Explaining the world one sketch at a time

Simplifying complex ideas through fun and insightful sketches. Explore topics from science, creativity, psychology, and more explained in pictures.

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Recent sketches

2.5D

I learned about 2.5D, or two and a half dimensions, from my engineering days. Turns out it’s really quite common to make 2.5D things because, for example, it’s easy to drill or mill down into something, and a pain to turn something on it’s side and drill from the other side. Or, as with vacuum forming it’s easy to suck plastic onto a mould, but a pain to get it off if you’ve got any overhangs as you can’t lift it straight up again. Hence the plastic sandpit in our garden is a 2.5D object rather than true 3D. Civilisation in general looks rather 2.5D from the air as we tend to build up, but don’t find overhangs that easy or practical eg the pyramids.…I learned about 2.5D, or two and a half dimensions, from my engineering days. Turns out it’s really quite common to make 2.5D things because, for example, it’s easy to drill or mill down into something, and a pain to turn something on it’s side and drill from the other side. Or, as with vacuum forming it’s easy to suck plastic onto a mould, but a pain to get it off if you’ve got any overhangs as you can’t lift it straight up again. Hence the plastic sandpit in our garden is a 2.5D object rather than true 3D. Civilisation in general looks rather 2.5D from the air as we tend to build up, but don’t find overhangs that easy or practical eg the pyramids.

12 Sep 2016

The Union Jack

The Origins of the Union Jack The Union Jack, one of the most recognizable flags in the world, is a combination of three historic flags. It represents the union of nations within the United Kingdom at the time the Union Jack flag design was created and is made up of: The Saltire of St Andrew for Scotland: a white diagonal cross on a blue background. The term “saltire” refers to this specific diagonal cross shape in heraldry. The Cross of St Patrick for Ireland: a red diagonal cross on a white background. Though Ireland is no longer part of the United Kingdom, it is still represented in the design. The Cross of St George for England: a red cross on a white background. You may notice that Wales, which is part of the United Kingdom, is not represented on the Union Jack flag. This absence is because Wales was considered a principality under the Kingdom of England, not a separate kingdom, when the flag was created. The Evolution of the Union Flag The Union Jack we know today didn’t always look this way. The first version, known as the Union Flag of 1606, only combined the crosses of St George and St Andrew, representing England and Scotland. It wasn't until 1801, with the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland, that the Cross of St Patrick was added, resulting in the modern Union Flag, often referred to as the Union Jack. Why is it Called the “Union Jack”? The term “Union Jack” comes from naval usage. A “jack” is a flag flown from the bow of a ship. Originally referred to as the Union Flag, it became more commonly known as the Union Jack when flown at sea. Over time, this name has become standard, even on land. According to the Flag Institute, the terms are often used interchangeably. However, some argue we should only call it a “Union Jack” when flown on a ship. The Union Jack on other Flags By representing the United Kingdom, the Union Jack appears on other flags. For example, the Union Jack flag is part of Australia's flag, which also includes the Southern Cross, and New Zealand's flag. It's also part of the flags of several Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories. It is often used symbolically to represent the UK in popular culture and events worldwide. Sometimes, people refer to it as the Great Britain flag, though this is not technically accurate, as Great Britain refers only to the island, not the full union. Vexillology: The Study of Flags If you're interested in flags, you might already know someone studying flags is called a vexillologist. Vexillology is the study of the history, symbolism, and usage of flags. Like the history of the Union Jack here, flags are both a symbol and a product of the history and culture of a country or institution. The history and construction of the Olympic Flag is a good example. Also see: Curious about the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom? The Olympic Flag and rings…The Origins of the Union Jack The Union Jack, one of the most recognizable flags in the world, is a combination of three historic flags. It represents the union of nations within the United Kingdom at the time the Union Jack flag design was created and is made up of: The Saltire of St Andrew for Scotland: a white diagonal cross on a blue background. The term “saltire” refers to this specific diagonal cross shape in heraldry. The Cross of St Patrick for Ireland: a red diagonal cross on a white background. Though Ireland is no longer part of the United Kingdom, it is still represented in the design. The Cross of St George for England: a red cross on a white background. You may notice that Wales, which is part of the United Kingdom, is not represented on the Union Jack flag. This absence is because Wales was considered a principality under the Kingdom of England, not a separate kingdom, when the flag was created. The Evolution of the Union Flag The Union Jack we know today didn’t always look this way. The first version, known as the Union Flag of 1606, only combined the crosses of St George and St Andrew, representing England and Scotland. It wasn't until 1801, with the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland, that the Cross of St Patrick was added, resulting in the modern Union Flag, often referred to as the Union Jack. Why is it Called the “Union Jack”? The term “Union Jack” comes from naval usage. A “jack” is a flag flown from the bow of a ship. Originally referred to as the Union Flag, it became more commonly known as the Union Jack when flown at sea. Over time, this name has become standard, even on land. According to the Flag Institute, the terms are often used interchangeably. However, some argue we should only call it a “Union Jack” when flown on a ship. The Union Jack on other Flags By representing the United Kingdom, the Union Jack appears on other flags. For example, the Union Jack flag is part of Australia's flag, which also includes the Southern Cross, and New Zealand's flag. It's also part of the flags of several Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories. It is often used symbolically to represent the UK in popular culture and events worldwide. Sometimes, people refer to it as the Great Britain flag, though this is not technically accurate, as Great Britain refers only to the island, not the full union. Vexillology: The Study of Flags If you're interested in flags, you might already know someone studying flags is called a vexillologist. Vexillology is the study of the history, symbolism, and usage of flags. Like the history of the Union Jack here, flags are both a symbol and a product of the history and culture of a country or institution. The history and construction of the Olympic Flag is a good example. Also see: Curious about the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom? The Olympic Flag and rings

1 Sep 2016

What's the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom - explained in a sketch with maps

Great Britain and the United Kingdom: What’s the difference?

