Fun Mind Map

Here is an example of how you can pick a word, idea, or theme and take yourself on a journey of new avenues, discovering and exploring unique paths along the way.

I took the simple and short word “fun” and contemplated the many associations whilst trying to expand my thinking further than the obvious. I tried tangents, opposites and lateral thinking plus freely allowing words to come rather than over-editing. You may come up with an entirely different set of connections and that is the fun of mind mapping 🙂

I expanded the “fun” theme to the overall look of the Mind Map itself by creating a weird and wacky setting and backdrop.

Why stop at words?

An idea I stumbled upon during the creation of the Mind Map was to challenge myself to see if I could come up with a fun word for each letter of the alphabet hence the A to Z part of the Map.

Comparing the colour version to the draft ink version below there is quite a striking contrast:

Here, side by side – the contrast is even more startling!

You can also see the subtle improvements I made such as the face:

Side note & Drawing tip:

If you get the eyes wrong try copying and pasting the best one of the two you drew!

Here is an example; I’ve added small white light circles. It helps to position these in the same place in each eye:

Initially I planned to create a sandy desert feel to the lower half with a light sky blue top half, yet when I tried it the colour balance simply looked wrong, so I opted for an Outer Space setting and created an entirely different look.

Another fun discovery!

One of the brilliant things about using Mind Maps is how you can start with a single word and travel from idea to idea, simply by letting your thoughts run.

If you are looking for new ideas try minimal editing and await the surprises!

I very much doubt I could have listed the words in this Mind Map in a linear form off the top of my head and I probably would not have come up with the idea of an Aero-Pencil from a list of written words on a piece of paper.

When I got to the word wacky I looked at my pencil and thought what would make this pencil wacky? What would make this pencil more fun?

I came up with Aero-Pencil because my mind was in a creative mood which is less easy to tap in linear writing.

The only editing then, is to stop yourself creating another Mind Map about how to make pencils more wacky, what an Aero-Pencil might be and what other inventions can I make using combinations of objects and my imagination!

As you can see, Mind Maps uncover idea after idea; in an infinite fashion – each word in this Mind Map could easily be used to generate another Mind Map, another trip, another fascinating journey or “brain walk”

Why not take your brain for a walk?

Where are you going?

Destination unknown.

That’s the fun of Mind Mapping.