40s and 50s, examining their lives for meaning and setting off skydiving, running marathons and climbing Everest — 9-Enders (nine-enders)

Compliments are gifts - not sharing one is like keeping a gift in your pocket: with one person complimenting another and it feeling like receiving a gift — Compliments are gifts

I bet this'll get a lot of likes — I bet this’ll get a lot of likes

If money doesn't make you happy then you probably aren't spending it right. Tips to spend better from Dunn, Gilbert, Wilson, 2011 — Spend better

Everyone’s a geek about something sketch featuring people enjoying activities like birdwatching, gaming, football, ballet, reading, and hiking. — Everyone’s a geek about something

Live in the present

Don’t let other people get you down

50 sketches

12

Psychology

The mind’s shortcuts, biases, and habits.

121 sketches

Buridan's Ass philosophy puzzle: how does an ass choose between two equally tempting choices of piles of hay. How can we choose without a preference? Does it starve? — Buridan's Ass

What makes a swimming pool fast and how is a fast pool different from a slow pool? Physical and psychological factors in swimming pool design to help swimmers swim fast and compete at their best — Fast Pool, Slow Pool

The positive and negative reinforcing cycles of try new things and anxiety - with a boat sailing from the harbour — Trying New Things

Pyrrhic saving concept showing shoppers leaving a megastore with an overloaded trolley under deal signs, captioned “If we save any more money, we’ll be ruined” – spending more to save money example — Pyrrhic Saving: "Saving" money by spending more

What are the contradictory traits of creative people? Illustration of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s 10 paradoxical personality traits, showing each pair of opposites such as energetic and restful, smart and naive, and passionate and objective. — 10 Contradictory Traits of Creative People

Apples and ideas quote (not) from George Bernard Shaw illustrated as a concept - giving an apple vs sharing an idea — Apples and Ideas

The Repeated Word Illusion using "I love Paris in the the Springtime" with a repeated "the" set in a pyramid layout — The Repeated Word Illusion

What is Murphy’s Law? Meaning and example shown by a giant box labeled “This Way Up” lying upside down showing "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." — Murphy's Law

What is Grandma’s Rule? Illustration of the Premack Principle showing a child told ‘Vegetables first, then dessert’ and the First, Then Rule — Grandma's Rule: First___, Then___

The Trolley Problem original variant with the runaway trolley and moral dilemma of switching the tracks — The Trolley Problem

What is the meaning of cognitive offloading? Shown by delegating our critical thinking to tools like calculators or AI chatbots — Cognitive Offloading: Delegating Our Thinking

Don't think of an elephant framing example where even negating a frame activates it — Don't Think of an Elephant

Examples of variable rewards and their irresistible addictive power to get us hooked like the reward chest, email, and gambling — Variable Rewards

What is the Fight or Flight response example with someone deciding to fight, flight or freeze from a snake — Fight or Flight

Gestalt principles of visual perception showing proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, figure and ground, symmetry and order, and common fate. — Gestalt principles

What is a Public commitment pledge explanation - a soft commitment device shown by someone battling a desire to eat cookies with a public commitment — Public commitment pledge

The Fundamental Attribution Error illustration: a driver assuming someone is rude when they swerved in front of them rather than considering that they may have been running late and it been an accident - attributing character over context — The Fundamental Attribution Error

Normalisation of deviance: A person looks dubiously on at a building site which seems to be ignoring all the safety signs. (Normalization of deviance) — The Normalisation of Deviance

The Barnum effect (also the Forer effect) illustrated by 3 people, each getting the same seemingly personalised personality test result and figuring it described them perfectly. — The Barnum effect

What is Self-serving bias example explained: two tennis players think on their contrasting fortunes, the winner proud of their athleticism (character), and the loser blaming the umpire (the situation). — Self-serving bias

The Droste effect illustration: where the picture contains the picture which contains the picture which contains the picture... — The Droste effect

Dark patterns: using design to deceive, like hiding the 'I don't need insurance' option in the country list rather than as its own option — Dark patterns

The isolation effect: remembering better what stands out from a set of otherwise like items in a set. Also known as the Von Restorff effect — The isolation effect

What is attribution bias example explained: a parent consoling a child and correcting their attribution of winning and losing to the situation and actions not to personal traits — Attribution bias

What is Optimism bias example explained: A stunt rider overestimates their chance of leaping a canyon thanks to optimism bias. Various onlookers gasp. "Huh" says the rider — Optimism bias

What is Groupthink: People acquiescing to the manager's and what they see as others' views during a meeting — Groupthink

Two people enjoying a dialogue, one falling asleep to a monologue, and one being distracted from their book by a halfalogue — Halfalogue

The side of a pyramid of needs: physiological, safety, love-belonging, esteem, self-actualization — Maslow's hierarchy of needs

A sketch of extrinsic motivation with a donkey being followed by a man with a stick and in turn following a carrot that's strapped always just out of reach — Extrinsic motivation

Someone asks to cut in line at the photocopier with a lame reason - but the favour and reason combo mean the person mindlessly complies — Because

Physics envy: a football coach looks on exasperated as none of his young team play according to the plan — Physics Envy

