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September 21, 2009

Launched: Sketchnotes of SXSW® Interactive '09 iPhone app!

app-sketchnotes-of-sxsw-interactive-2009-book_n_phone.jpg Hooray and hallelujah!

The iPhone app I demoed in June and have been working with the folks at SXSW and SixVoices on, has launched! Get it for FREE in the iTunes app store or directly via your iPhone or iPod Touch:

Download Sketchnotes of SXSW® Interactive '09

The SXSW and SixVoices teams worked with me the last few months to get the details right and to work through the entire process of submitting this app to the iTunes app store for approval.

I'm pleased with how the Sketchnotes Tapstack app turned out. It feels snappy on my iPhone 3GS.

Tapstack Demo Video

Here is a brief demo video of the pre-release app (I'll update this shortly):

Sketchnotes of SXSW® Interactive '09 Tapstack App Demo from Mike Rohde on Vimeo.

The final release adds a new 'double-tap' feature that jumps back one card at a time, so you don't need to turn the iPhone or iTouch sideways to access the nav menu.

Thanks SXSW and SixVoices!

Thanks to the staff at SXSW (Shawn, Scott, David, Pete & Melissa) and the SixVoices crew (Mark, Samuel & Jonah) for your help and guidance. You were all so great to work with. Thanks for helping make this app happen.

I'm already excited about an opportunity to sketchnote SXSW Interactive 2010 next March and creating a follow-up Tapstack app of those sketchnotes.

Get your free copy of the app today for your iPhone or iPod Touch, add reviews to the app in the iTunes store and leave comments here. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Download Sketchnotes of SXSW® Interactive '09

Comments

Congrats. Those are some awesome note-taking skills you got. I really like the whole presentation.

... now only if I had an iPhone.

Posted by: kyle steed at September 22, 2009 3:03 PM

Congrats on the release. Amazing note/sketch taking ability, beautiful presentation and actually quite enjoyable to read. I am in awe of your talents and my Moleskine is pretty jealous at this point.

Posted by: Jeremy at September 23, 2009 10:21 PM

@Kyle, thanks for the very kind words! I can't help with the iPhone but you can always visit Flickr to see the entire SXSW Interactive '09 set on whatever mobile device you're using:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rohdesign/sets/72157615703262704/

@Jeremy, thanks for your encouragement and kind words! Never thought an iPhone app could make a Moleskine jealous! :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at September 25, 2009 9:14 AM

I'm a bit of a sketchnoter myself. I like your style and have tried to emulate it. I am more from the Dan Roam school of visual thinking with more visuals than text. However, I like to think my style is inspired by both of you. So I call it sketchmapping (until I think of something better).

I am experimenting with using only 3x5 system cards. The reason I like this is that if you put a complete idea on a single card them you can do card sorts and mix and match ideas in different ways. Also, you can share a single idea rather than having it hidden on a page. I suppose I can glue them in a particular order on A4 or in a notebook for reference once I put them in the order I like. I also like the idea of keeping them in little stacks. I'll see what works in the end.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Posted by: Blair R at September 30, 2009 4:33 PM

Blair, your sketchmapping approach sounds pretty cool! I like working with 3x5 cards as well, but don't use them as often as I like, since I focus more on Moleskines. Thanks for sharing!

Posted by: Mike Rohde at October 1, 2009 10:35 PM

Say Mike, would you be able to answer my questions regarding what it took you to put your sketchnotes into Tapstack?

Thanks in advance.
...dave

Posted by: daveterry at October 2, 2009 1:31 PM

Dave, thanks for the note — I'll drop you a line privately with the details.

Posted by: Mike Rohde at October 2, 2009 1:47 PM