sketchplanations.com

What It Is

Sketchplanations is a hand-drawn knowledge explanation project created by Jono, positioned around the idea of “explaining the world with simple sketches.” It is not a typical online course platform, but rather a continuously updated visual knowledge base. Through short essays, hand-drawn illustrations, a newsletter, a podcast, and books, it turns topics such as science, productivity, cognitive biases, behavioral economics, nature, language, and drawing into accessible, shareable concept explanations.

Core Content and Learning Format

From an education/course perspective, its core value lies in “visual learning.” Users can search for sketches or browse by topic, and they can also subscribe to a weekly email for updates. Since 2023, Sketchplanations has also offered a podcast, where Jono and collaborators discuss ideas around the sketches. The site does not mention live classes, structured recorded courses, 1-on-1 coaching, assignments, or learning assessments. As a result, it is better suited as a general learning resource, classroom material, and idea-inspiration library than as a complete course system.

Instructor Background, Language, and Certification

Jono is an author and illustrator who has worked in startups, product design, and software engineering. He has served as Head of Product at Zen Educate and Head of UX and Design at Nutmeg, and holds a PhD from UC Berkeley related to design frameworks. This background gives the content a strong mix of design expression and knowledge organization. The content is mainly in English, with no Chinese version or formal certificate mentioned, so it is not ideal for learners whose main goal is to obtain a credential.

Pricing and Paid Benefits

The site offers a large amount of free content and encourages users to subscribe to the weekly newsletter for free. Paid subscriptions mainly support the project’s continued ad-free operation, and include access to behind-the-scenes articles, a full archive of high-resolution sketches, newsletter archives, and, at the highest tier, the handmade Sketchplanations font. The page does not disclose specific pricing; it only notes that 5% of contributions go to Stripe Climate projects. Therefore, its value for money depends on whether users care about high-resolution materials and long-term support for the creator.

Pros, Cons, and Who It’s For

The strengths are that the content is lightweight, broad in scope, and visually memorable. It is useful for teachers preparing lessons, presenters looking for references, knowledge workers who want to grasp concepts quickly, and anyone interested in learning how to “think through drawing.” The limitations are that it is not very course-like, with no clear learning path, certificate, or pricing information. The “learn to sketch” section mainly consists of books, resources, and practice suggestions, while the author’s own course is still only at the stage of gauging interest.

Access in China, Payment, and Alternatives

The site does not provide information about access or payment from mainland China, so it is unclear whether it can be opened directly or whether Stripe payments will work smoothly. English reading ability is the main barrier. As alternatives, users can look at The Sketchnote Handbook, Eva-Lotta Lamm’s visual note-taking resources, or courses on visual note-taking, design thinking, and information visualization on Coursera, YouTube, and Bilibili.