The Rhyme As Reason Effect illustration: whilst on a stroll, one friend shrewdly convinces the other about how aphorisms that rhyme tend to be more believable, by including a rhyme in their statement. — The Rhyme As Reason Effect

Brilliance bias: A group of people in a gallery of portraits of famous people lament that the brilliant women were forgotten again — Brilliance bias

Context is King illustration: the capital letters A, B and C are handwritten in sequence on the top row. On the bottom row, it's the numbers 12, 13 and 14 - again handwritten. When you look closely, you notice that the letter B and the number 13 take exactly the same form. It is only the characters that come before and after in each sequence that define them. — Context is king

T-Shirts make a Team illustration: The group of people on the left have different coloured t-shirts and seem a bit lost. The group on the right are all wearing green t-shirts and they're celebrating success. What a team! — T-shirts make a team

Languishing illustration: an unmotivated, apathetic figure sits slumped in an armchair with a TV remote in hand, clearly fed up and demoralised - for the time being at least. — Languishing

Confirmation bias: people dressed in blue buy the blue newspapers at a newsstand while some reds are buying the red papers. — Confirmation bias

The dilution effect illustration: showing how adding a side effect of 'itchy feet' to sleeping pills reduces perceived risk of the other side-effects of heart attack and stroke! — The dilution effect

Fact Tennis illustration: two individuals with tennis racquets knock unproductive, point-scoring arguments back and forth over a pile of laundry. — Fact tennis

The bandwagon effect: someone struggles to decide at a path forking between a long empty road of 'what they think' and one full of people and fun of 'what everyone thinks' — The bandwagon effect

The bystander effect: a lady sits dazed on the floor in a busy train station while others ignore her or walk on by — someone really ought to check she's ok — The Bystander Effect

The paradox of choice: a poor soul confronted by a giant pizza selection raises their expectations, wonders about everything they're missing, anticipates getting it wrong and then blames themselves for picking the wrong one — The paradox of choice

Forcing function: a person is forced into getting into shape after signing up to a marathon — Forcing function

What is Flow: the psychology of optimal experience illustrated with climbing, clear goals, feedback and matched challenge — Flow

The Goal-Gradient Effect: the closer we get to a goal the harder we try - coffee stamps example — The goal-gradient effect

Survivorship Bias illustration: two analysts observe bullet damage, depicted by red dots, on a fighter plane returning from battle. They propose that heavier armour is added to all aircraft in the most hit areas of the plane. A third onlooker wonders whether this surviving plane tells a different story in that it returned because the most vulnerable areas weren't hit. Maybe heavier armour should be added to those areas? — Survivorship bias

What is Hope, elements of hope, cognitive model of hope from psychology from Professor CR Snyder requiring Goals, Pathways and Willpower or agency — Hope: A Cognitive Model for Hope

Commitment device illustration: Odysseus asking his men to tie him to the mast so that he can resist the siren's song who are kind flying women — Commitment device

The Boaty McBoatface effect: Someone holding up a poll for the naming of a boat which was vote-bombed to be Boaty McBoatface for a laugh — The Boaty McBoatface effect

Apophenia example: two hikers look up into the sky with surprise to see a cloud in the form of Godzilla! — Apophenia

What is The Overview Effect example explained: the classic moonrise photo from the Apollo 11 moon missions with 2 astronauts have a bit of a moment and need to sit down when taking in the majestic view of Earth from the moon and realise this is all we've got. — The Overview Effect A Profound Shift in Perspective

What is Human Risk example: an enormous line of Mongol soldiers easily march through an open gate in the Great Wall of China as the two bribed guards take a nap. — Human risk

Fading affect bias illustration: showing that the emotional intensity of negative memories, like dropping your ice cream, fades faster than for positive memories — Fading affect bias

The three-day effect: spending three days in nature improves creativity, clarity and wellbeing — The 3-day effect

Proportionality Bias illustration: a dice has landed on a six and the person who rolled it gave it a really good shake beforehand. — Proportionality bias

The Abilene paradox: a family sets out on a trip to Abilene on a hot dusty day only to discover on the way back that none of them actually wanted to go — The Abilene paradox

Imposter Syndrome illustration: even as an appreciative audience applaud, an award recipient at the rostrum on stage questions whether they actually deserve this recognition. — Imposter syndrome

What makes people trust you? How to be trustworthy? The Trust Equation: Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy over Self-orientation from Charles Green at Trusted Advisors — The trust equation

What is The Destiny Instinct example explained: the meaning of the destiny instinct shown by an individual, bent over on hands and knees, inspecting a line of ants through their magnifying glass. At some point later in time, they return to find an enormous anthill that towers overhead. — The Destiny Instinct

The power of streaks illustration: a task schedule is shown as a daily grid where all but the final 2 squares have been completed. — The power of streaks

The Availability Heuristic illustration: Plane crashes, cold snaps, and winning lottery tickets are shown as examples of uncommon but widely reported events that might affect the significance we associate with them. — The availability heuristic (and bias)

What is the Diderot Effect example explained: showing two people discussing their new sofa and deciding they have to change the room, or even move — The Diderot Effect

