Exercise 1.2 Mapping/diagram

Aim: Create a series of maps or flow diagrams that enable you to reflect on the processes involved in making the studies from exercise 1 and 1.1. The aim is to reflect on your explorations in ways that allow you to represent your process and its outcomes in a free flowing, visual and spatial form. Try to reflect the movements you made physically in the movement of the map/diagram.

Sketchbook 1. Pages 4-7

The good ideas….how do I activate my thinking?

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualise, and structure ideas, problem solving and decision making. I have little doubt that mind mapping, as a tool, increases creativity and productivity. However, the process also requires a degree of control and rational thinking to select ideas to develop further, as opposed to just generating lots of ideas that are just that – ideas!

Before starting this exercise, I was a little sceptical to the value of using it to reflect on my thought process for the previous exercise. I personally like to use mind mapping as a dynamic, energetic and somewhat spontaneous process (albeit with a starting point). As such, I was uncertain how this process would represent outcomes in a free flowing, visual and spatial form. Was I expected to draw pictures of feet walking across a page?

Scepticism to one side and referring to my notes I mapped my though process. Ironically, I then began to question myself as to why I hadn’t started with a mind map. It may have helped me organise myself better, preparing supports, tools and mediums, creating space for experiments, and thinking to the finish as to where I would put each one to dry!

The outcome of the exercise was productive and a well-timed reminder of the effectiveness of mind mapping. I think I could make better use of this by collating pictures, materials, and mediums to create a pictorial mind map. Other take-away points from this exercise were:

• Patience allows time for ideas to evolve
• Preconceived notions only breed preconceived ideas and stifle creativity
• Don’t over think it! the ideas will come