This is generally the source of much confusion, even amongst those who live over here. If you look carefully at the description of the United Kingdom (on a passport say), you’ll see it’s the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". So the UK is both of those. Great Britain is the largest island in the British Isles and includes the three countries: England, Scotland and Wales. The British Isles is the group of islands as a whole, including all of Ireland. The British Isles also include several significant islands that are part of Scotland, such as the Hebrides (Inner and Outer), and the Northern Isles of both Orkney and Shetland. It also encloses the Isle of Man, which sits in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Island and is actually a self-governing British Crown Dependency with its own parliament and government. For a little more subtlety, there's the term the British Islands (as opposed to Isles), which includes the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, which sit closer to France. For much further confusion, think for a moment why there’s a UK passport, Great Britain in the Olympic games, and in football, we compete as England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland separately. 🤔 Also see: the Union Jack: The making of a flag The Coastline paradox…This is generally the source of much confusion, even amongst those who live over here. If you look carefully at the description of the United Kingdom (on a passport say), you’ll see it’s the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". So the UK is both of those. Great Britain is the largest island in the British Isles and includes the three countries: England, Scotland and Wales. The British Isles is the group of islands as a whole, including all of Ireland. The British Isles also include several significant islands that are part of Scotland, such as the Hebrides (Inner and Outer), and the Northern Isles of both Orkney and Shetland. It also encloses the Isle of Man, which sits in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Island and is actually a self-governing British Crown Dependency with its own parliament and government. For a little more subtlety, there's the term the British Islands (as opposed to Isles), which includes the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, which sit closer to France. For much further confusion, think for a moment why there’s a UK passport, Great Britain in the Olympic games, and in football, we compete as England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland separately. 🤔 Also see: the Union Jack: The making of a flag The Coastline paradox

20 Aug 2016

A lumpy asteroid at the centre of an expanding radius showing that it would get smoother and rounder as it gets larger

The potato radius

I like this radius. It explains some of why asteroids are lumpy and bumpy, kind of like potatoes, and yet planets and moons are smooth round balls. From the potato radius size, about 2–300km, the mass of the rock itself gets large enough that it is pulled in on its own gravity and consequently starts to round itself off. I learned about this from Brian Cox’s show Forces of Nature. Not sure about asteroids, meteors and meteorites?…I like this radius. It explains some of why asteroids are lumpy and bumpy, kind of like potatoes, and yet planets and moons are smooth round balls. From the potato radius size, about 2–300km, the mass of the rock itself gets large enough that it is pulled in on its own gravity and consequently starts to round itself off. I learned about this from Brian Cox’s show Forces of Nature. Not sure about asteroids, meteors and meteorites?

14 Aug 2016

Information radiator

Shares information passively, with the neat effect that having a good one in an office can go a long way to getting people on the same page without explicitly calling meetings or sending out updates to do so. Handy to also have a good space in front of it for talking, discussing and generally collaborating. A common term in agile development, originally I believe from Alistair Cockburn of Thoughtworks. To quote from his article, of many possible: “A good information radiator: - Is large and easily visible to the casual, interested observer - Is understood at a glance - Changes periodically, so that it is worth visiting - Is easily kept up to date” HTs: Ewan Silver, Kevin Alves…Shares information passively, with the neat effect that having a good one in an office can go a long way to getting people on the same page without explicitly calling meetings or sending out updates to do so. Handy to also have a good space in front of it for talking, discussing and generally collaborating. A common term in agile development, originally I believe from Alistair Cockburn of Thoughtworks. To quote from his article, of many possible: “A good information radiator: - Is large and easily visible to the casual, interested observer - Is understood at a glance - Changes periodically, so that it is worth visiting - Is easily kept up to date” HTs: Ewan Silver, Kevin Alves

4 Aug 2016

Direct vs representative democracy illustration: direct democracy shown with a direct connection to the people, and representative connected through an elected representative

Direct and representative democracy

In direct democracy the people vote directly to create the laws, rules and regulations and such. In representative democracy, the people instead vote to elect a representative, who will then either act directly, or vote with other elected representatives to create the laws, rules and regulations and such. Most democracies are a form of representative democracy as I understand it, with the occasional instance of direct democracy thrown in, as in say, a referendum.…In direct democracy the people vote directly to create the laws, rules and regulations and such. In representative democracy, the people instead vote to elect a representative, who will then either act directly, or vote with other elected representatives to create the laws, rules and regulations and such. Most democracies are a form of representative democracy as I understand it, with the occasional instance of direct democracy thrown in, as in say, a referendum.

29 Jul 2016

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