What is Dunbar's number example explained: a person can't remember the name of the one person outside their circles of closer friends, super family, clan and tribe behind them — Dunbar’s number: 150

The Implicit Association Test illustration: using gender roles as an example, we are asked to sort Career words into a Men's column and Home/Family words into a Women's column. We are then asked to do the opposite. One's bias is calculated as the difference in time it takes to complete both tasks. — The Implicit Association Test

Autonomy Mastery Purpose summary of Dan Pink's book Drive — What drives us: autonomy, mastery, purpose

The Spotlight Effect illustration: two individuals greet one another, each illuminated by an intense spotlight as if on stage - and each secretly worry about how the other perceives their appearance. — The spotlight effect

What is The Effect Effect explained: two colleagues are left in no doubt as to the veracity of research presented to them because it has been labelled as an "effect". Indeed, one heads straight off to tell their friends about it. — The Effect Effect

The Misattribution of Arousal illustration: a couple in the early stages of romance reflect on how excited they were to ride on a roller coaster together. Was the excitement due to each others' company or the roller coaster itself? Or maybe a bit of both? — The misattribution of arousal

What is crossmodal perception example showing that coffee tastes better when the machine is quiet and why plane food is less tasty — Crossmodal perception

The Lucretius Problem illustration: examples of the biggest occurrences in history, like a market crash, a volcano eruption, a long drought and a traffic delay tend to be perceived as the biggest there could ever be. — The Lucretius problem

Gaslighting illustration: an individual making a speech at their lectern tells lie after lie after lie. As the lies keep coming an audience member starts to question their own, previously firm, understanding. — Gaslighting

9-enders (nine-enders) explanation: people approaching their 30s, 40s and 50s, examining their lives for meaning and setting off skydiving, running marathons and climbing Everest — 9-Enders (nine-enders)

Buyer's remorse illustration: a customer hands over cash to a car dealer seemingly very excited about their new purchase. At the wheel of their new car as they drive away, they begin to question their decision. — Buyer’s remorse

What is The Singularity Effect explained: a line graph shows how the value of and compassion for saving a life quickly diminishes as the number of lives at risk increases. — The singularity effect

Emotional hot potato cartoon: spreading a bad mood through a family to the dog who pees on the floor — Emotional hot potato

Psychic Numbing Illustration: A radio plays out the news headlines. The story about a young girl is met with empathy. Another story about thousands of people dying is met with apathy. — Psychic numbing

Mean world syndrome illustration: showing how those who watch more believe the world is a meaner place — Mean world syndrome

Johari Window model illustrating self-awareness through feedback and disclosure in four quadrants: Open Self, Blind Spot, Hidden Self, and Unknown Self. — Johari Window — A Model for Self-Awareness, Feedback, and Personal Growth

Nominative determinism examples — or an aptronym — with 3 books and their nominatively deterministic authors — Nominative determinism

What is the Peak-end rule example: chart showing two experience lines, one with more downs that ends on a high that's remembered as better than the one that's more steady throughout — The peak-end rule

Goldilocks Tasks: a spectrum where the challenge is not too easy, not too hard, but just right for flow and mastery — Goldilocks tasks

The Kübler-Ross Stages of Grief Model in a chart with stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance — Stages of grief

What is The Prisoner's Dilemma shown in an example - When following self-interest can be a worse outcome for all — The prisoner’s dilemma

What is the Nocebo Effect with example: expectation of negative consequences of a treatment increases the chances people will feel them — The nocebo effect

What is the Placebo Effect example where receiving treatment helps people feel better even if the treatment does nothing. — The placebo effect

Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions: a colourful wheel showing how emotions mix — Mapping emotions

What is the Fresh Start Effect example explained: a brave person thinks challenge accepted on Monday 1st January thanks to the Fresh start effect from Katy Milkman — The fresh start effect

What is the IKEA effect example explained - sketch shows a person that put an IKEA table together by themselves, and although it's not a perfect build they still love it, because they put it together — The IKEA effect

The frequency illusion explained in a sketch with an expecting couple suddenly seeing babies everywhere — The frequency illusion: we notice what’s top of mind

Cognitive bias, heuristic, logical fallacy: hidden features of the mind

Give gifts others can give

Benefits to you from getting started chart — put it off and stress about it = no benefit, start now with something = some benefit — Benefits to you from getting started

An energised person at 9 am closely contemplates a file while at noon they're down to 'whatever' — Don’t make important decisions on an empty stomach

Prospect theory

Prices written smaller seem more affordable example — Prices written smaller seem more affordable

The decoy price

Conscious competence learning model matrix framework, plotting competence (incompetent to competent) against consciousness (unconscious to conscious), showing the four learning stages: conscious incompetence, conscious competence, unconscious incompetence, and unconscious competence. — Stages of competence framework

The Lake Wobegon Effect

Cognitive overhead

Figure and ground illustration: faces or a candlestick/vase — Figure and ground

Mental accounting

The Firehouse Effect

Core components of risk

Survivorship Bias illustration: two onlookers enjoy the long-lasting, successful design of the fun, iconic Volkswagen Beetle car. One says to the other "They don't make them like they used to" - ignoring the fact that the product they see is undoubtedly the result of many failed prototype designs. — Survivorship bias

