Saturday 14 April 2012

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping was not an entirely new concept for me but I have never really used it before. I decided to research it a little to familiarise myself fully with the concept before I decided to use it in the classroom. I really like the  visual quality of mind mapping and I feel it could be useful in exploring ideas in all areas of visual art and art history and not solely Graphic Design.

Mind mapping is a highly effective way of getting information in and out of your brain. Mind mapping is a creative and logical means of note-taking and note-making that literally "maps out" your ideas.
All Mind Maps have some things in common. They have a natural organizational structure that radiates from the center and use lines, symbols, words, color and images according to simple, brain-friendly concepts. Mind mapping converts a long list of monotonous information into a colorful, memorable and highly organized diagram that works in line with your brain's natural way of doing things. 
One simple way to understand a Mind Map is by comparing it to a map of a city. The city center represents the main idea; the main roads leading from the center represent the key thoughts in your thinking process; the secondary roads or branches represent your secondary thoughts, and so on. Special images or shapes can represent landmarks of interest or particularly relevant ideas. 
The Mind Map is the external mirror of your own radiant or natural thinking facilitated by a powerful graphic process, which provides the universal key to unlock the dynamic potential of the brain.

The five essential characteristics of Mind Mapping:

  • The main idea, subject or focus is crystallized in a central image.
  • The main themes radiate from the central image as 'branches'.
  • The branches comprise a key image or key word drawn or printed on its associated line.
  • Topics of lesser importance are represented as 'twigs' of the relevant branch.
  • The branches form a connected nodal structure.
Mind Mapping graphic

Tony Buzan is the inventor of Mind Maps, the revolutionary thinking tool used by over 250 million people to help them unleash their mental potential. He is the world's leading authority on the brain, learning and memory.


This clip, provided by MacGrercy Consultants (www.macgrercy.com) shows you the basics of how to make a mind map. The intention is to show you the main points to get you started.

No comments:

Post a Comment