Creating this mind map was highly informative and a pleasure to do. The concept of the mind map..that it more closely follows our own human brain patterns, can be actually felt when performing the exercise. I really was more at ease and less anxious when mapping than when I am usually note taking. Sometimes when traditionally note taking or making lists I am nervous about losing an important idea. The map didn’t have the same effect. The contrary was true, I was more involved with letting what was actually coming from my mind onto the page than about what might be missed.
Another component of mind mapping that was supremely helpful and enjoyable was image making. Though I do draw quite a lot around my traditional lists already..the “map” was more user or brain friendly. And the information that I was working with was being effortlessly embedded in my memory.
It reminded me of a book called Moon Walking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer. A book about memory techniques and the journey of one journalist to international memory championship victory. Memory techniques and mind mapping both use what is known about the brain to help with a desired function. Mind mapping for solving a problem, collaborating, thinking something out. And the memory techniques to retain information. Which was a vital function in societies that relied solely on orality for the continuation and circulating of information.
Mind map then add color and embellishment. Of course!
The second part of the mind map, where it is revisited was a continuation and a deepening of my understanding of the problem I was working out. Namely, what I thought about my own desires to be an Illustration Designer. Do I go to school do I pull a Shel Silverstein and be an outsider artists who dominates the genre. Hey..why not? Here color was the key. It was blatantly evident to me after looking at what I had created..mind mapped..that I favored one concept over another. Assigning orange and red hues to the SCAD concept was like putting an unconscious cherry on top of it. They are my favorite color genre. Red-Orange on the color wheel represents passion and action. While gold which I assigned to book jacket design represents prestige. These colors are working two fold..one they have meaning for me in figuring out the problem. But they are also embedding the ideas I am trying to retain into my brain via a visual representation of those ideas. They are creating a connection between red-oragne and SCAD. And I can unlock all I know about Scad once I think of red-orange.
The one mind mapping technique I didn’t employ was curved lines…I used them later to embellish my thoughts, but it came more naturally to me to draw rather straight lines from the first. This is something I will explore with future mind maps and see if I can eventually feel comfortable with curving the lines. I do believe that curved is the way of the brain, and the world. As John Lennon expressed..”because the world is round is turns me on..”
Hi Donna… each post should have a 500+ word reflection on what the experience of doing the assignment was like and what you learned from it. The visuals and the reflection should be in the same post so that I don’t miss either of them when I come to grade.
Check out some of the other ones… (I recommend Nicole Nelson who is quite mature in her work…)
I’ll come back and check later tomorrow to read your reflection.
thank you! I needed the direction.