The Stroop test

What is the Betty Crocker effect explained with an illustration about adding an egg — The Betty Crocker Effect

Sneaky casinos

Sneaky cognitive biases: hindsight bias, loss aversion, recency bias

The Anchoring bias — Anchoring

Narrative bias

Framing

Hyperbolic discounting

Present bias

What is The Generalised Peter Principle explained: the example of an overloaded car shows that anything that works will be used in progressively more challenging situations until it fails — The Generalised Peter Principle

The moon illusion - psychology and causes still debated — The moon illusion

The expanding circle of attention

Sketches of the laws of expansion: a gantt chart shows Parkinson's Law — Work expands to fill the available time; two houses show Stuff expands to fill the available space; and a budget suitcase shows Cost expands to fill the available budget — Laws of expansion

Fast and slow thinking

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

The 4 pillars of too much: too much stuff, too many choices, too much info and too fast — The four pillars of too much

If money doesn't make you happy then you probably aren't spending it right. Tips to spend better from Dunn, Gilbert, Wilson, 2011 — Spend better

121 sketches

13

Science

How the world works, drawn simply.

63 sketches

Petrichor: the smell of rain on dry ground from petra - stone, and ichor - the blood of the gods, with a person enjoying the smell in Richmond Park as the rain comes down. — Petrichor: the smell of rain on dry ground

What makes a swimming pool fast and how is a fast pool different from a slow pool? Physical and psychological factors in swimming pool design to help swimmers swim fast and compete at their best — Fast Pool, Slow Pool

Einstein's Mirror - a famous thought experiment about what would you see if you travelled at the speed of light alongside a light wave and what would you see in a mirror — Einstein's Mirror

What is a thermocline? The meaning of water temperature changing with depth with view of ocean layer and density of molecules and sea ice — Thermocline

Moravec's Paradox meaning for AI with examples — Moravec's Paradox

Volcanic Explosivity Index VEI 0 to 8 with examples Kilauea, Etna, Mt St Helens, Pinatubo, Tambora and Yellowstone, each level about 10 times more material — The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): Comparing Eruptions

Laplace's Demon thought experiment quote by Pierre-Simon Laplace about determinism and predictability — Laplace's Demon

Common dune types showing how different wind patterns and sand availability shape transverse dunes, linear dunes, barchan dunes and star dunes. — Dune Types: Transverse, Linear, Barchan, Star Dunes

Mirage explained: what causes a mirage and why it looks like water, showing hot air bending light from the sky so it appears as a reflection on the ground. — Mirage: why do we see a pool of water?

What is systolic and diastolic blood pressure — diagram showing heart contraction (systolic) and relaxation (diastolic) with 120/80 example and pressure graph. — Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure

The difference between Science and Engineering: quote by Theodore von Kármán "Scientists discover the world that exists; Engineers create the world that never was." — Science and Engineering: What’s the Difference?

The Figure Skater's Spin and Conservation of Angular Momentum Illustrated with equations — The Figure Skater's Spin and the Conservation of Angular Momentum

Temperature palindromes: Handy reference points for converting fahrenheit to celsius - 82-28 and 61-16 — Temperature Palindromes: Converting Between Fahrenheit and Celsius

What are topography and bathmetry, and their meaning, shown as land elevation and ocean depth — Topography and Bathymetry

Looking back in time as we look to the stars: A visual explanation of how light from the Moon, Sun, stars, and galaxies shows us the past because light takes time to travel. — Looking Back in Time: The Speed of Light and the Night Sky

Buoyancy and how ships float explained showing 1m3 of water displaced supporting a tonne of weight and the same principle floating a 50,000 tonne ship — Buoyancy

Iceberg floating orientation explained: Icebergs are usually drawn floating vertically, while a stable iceberg orientation is usually on its side — Iceberg orientation

What is parallax explanation - how parallax works showing different layers moving at different speeds — Parallax

Orbit illustration: how a satellite stays in orbit - the balance between its velocity and gravity pulling it towards Earth — Orbit

What is redshift diagram: Astronomer watching the light of one star moving away being redshifted and one star moving towards being blueshifted — Redshift

Physics envy: a football coach looks on exasperated as none of his young team play according to the plan — Physics Envy

Brilliance bias: A group of people in a gallery of portraits of famous people lament that the brilliant women were forgotten again — Brilliance bias

Sampling bias: a presenter proudly shows the conclusion of a bar chart of responses from people who were asked if they love responding to surveys. A resounding 'yes'. — Sampling bias

What is the meaning and difference between biceps, triceps, and quadriceps - all about ceps meaning heads — Biceps, Triceps, Quadriceps: Meaning and Difference

A fisherman illustrates the parable of the fishing net by concluding a minimum size of fish because they never see any smaller in their nets — you get what you measure — You get what you measure

Diagram of the states of matter showing a solid, liquid, and gas, showing all the transitions between each state — States of matter

The BS Asymmetry principle, also known as Brandolini's law explained with one person struggling to persuade their friend that the moon isn't made of cheese — The BS asymmetry principle

The Keeling Curve illustration: A line graph shows a tight zig-zag red line rising from around 310 parts per million (ppm) monthly average CO2 concentration in the air at the top of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii in 1960, up to 410 ppm in 2020. The smaller graph at the top shows the reason for the zig-zag nature of the line; the seasonal variation of CO2 concentration in the air due to more plants blooming and photosynthesising in Spring and Summer. — The Keeling curve

What is the scale of solar system distances explained: show how big is the solar system, what is an astronomical unit and the distances between planets — Solar system planets: how big is the solar system?

