sketchnotes on S Anand

Creating comic explainers

Sun, 24 May 2026 16:48:58 +0800

Lori Silverstein shared a post from Quickplay that featured a comic explainer, mentioning that “this could be a very impactful way for us to start being more creative … and differentiate our value proposition.”

True. Comic explainers convey both creativity and differentiation.

I’ve used sketchnotes for the same effect, but comic explainers are easier to follow than sketchnotes.

So I fed this image to ChatGPT and asked it to modify my Sketchnote prompt:

How would I modify this prompt to draw a Scott McCloud style explainer comic page in color? I’m looking for the way in which he explained Google Chrome when it was released, but with more vibrant colors. Something like the attached image is good for me.
Draw this as a visually rich, intricately detailed, colorful, and funny, sketchnote (square 1:1).
Use comic-style font in caps.
Keep the text to under 300 words. Prefer evocative imagery over text.
Think about the most important points, structure it logically so that the sketchnote is easy to follow, then draw it.

It gave me a prompt which I’ve iterated on a few times. This is the comic page prompt I currently use:

Draw this as a full-color explainer comic page (portrait) - sequential explanation, friendly narrator, diagrams embedded inside panels, visual metaphors, self-aware captions, and clear cause-and-effect storytelling. Style: expressive characters, comic-style ALL CAPS, vibrant modern colors, clear visual hierarchy. Prefer pictures over words. Use recurring visual metaphors so the reader understands the idea even while skimming. Think about the most important points, structure it as a memorable story.

Some examples of the output:

What Your AI Doesn’t Know About You

Where Enterprise AI is Headed

Though AI makes it easy to create comic explainers, sketchnotes, etc., I expect we might see less of them.

Why?

Excel made Playfair style charts less common with a deluge of bar charts.
AI will make templatized slides so much easier that comic explainers will be drowned out.

But creative people like The Pudding will likely use AI to create even more innovative formats. Something I’m looking forward to.

Gemini Sketchnotes

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 16:11:22 +0800

I use this prompt to generate sketchnotes on Gemini:

Draw this as a visually rich, intricately detailed, colorful, and funny, sketchnote.

Below that, I paste (or attach) whatever content I want it to draw.

I also turn on “Create Images” and switch the model to “Pro” (for better thinking.)

Here are some examples of how to use it.

Summarize articles. Pick email, report, news, or website.

Here’s a sketchnote for this article: How to use AI for research. I used the prompt above and pasted the article text.

Summarize presentations. Pick any proposal, status update, project report, or meeting agenda.

Here’s a sketchnote we emailed SNHU as pre-read before the meeting. I used the same prompt and attached the presentation. They loved the sketchnote!

Summarize books. Pick any textbook, non-fiction, fiction, or anthology.

This sketchnote summarizes Morgan House’s book Same as Ever

Summarize talks. Pick from YouTube, TED, podcast, or even meeting transcripts.

This sketchnote summarizes a talk by Rob Schrauwen of Elsevier. He really liked the sketchnote too!

Explain a workflow. Pick from any slide, architecture diagram, process document, or paper sketches.

This sketchnote documents a proposal submission workflow

NOTE: For complex documents or long transcripts, I add this line so that Gemini thinks first and creates a more structured sketchnote:

Think about the most important points, structure it logically so that the sketchnote is easy to follow, then draw it.

With sketchnotes, you unlock am interesting capability.

It catches attention - it’s colorful and engaging.
It signals simplicity - so people are more likely to read it.
It sets you apart - it’s rare when people try something different.
It’s personal - you can create a distinct version tailored to each audience - in minutes.

It takes just one prompt in front of any content. Try it out:

Draw this as a visually rich, intricately detailed, colorful, and funny, sketchnote.

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 05:36:05 +0000

I joined Madhu Sathiaseelan’s podcast to talk about LLM Psychology.

But it’s also fascinating to see how much SECONDARY content you can generate from a video.

Do you prefer sketch-notes? See Nano Banana Pro’s version below.

Or are you a slides person? https://sanand0.github.io/talks/2025-11-06-llm-psychology/

How about a Malcolm Gladwell article? https://github.com/sanand0/talks/raw/refs/heads/main/2025-11-06-llm-psychology/mind-readers.docx

Or reading the raw transcript? https://github.com/sanand0/talks/tree/main/2025-11-06-llm-psychology

The way in which we consume information is entirely up to us. This is making a lot more content (e.g. research papers, government regulations, medical reports, policy documents, product manuals, …) accessible to me - just by asking it to rewrite it as a sketch-note, slides, article, or anything I prefer.