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Sketchplanations makes complex ideas simple with clear, insightful sketches. Explore topics from science, creativity, psychology, and beyond explained in pictures.

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60-30-10 Colour rule

The 60-30-10 color rule is a handy and memorable technique for a great start in simple branding. Think of a suit where about 60% of the colour you see is the suit, 30% the shirt and 10% accent or highlight with the tie. Classic. Also see: The basic colour wheel other drawing sketchplanations…

17 Jun 2017

The real shape of a crossing

I think it would be interesting if we could see the real shape of your favourite crossing marked on the road. It’d probably help more people cross and traffic get stopped less. And, hopefully, no casualties. Also see: Run further by running far away Draw a basic bike Why we sometimes walk in circles Our senses are built to take in information at human pace Pollution is highly localized…

10 Jun 2017

The customer value chain

I’ve found this model useful in my thinking so many times. Also known as the Buying Hierarchy, it’s a model that illustrates a common evolution — though not perfect nor universal — in products and markets where an original innovation provides a performance or functionality benefit over what others can provide. As a result they can charge more as no one else does it. When others come to deliver that too, then the focus for the customer can move to which delivers the most reliable quality. When the reliability is the same from different providers then we’ll choose the one that is more convenient. Only once all else is equal does the lowest price option become the winning one. At this stage you’re selling a commodity where people could choose to get the same thing, just as easily, for the same quality in several places. There’s a business to be made at each stage, but it’s sensible to know where you’re competing. The original model is from Windermere Associates and widely shared by Clayton Christensen in The Innovator’s Dilemma.…I’ve found this model useful in my thinking so many times. Also known as the Buying Hierarchy, it’s a model that illustrates a common evolution — though not perfect nor universal — in products and markets where an original innovation provides a performance or functionality benefit over what others can provide. As a result they can charge more as no one else does it. When others come to deliver that too, then the focus for the customer can move to which delivers the most reliable quality. When the reliability is the same from different providers then we’ll choose the one that is more convenient. Only once all else is equal does the lowest price option become the winning one. At this stage you’re selling a commodity where people could choose to get the same thing, just as easily, for the same quality in several places. There’s a business to be made at each stage, but it’s sensible to know where you’re competing. The original model is from Windermere Associates and widely shared by Clayton Christensen in The Innovator’s Dilemma.

3 Jun 2017

Browse line illustration with a deer reaching up to eat the leaves off a tree and creating a tidy line at the height they can reach

The browse line

The browse line is a distinctive line below which you don’t tend to see leaves or branches in places with ground animals, like deer, that enjoy eating leaves or branches. Browse lines are basically caused by animals eating as high as they can reach. When everything below has been eaten, what's left behind can be a strikingly flat line of leaves at the base of the foliage. Except for where there are giraffes or elephants where trees don’t stand much of a chance, even spiky ones. This drawing is based on the beautiful Richmond Park in South West London which has a large number of old oaks and large herds of deer that leave a uniform underline to the canopy across the park.…The browse line is a distinctive line below which you don’t tend to see leaves or branches in places with ground animals, like deer, that enjoy eating leaves or branches. Browse lines are basically caused by animals eating as high as they can reach. When everything below has been eaten, what's left behind can be a strikingly flat line of leaves at the base of the foliage. Except for where there are giraffes or elephants where trees don’t stand much of a chance, even spiky ones. This drawing is based on the beautiful Richmond Park in South West London which has a large number of old oaks and large herds of deer that leave a uniform underline to the canopy across the park.

26 May 2017

The basic colour wheel

With primary colours - red, blue and yellow - secondary colours, made by mixing the primaries - orange, purple and green - and complementary colours - from the opposites on the colour wheel - red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. It’s fair to say there’s a lot more to colour than this basic wheel. I will try to get back to it.…

20 May 2017

Draw smooth lines

…by using the natural geometry of your joints. It took me a while to figure out that it’s easy to draw lines in some directions and hard in others. And most of the time it’s simply down to respecting the pivots of the elbow and the wrist. And also why we tend to angle our notebooks so much to the desk, and why, if you want to draw a smooth line at another angle, you’re really best-off just turning the paper. As a corollary, I figured out that by looking at angle of most of Leonardo Da Vinci’s cross-hatching you can see that he was drawing left-handed.……by using the natural geometry of your joints. It took me a while to figure out that it’s easy to draw lines in some directions and hard in others. And most of the time it’s simply down to respecting the pivots of the elbow and the wrist. And also why we tend to angle our notebooks so much to the desk, and why, if you want to draw a smooth line at another angle, you’re really best-off just turning the paper. As a corollary, I figured out that by looking at angle of most of Leonardo Da Vinci’s cross-hatching you can see that he was drawing left-handed.

13 May 2017

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