What is a blue Moon illustration: on a year-long timeline, the occurrence of full moons is plotted for each month. A blue moon is when a full moon occurs twice in the same month - once at the beginning and again at the end of the month. — What is a blue moon?

The beard cycle illustration: a virtuous circle is shown where beards being rare in society (on the left) makes them more desirable which leads to beards becoming more common in society (on the right), making them less desirable, which leads to fewer beards again. And so on... — The beard cycle

What is an underwater moon pool explained example: showing how a moon pool works with a neat underwater base with divers entering the water underwater, like it was a pool — Moon pool

Earth is a big magnet

What is the potato radius example explained: showing a bumpy potato-like asteroid at the centre of an expanding circle and how it becomes rounder and more planet like as it gets larger — The Potato Radius: When Asteroids Turn Spherical

How to remember if it's a Stalactite or Stalagmite (or stalagtite or stalacmite): Stalactites Cling tight to the Ceiling of a cave. Stalagmites Grow on the Ground — Stalactites, Stalagmites

Bortle Scale

Animals that regenerate - flatworm head, axolotl legs, lizard tail, sea star, moose, deer... — Animals that regenerate

Phases of the Moon showing the lunar cycle around Earth: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter (half), waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, and waning crescent — Phases of the moon

Moore’s Law

How to tell a centipede from a millipede

Asteroids, meteors and meteorites

Sleepy foods

An explanation of the plimsoll line, the international load line, for how high a ship sits in the water — The Plimsoll line

Thunder clouds

Darwin's 5 principles of natural selection: Reproduction, Excess, Variation, Selection, Divergence, illustrated in a tree of variation of children — Darwin’s 5 principles of Natural Selection

Curly hair is oval illustration showing the cross-section of a hair follicle from oval to round and labelling it with curly, wavy, and straight — Curly hair is oval

Types of clouds chart showing cloud names, shapes and heights, including cirrus, altostratus, cumulus and stratus, for learning how to identify clouds with pictures. — Know your clouds: How to identify common cloud types

The magic of soap

Make a wine glass sing

Our atmosphere is as thick for the Earth as the skin on an apple

Dark and light are the keys to one-way mirrors

The position of a rainbow is predictable

Glacial erratic

Pollution is highly localized—take the back streets. Showing a family in city traffic and family cycling in the back streets — Pollution is highly localized: take the back streets

Give air a pathway to avoid glugging

Why ice doesn’t sink

Supermoon illustration: showing the moon large at its perigee, when it is closet to Earth, and smaller at it's apogee, when it's furthest from Earth — Supermoon

More is different

Anatomy of a wave illustration showing the key features of crest, amplitude, trough, wavelength and when it starts to break on a beach — Anatomy of a wave

On microwaves

Incredibly, we only ever see one side of the moon

the Angle of Incidence equals the Angle of Reflection

Sonar or echolocation explained — Sonar + Echolocation

63 sketches

14

Productivity

Time, focus, and getting the right things done.

42 sketches

The Rose Bush Rule with the life is like a rose bush metaphor: pruning roses to allow the others to bloom — The Rose Bush Rule

Explanation of SMART goals meaning, showing that SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound, and how setting SMART goals leads to clearer progress — SMART Goals

What is Grandma’s Rule? Illustration of the Premack Principle showing a child told ‘Vegetables first, then dessert’ and the First, Then Rule — Grandma's Rule: First___, Then___

The One in a Row principle: the way it all starts - with a person pushing over the first bowling pin — wisdom from Matthew McConaughey — One in a Row

What is the Eat The Frog time management and productivity technique and its meaning with a person about to eat a frog and a to-do list — Eat the frog

What is Fauxtomation explained with claims of automation actually done by people, often across the world — Fauxtomation

The automation paradox explanation, or paradox of automation, summary with a hiker choosing their phone in place of a physical map and then getting lost in a landscape when there's no signal — The Automation Paradox

What is a Public commitment pledge explanation - a soft commitment device shown by someone battling a desire to eat cookies with a public commitment — Public commitment pledge

Rose Thorn Bud reflection technique summary showing a rose with thorn and bud highlighting successes, challenges and potential — Rose, Thorn, Bud

Rivers and buckets metaphor illustration: one person sits calmly by a river watching interesting things go by, another gently stresses holding a bucket with an overflowing list surrounded by more buckets on the floor, each with long lists — Rivers and buckets

Feedback fear illustration: A poor soul goes through all sorts of internal doubts about what they might have done wrong and how they might have failed when someone gives a friendly suggestion to ask what others think — Feedback fear

