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Explore the full visual archive of over a decade of Sketchplanations and discover sketches that interest and inspire you. Use them to have great conversations about ideas.

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The Rose Bush Rule with the life is like a rose bush metaphor: pruning roses to allow the others to bloomThe Rose Bush RuleWhat is an endonym and exonym with examples of countries Deutschland – Germany, Espana – Spain, Nederland – Netherlands, Ellada – Greece, Nihon – JapanEndonym and exonymWhat is melody and what is harmony? Definitions and example of the difference between melody and harmony with sheet musicMelody and HarmonyWhat 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 bestFast Pool, Slow PoolCoach John Wooden's 8 Laws of Learning: Explanation, Demonstration, Imitation, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. With learning juggling analogy.Wooden's 8 Laws of LearningEinstein'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 mirrorEinstein's MirrorThe positive and negative reinforcing cycles of try new things and anxiety - with a boat sailing from the harbourTrying New ThingsLittle 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 papersLittle OpeningsUnderstanding El Niño, what it is, how it works and the 3 phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation including the Neutral Phase, El Niño and La NiñaUnderstanding El NiñoMethods for opening jars. A how to lifehack list of techniques for when you can't open stubborn lidsOpening stubborn jars: an escalation of methods“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 opportunityI will study and get ready and perhaps my chance will come — Abraham LincolnWhat is a thermocline? The meaning of water temperature changing with depth with view of ocean layer and density of molecules and sea iceThermoclineWhat 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 lakesRecursive IslandsMoravec's Paradox meaning for AI with examplesMoravec's ParadoxEminem 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 wrongSo Nothing Rhymes with Orange?The McNamara Fallacy, also known as the quantitative fallacy, where we measure what is easy and ignore what is hardThe McNamara FallacyAll models are wrong, but some are useful - George Box statistics quote example and meaning with a map and simple modelAll models are wrong, but some are useful — George Box quoteThe Iceberg Model in psychology and systems thinking - above the surface and beneath the surfaceThe Iceberg ModelWhat is uitwaaien: Dutch word meaning walking in the wind to clear your head, with worries blown away on a windy beachUitwaaien: The Dutch Word for Walking in the WindCoffee: the glorious solution to the coffee sleep cycle with poor sleep caused by coffee, leading to tiredness, solved by coffeeCoffee: The Glorious Solution to The Coffee–Sleep CyclePyrrhic 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 examplePyrrhic Saving: "Saving" money by spending moreVolcanic Explosivity Index VEI 0 to 8 with examples Kilauea, Etna, Mt St Helens, Pinatubo, Tambora and Yellowstone, each level about 10 times more materialThe Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): Comparing EruptionsThe Mathematics of Everyday Life showing everyday maths examples including budgeting, shopping, splitting a bill, travel planning, buying a house, voting statistics, baking measurements and fitting furniture, created for the VERDI inclusive mathematics project.Mathematics in Everyday LifeWhen there’s a gold rush, sell shovels and picks, a classic business and entrepreneurship quote with prospectors chasing gold and suppliers lining the roadWhen there's a gold rush, sell shovelsFront-load key words in lists and when writing for the web for clearer communication with a conference features exampleFront-load Key WordsLaplace's Demon thought experiment quote by Pierre-Simon Laplace about determinism and predictabilityLaplace's DemonCommon 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 DunesWhat 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 WantExplanation of SMART goals meaning, showing that SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound, and how setting SMART goals leads to clearer progressSMART GoalsWhat 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)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?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 PeopleHow 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 convergesLatitude and Longitude: How to Remember Which is WhichApples and ideas quote (not) from George Bernard Shaw illustrated as a concept - giving an apple vs sharing an ideaApples and IdeasSpectrum 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 NiemannSpectrum of AbstractionWhat is the newsletter paradox: your email newsletter subscriber list grows when you do nothing and people unsubscribe when you sendThe Newsletter Paradox: Your newsletter grows when you do nothingMirage 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 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 animalsWhat 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 ProblemsWhat 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
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