Using colors in mind maps is maybe useful but for some of you, it may have an opposite effect or simply, there is less interest. Anyway, do we always have a set of color pencils with us? This article will show you how to make your mind map branches unique even in black and white It is not uncommon to meet people who say they do not like or use colors in documents. No later than last week, a teacher called me for help because one of her students prefers to draw mind maps only in black. She tried to convince him to use colors, explaining him the benefits, but in vain.If you want my opinion, the best thing to do in that case is to follow the desire of the child. But then will the mind map be as effective as those drawn by the rest of the classroom? It will depend on distinctive elements that will be used to illustrate and assimilate the content, thus facilitating the storage and retrieval of information.
But also, in practice, we have no other choices than drawing the mind map with one color, with the unique pen or pencil we have with us. If, like the teacher, you face a situation where the color is useless or if, like me, you create monochrome mind maps but your wish they are less monotonous, I invite you to discover how to illustrate your branches for impactful drawings, even in black and white.
To be memorable, a mind map does not need to be an artwork but it must contain remarkable and personal elements that reflect some affinity with the subject. It must express emotions or feeling and must remain in the mind for a while. In general, you can highlight information by adding pictures, by exaggerating the size or the style of words and by using colors. These last ones are often used to distinguish one branch from another. But with only one color, what to do? With a bit of creativity and imagination, you can probably illustrate each main branch (and eventually secondary ones) to make it unique and help your brain to associate more firmly the content and the way it is presented. Not inspired? Here are some branch styles I’ve imagined for you. Possibilities are obviously endless, and they are most of the time related to the context. My goal, as usual, is to show you the way. For the rest, it’s up to you!
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| Creative branch style ideas for your mind maps |
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| Creative branches with iMindMap, the mind mapping software |
The principal feature that make iMindMap different from other mind mapping tools is the use of control points. On ThinkBuzan YouTube channel, you will find a lot of tutorials. Here is the one explaining how to control the shape of your branches.
Some of my mind mapping peers such as Wojtek Korsak, Hans Buskes or Patrick Zimbardo have already demonstrated the flexibility of iMindMap when drawing creative branches. Have a look at their respective work, it's another good source of inspiration.
So, would you have more ideas for extraordinary branches or any comments, do not hesitate to drop a message. If you need some help or if you have a specific need, let me know. All your feedbacks and testimonials, especially in the education domain will be much appreciated.
Be creative,
Be open minded,
Be yourself ...
Woaw, very interesting post, Philippe ;-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I also met some people who were colourblind or just disturbed by colours on a mindmap.
This is a very usefull alternative for all those people.
Thanks for them, my friend ;-)
Thanks. I'm always happy to bring my contribution to the world of mind mapping, thinking that we are all different, and knowing that we are not serving everybody when we generalise too much. I hope it can really help and inspire some people.
DeleteGreat ideas - Awesome association ... Thks for this sharing Phil "Genius" PACKU
ReplyDeletecongrats Philippe, excellent material!
ReplyDeleteThank you Wojtek.
DeleteYou are a wonderful iMindMap surfer and a great branch juggler!
Very well written article Philippe and very relevant to the needs of particular users within the Visual mapping arena. I believe this may catch on in a big way.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wallace.
DeleteHope to see you interacting further on the blog about visual and mind mapping.
Though it is an interesting article, please allow me to disagree with certain things that were said. Mind Maps are particularly geared at visual learners, when you are writing about the teacher in distress about the student not wanting to draw maps same as the rest of the class, it is an alarming statement. Not all students are visual learners, it sounded to me like a teacher who was trying her hardest to make the student a visual learner when he clearly is not, which could explain the reason why he/she does not want to use colours. I believe that mind maps cannot be made for use for the larger group, but likely a small percentage of people who are visual learners. I have tried Mind Mapping at my school and tried in vain to advocate it to the rest of class out of a class of 20 students only 6 picked the mind mapping technique and made it theirs most continued to use their traditional note taking which is linear and mostly used by sequential learners. These 6 students, are clearly visual learners in many aspects that would define such learning style but I do enjoy the different style of branches it simply not for everyone to use. I think some of us need to accept that fact.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback Shabab. You raised a very important point about the dominant learning style that each student has and that the teacher should identify. It's maybe a bit shortcutting to conclude that the student is not a visual learner because he does not like colors but I agree that it would be worthwhile to investigate more.
DeleteOn the other hand, by experience, I can tell you that mind mapping can be used for the majority of students in a classroom and it has a great success. But you are right, not always for all of them. The efficiency of mind mapping totally depends on the way it is introduced in the pedagogy. The biggest mistake is to think that it is exclusively a technique for visual learners. The way we work with teachers make mind mapping applicable for auditory, read/write and kinesthetic learners as well. We introduce papercut, interaction with touch screen, real object mind mapping, mind map with audio and video recording, storytelling, etc... The language of the brain is association. People that think mind mapping is only to be used with visual association are only using a small part of its potential. With the association, we go beyond standards and believes, that's why it is largely adopted by students.
I did not say that the student is not visual but that it was not his/her favoured learning style or even that student could have an inclination for both visual and sequential. I went through the rigorous training in identifying visual learners, therefore I try as much as possible to teach only these students since their learning style is somewhat complex. For example, visual learners need more time to think and give out the answer for a question, simply because they need to form the image or transform the answer into an image and place it into their mental black board to confidently answer the given question. Well again, allow me to disagree that mind maps are still not a standard or moreover a common note-taking strategy in many school across the UK and world wide. I still stand on my position that it is more of strategy that would do wonders with visual learners but I do agree that everyone could make use of it but I strongly doubt that they would make the most of it but this is my opinion and it does not include a general view in anyways but strictly my own personal opinion. I have worked with special (dyslexic, ADHD,..) students across the West Indies (Caribbean) for five years and most, if not all did not even know what was mind mapping. These students embraced the methods successfully and I believe it is mostly attributed to the fact that they are more right brained than left brained (who think mostly in a sequential manner). In the end, each one of us has its own preferred learning tools e.g. some may prefer lists, others linear thinking and lastly mind maps.
DeleteTo conclude on this interesting topic, I love mind maps and since my diagnosis with ADHD as a youngster, this method has helped me tremendously in focusing, keep track of things and making the most of my current job and I have no doubt that it will be invaluable with my new chosen career which is qualifying as a physician. I don't know where I would have been had I not discovered it, since I did, I use it daily. For me, I prefer coloured maps but I would gladly use your examples for quick note taking and mostly hand written notes.
I congratulate you and thank you greatly in taking the time to put this information together and in replying to me. I surely think your article would be of great help to many.
Thanks so much Philippe...
DeleteYou're both great digital & hand-drawn Mind Map artist !