Sharpen the Saw principle by Stephen Covey from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People about not having time to stop and sharpen the saw because you are too busy cutting, and the importance of rest, renewal and self-improvement — Sharpen the saw

A sketch of extrinsic motivation with a donkey being followed by a man with a stick and in turn following a carrot that's strapped always just out of reach — Extrinsic motivation

A meeting with some in-person participants and one remote participant showing the disadvantages of each — Hybrid meetings

For want of a nail poem: from the shoe, to the rider, the battle and the kingdom it's all lost because that fellow dropped the nail — For want of a nail

What is yak shaving and what does it mean example: someone looks on confused as another explains the convoluted story which led to them sitting there shaving a yak, just like solving problems in software development — Yak shaving

Forcing function: a person is forced into getting into shape after signing up to a marathon — Forcing function

What is Manager Time Maker Time example explained: Paul Graham's manager schedule maker schedule illustrated with Manager Time, on the left shows someone in their office at their laptop, scheduling in meetings and calls throughout the day, neatly managing time with hourly and half-hourly slots in their calendar. On the right, Maker Time ideally does away with any scheduled meetings or calls to allow for an open day for our worker at their desk to grind through a complex problem or new project. The passing of time is only marked by day turning to night. — Manager time, maker time

Commitment device illustration: Odysseus asking his men to tie him to the mast so that he can resist the siren's song who are kind flying women — Commitment device

The transparency paradox: In an open classroom one student secretly passes a note to the other illustrating the transparency paradox — The transparency paradox

What is the Peter Principle explanation: a confident and competent junior worker gets promoted to a senior level. At the senior level, they appear very happy and excel such that they get a promotion to Director. As a Director, their competence has been exceeded and we see them in a state of stress and disarray. Oh dear. — The Peter Principle

The cost of being late illustration: an executive walks into a meeting 10 mins late adding up to 100 total lost minutes of everyone else's time — The cost of being late

The power of streaks illustration: a task schedule is shown as a daily grid where all but the final 2 squares have been completed. — The power of streaks

What is the Jevons' paradox in economics: fuel use tends to increase, not decrease, despite efficiency gains, with definition and example. Observation from William Stanley Jevons — Jevons' Paradox

What is the Pomodoro Technique in 3 steps: plan your tasks, complete one 25-minute pomodoro with a 5-minute break, and repeat for four pomodoros before taking a longer break. — The Pomodoro Technique: Stay Focused and Get More Done

Implementation Intentions illustration: A blank ballot paper is shown as the result of vague plan to vote at some point. A completed ballot paper demonstrates how a specific logistical plan on when, where and how they'll get to the polling station got the job done. — Implementation intentions

What is the Doorstep Mile example about getting started: A lone soul beginning a seemingly long journey away from their isolated house in an empty landscape accompanies the Seth Godin quote "Start small, start now". — The doorstep mile

How to grow your own fresh air illustration: examples of common houseplants that help create an environment with relatively cleaner air; the Areca Palm, Mother-in-law's Tongue and the Money Plant. — How to grow your own fresh air

Goldilocks Tasks: a spectrum where the challenge is not too easy, not too hard, but just right for flow and mastery — Goldilocks tasks

What is an information radiator in agile and software development sharing information passively in an office — Information radiator

What is the Fresh Start Effect example explained: a brave person thinks challenge accepted on Monday 1st January thanks to the Fresh start effect from Katy Milkman — The fresh start effect

Benefits to you from getting started chart — put it off and stress about it = no benefit, start now with something = some benefit — Benefits to you from getting started

The importance/urgency matrix

Watch out for barnacles illustration: One barnacle on the left seems like nothing, but if you have enough of them coating the back of a ship and its propeller then the cost of prevention, drag and removal will cost you — Watch out for barnacles

Spend time on activities with long-term value first

Match challenge with skills illustration: a chart of skills and challenge shows flow in the center and anxiety and boredom at the edges — Match challenge with skills for flow at work

How to peel a post-it so it doesn't fall down. Don't peel from the corner. Do pull flat and straight, so it doesn't fall down. For the classic Post-It or sticky note. — Peel a Post-it so it doesn’t fall down

Remove text formatting

Enough molehillls make a mountain quote from Seth Godin, showing how a book can be made up from a little writing or sketch a day, or a trash heap is made from small pieces of litter. — Enough molehills make a mountain

Arrange kitchen storage to minimise excess travel

Don’t let your thinking be limited by your tools

Get satisfaction and a clear record of past to-dos with checkboxes

42 sketches

15

Motivation

Why we start, stall, and keep going.

25 sketches

The positive and negative reinforcing cycles of try new things and anxiety - with a boat sailing from the harbour — Trying New Things

“I will study and get ready and perhaps my chance will come” — Abraham Lincoln quote. Inspirational quote about preparation, patience, hard work, self-improvement and being ready for opportunity — I will study and get ready and perhaps my chance will come — Abraham Lincoln

What is the newsletter paradox: your email newsletter subscriber list grows when you do nothing and people unsubscribe when you send — The Newsletter Paradox: Your newsletter grows when you do nothing

What is Grandma’s Rule? Illustration of the Premack Principle showing a child told ‘Vegetables first, then dessert’ and the First, Then Rule — Grandma's Rule: First___, Then___

Examples of variable rewards and their irresistible addictive power to get us hooked like the reward chest, email, and gambling — Variable Rewards

The One in a Row principle: the way it all starts - with a person pushing over the first bowling pin — wisdom from Matthew McConaughey — One in a Row

The Three Bricklayers story, or 3 Bricklayers Parable, is about the meaning, vision, leadership, and motivation of work. Originally about Sir Christopher Wren, the image shows three scenes: a brick layer laying bricks (Task), one building a wall (Goal), and one creating a cathedral on scaffolding (Vision) with a cathedral in the background. — The Three Bricklayers Story

What is the Eat The Frog time management and productivity technique and its meaning with a person about to eat a frog and a to-do list — Eat the frog

Brenda Ueland quote: What is the purpose of existence but to discover truth and beauty and share it with others? showing a person finding a flower, painting it, and then enjoying seeing others experience the same emotions they did — Discovering Truth and Beauty and Sharing it with others

What is a Public commitment pledge explanation - a soft commitment device shown by someone battling a desire to eat cookies with a public commitment — Public commitment pledge

Feedback fear illustration: A poor soul goes through all sorts of internal doubts about what they might have done wrong and how they might have failed when someone gives a friendly suggestion to ask what others think — Feedback fear

Temptation bundling illustration: examples of running on a treadmill to watch your favourite shows or ordering your favourite in a cafe only while working — Temptation bundling

The first draft is always perfect: A person creating multiple drafts of a sketch before reaching the one that hangs on the wall — The first draft is always perfect

A sketch of extrinsic motivation with a donkey being followed by a man with a stick and in turn following a carrot that's strapped always just out of reach — Extrinsic motivation

The Goal-Gradient Effect: the closer we get to a goal the harder we try - coffee stamps example — The goal-gradient effect

What is Manager Time Maker Time example explained: Paul Graham's manager schedule maker schedule illustrated with Manager Time, on the left shows someone in their office at their laptop, scheduling in meetings and calls throughout the day, neatly managing time with hourly and half-hourly slots in their calendar. On the right, Maker Time ideally does away with any scheduled meetings or calls to allow for an open day for our worker at their desk to grind through a complex problem or new project. The passing of time is only marked by day turning to night. — Manager time, maker time

Commitment device illustration: Odysseus asking his men to tie him to the mast so that he can resist the siren's song who are kind flying women — Commitment device

Imposter Syndrome illustration: even as an appreciative audience applaud, an award recipient at the rostrum on stage questions whether they actually deserve this recognition. — Imposter syndrome

The power of streaks illustration: a task schedule is shown as a daily grid where all but the final 2 squares have been completed. — The power of streaks

What is the Doorstep Mile example about getting started: A lone soul beginning a seemingly long journey away from their isolated house in an empty landscape accompanies the Seth Godin quote "Start small, start now". — The doorstep mile

Autonomy Mastery Purpose summary of Dan Pink's book Drive — What drives us: autonomy, mastery, purpose

What is the Fresh Start Effect example explained: a brave person thinks challenge accepted on Monday 1st January thanks to the Fresh start effect from Katy Milkman — The fresh start effect

The benefits of sharing your work in public showing the risk you take and that it increase quality and provides unexpected benefits — Sharing your work

Sitting at the piano without any music is a great way to get started composing — Want to compose? Just sit down without any music

Enough molehillls make a mountain quote from Seth Godin, showing how a book can be made up from a little writing or sketch a day, or a trash heap is made from small pieces of litter. — Enough molehills make a mountain

25 sketches

16

Geography

Places, maps, and the shape of the world.

44 sketches

What is an endonym and exonym with examples of countries Deutschland – Germany, Espana – Spain, Nederland – Netherlands, Ellada – Greece, Nihon – Japan — Endonym and exonym

What is a thermocline? The meaning of water temperature changing with depth with view of ocean layer and density of molecules and sea ice — Thermocline

What are recursive islands and lakes? Drawing showing an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island, illustrating higher-order nested islands and lakes — Recursive Islands

Volcanic Explosivity Index VEI 0 to 8 with examples Kilauea, Etna, Mt St Helens, Pinatubo, Tambora and Yellowstone, each level about 10 times more material — The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): Comparing Eruptions

Common dune types showing how different wind patterns and sand availability shape transverse dunes, linear dunes, barchan dunes and star dunes. — Dune Types: Transverse, Linear, Barchan, Star Dunes

Cornwall vs Devon cream tea styles shown side by side: jam first for Cornwall, cream first for Devon. — Cream Tea: Cream First or Jam First?

How to remember latitude and longitude on a world map, understand which is which, which is x or y, and how to read lat–long coordinates using an easy mnemonic: latitude is flat and longitude converges — Latitude and Longitude: How to Remember Which is Which

What are topography and bathmetry, and their meaning, shown as land elevation and ocean depth — Topography and Bathymetry

Landlocked states of the USA including the double-landlocked states and the one triple-landlocked state, Nebraska — Landlocked States

The Olympic Flag and the meaning of the ring colours, interlocking of the rings representing the union of the 5 continents competing against each other. and the 6 colours in each of the National flags. And a little flag bearer showing how it's done. — The Olympic Flag

A map showing where Point Nemo lies - the furthest point from land with distances to the nearest land. This would be a long swim — Point Nemo: The Most Remote Place on Earth and the Spacecraft Graveyard

Iceberg floating orientation explained: Icebergs are usually drawn floating vertically, while a stable iceberg orientation is usually on its side — Iceberg orientation

Red volcano gray volcano - a red volcano's effusive eruption has lava flowing down its slope while a gray volcano's explosive eruption shoots ash into the air — Red volcano, grey volcano

Two hikers look at distant lightning and count how long it takes to hear the thunder to estimate how far the lightning is away — Flash-to-bang method

An urban area next to a more natural rural area showing how the urban area gets hotter than the surrounding land — Urban heat islands

Settlement Patterns illustration: in the foreground, buildings line the banks of an estuary as an example of linear settlement. A few miles inland, we see a dense grouping of buildings in a town perhaps, representing a nucleated settlement. In the foothills further back from the town, a few buildings dotted about depict dispersed settlement. And a lone dwelling half-way up a mountain in the distance is an example of an isolated settlement. — Settlement patterns

The Haversine Formula illustration: a portion of the earth's globe is shown with a green arc drawn between the cities of London, UK and Seattle, WA. The mathematical Haversine formula takes into account the curvature of the earth's surface when calculating the true distance between two points on a curved surface. — The haversine formula

The continental axis hypothesis: from Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, illustrating how the llama didn't manage to travel North-South — The continental axis hypothesis

What is the coastline paradox explained - meaning the length changes depending on the size of your ruler, with Great Britain's coastline as an example — The Coastline Paradox

Beyond developing and developed world views: a world of 4 income levels from Sketchplanations, Factfulness and Gapminder — A world of 4 income levels

The 3 Tallest Mountains illustration: on the left, Mount Everest is measured from sea level. In the centre, Mauna Kea is measured from its base (well below sea level) to its summit. On the right, Chimborazo is located near the equator where the earth bulges making its summit the furthest from the centre of the earth (and hence closest to the sun). — The 3 tallest mountains

What is the hungry gap explained showing a timeline with a full box of Winter vegetables leading out of April, a nearly empty box in May, and an overflowing one in the Summer — The Hungry Gap

Mercator projection world map explaining how projecting a curved Earth onto a flat map distorts size, with Greenland appearing much larger than Africa — The Mercator projection

What causes seasons showing how it is caused by the earths tilt and light hitting differently in the north and south hemispheres — Seasons

What is Lake effect snow explained including the snow belt — Lake-effect snow

What are double-landlocked countries? Map showing a landlocked country and the meaning of double-landlocked countries with Liechtenstein surrounded only by landlocked countries. The other double-landlocked country is Uzbekistan. — Double-landlocked countries

Isochrones illustration: An aerial view of London shows enclosed concentric, but irregular shapes, radiating out from the centre of the city, denoting areas of equal travel time; from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. — Isochrones

Strahler Stream Order animation: what looks like the silhouette of a tree with branches but no leaves, is actually a plan view of a large river network. Starting at the outermost, narrowest parts, each time two tributaries of the same order merge together the order of river size increases until it flows out into the sea. — Strahler stream order: Streams, rivers, the Amazon and how to organise them.

Antipodes illustration: the earth is shown as a sphere with an axis drawn straight through the centre. The example of an antipode shown is where the axis passes through Spain in the northern hemisphere and through New Zealand in the southern hemisphere. — Antipodes

What is the Union Jack flag and how it is constructed explained showing the three flags that make it up of Scotland, Ireland and England — The Union Jack

What's the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom - explained in a sketch with maps — Great Britain and the United Kingdom: What’s the difference?

How to remember if it's a Stalactite or Stalagmite (or stalagtite or stalacmite): Stalactites Cling tight to the Ceiling of a cave. Stalagmites Grow on the Ground — Stalactites, Stalagmites

Camel identification: 1 hump dromedary, 2 humps bactrian

Cream tea: Cornwall vs Devon

Tectonic Plate Interaction Boundary Types: Divergent, Convergent, and Transform with examples — Tectonic plate interaction boundaries: Divergent, Convergent, and Transform

How to find south using the Southern Cross and The Pointers in the Southern hemisphere using the stars and the night sky — Use the Southern Cross to find South (Southern Hemisphere)

Origins of mandarins world map: including Tangerine from Tangiers, Morocco, Mandarin from China, Clementine from Oman and Satsuma from Japan — Origins of mandarins

Know your poles: Arctic polar bears, frozen sea, and Antarctic, penguins, frozen land — Know your poles

The different types of surfing breaks: beach break, reef break, and point break — The 3 Main Types of Surf Breaks Explained

Rain shadow

Shapes of Valleys

The sun rises Early in the East

The Zanclean Megaflood: 3 illustrations showing Africa pushing into Europe, a giant rushing of the Atlantic filling the basin of the Mediterranean, and the map of how the Mediterranean sea appears today — The making of the Med

Why do birds migrate sooooo far?

44 sketches