This document summarizes Amanda Kern's process in creating a self-portrait mind map for her faculty art exhibition. It describes how her previous experiences with mind mapping and a 365 photo project inspired her to create a large, hand-drawn mind map capturing her thoughts. The summary details Amanda's process of compiling thoughts, laying out type, and gradually adding to the mind map over many hours while involving her children. It concludes by explaining how the final piece was a large, printed canvas that received positive feedback at the exhibition.

1. PROFESSIONAL PROJECT
AMANDA KERN
FALL 2009

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................3
HOW O’REILLY INSPIRED ME .....................................................4-7
PREVIOUS MINDMAPS ...............................................................5-6
HOW 365 INSPIRED THIS PROJECT ..............................................7
FINDING INSPIRATION...................................................................8
GETTING STARTED ...................................................................9-12
SHARING THE MINDMAP ......................................................13-16
INVOLVING MY CHILDREN .....................................................17-18
SHARING MY WORK ...................................................................19

3. The Map to My Mind
This professional project was created in the
fall of 2009 as I was beginning my masters
degree at SCAD. As a faculty member at
Valencia Community College I was invited to
contribute work to our faculty art exhibition.
After doing a photography project for most
of the year called 365 where I took a photo
of myself and my family every day last year
I learned the day by day journey of self
portraits became such an inspiration that
the theme of the show was “self portraits
squared” so I was challenged with how to do
this in a creative way that was more than just
a photograph.
Being a graphic designer it was important
that I submit at least one piece that was
more graphical and after a lot of thought I
decided to do a self portrait that was also
a creative mind map, sort of a map of the
thoughts that continually go through my
head. All typography was hand rendered off
the computer and composited later on the
computer. Through this process book I’ll share
with you the journey I took to creating this
project last year.

4. How O’Reilly inspired me
In 2006 I auditioned to write a book for the
Head First series with O’Reilly. I proposed
a book on the Adobe Flash program. My
audition was approved and I began a journey
towards writing a book that would forever
change me as a educator but also in how
I would think about so many things in life.
After spending nearly 9 months on and off
working with editors, going through several
days of training with a group of new authors,
and just beginning to plan and write this book
I learned so much about thinking in general.
Unfortunately the book never was finished
in part due to the fact that the series was no
prepared to begin approaching software due
to how fast it went through version changes,
but also because I had gotten pregnant with
my son and I admit that looking back as
disappointing as it was it became something
that mutually worked out for the best
because I soon would be very busy with a
new baby and beginning my bachelors degree
online at SCAD.
The biggest thing that has really transformed
how I think is the use of mindmaps. Though
I’ve brainstormed in various ways I have to
admit the use of mindmaps in the writing
process became a new way of thinking for
me and it has since helped me through so
many creative and writing experiences.

5. Mindmaps provided balance
Long after my experiences with O’Reilly I found
that mindmaps were a way for me to find balance
as I continued to be a very busy individual. I
created this mindmap while on a trip to help me
organize my thoughts of all the things I had to do,
my goals, dreams, and things I wanted to make
sure I wouldn’t forget. It became a way for me
to clear my mind in almost a therapeutic way
doodling my thoughts in a visual form helped me
find the balance I needed in my busy life.

6. Mindmaps in my academics
Like I mentioned, mindmaps became a way to help
me think. As I completed my SCAD coursework
I found them very beneficial as I wrote research
papers. Much like an outline I was able to make a
note of important topics and major points I wanted
to include in my paper. I would create mindmaps
on huge pieces of drawing paper and often was
found buried in with my nose in a pile of books as
I scribbled notes all over the place.
I also have two children so often times they
would doodle beside me on separate paper or
as you can see on the bottom example, my son,
who was only a year and a half at the time felt
the need to help me. I found his scribbles a fun,
yet unexpected addition to my notes. Keeping my
children beside me as I worked on these projects
was a constant reminder to keep me motivated
and helps document just how much I have juggled
while pursuing my education. Looking back his
scribbles on this mindmap was a great reminder
of how excited we all were for me to finish this
research paper because it marked the completion
of my bachelors degree at SCAD.

7. How 355 inspired this project
As I began to learn more about photography I
challenged myself at the beginning of 2009 with
a project called 365. I used the project as a way
of helping me learn more about photography by
taking a photo a day. I set out to take a photo of
myself and each person in my family every single
day of the year. In addition to learning my about
photography I hoped to use this as an excuse to
capture more moments with my family. I look back
and photos over the years and as the one who
usually takes the photos I’m rarely in photos and
I didn’t want my life to pass with out making sure
I helped captured moments that my children and
family could reflect on many years from now.
The very first day of 2009 my daughter and I
elected to do a “to do list” themed photo that
was sort of a “mindmap” of things we hoped to
do that year, almost like a new year’s resolution.
Little did I know how much this silly project and
first photo of the year would inspire myself and
so many others. As the months passed I learned
that the theme of the faculty show was decided in
part due to how inspiring my journey with 365 was
to others. So when making the decision of what
photo to include in my mindmap project I found
this first photo of the year to be most fitting photo
of me for the project.

8. Finding inspiration
As I began the mindmap project I did seek out
inspiration that would help get my mind thinking
more creatively. I’ve included the images I had
saved in a folder titled “mindmap inspiration”.

9. Getting started...
I have to say the hardest part of the entire project
was getting started. It was tough to really focus
on what thoughts I wanted to capture. I began by
jotting down a list of thoughts in my notebook.
Once I had the list of points I wanted to include
I created much of the type first by setting the
typography on the computer. Once I had a “rough”
position and style I would print up sheets of paper
and transfer the thoughts by hand. I rubbed pencil
to the back of the print outs and outlined many of
the words as best as I could to help emulate the
style of some of the typefaces I wanted to use in
this project. I wanted to use a variety of fonts to
help connect the audience to the variety of my
thoughts. Using a diverse, yet selective group
of typefaces, allowed me to control how some
thoughts would stand out in comparison to others.
I also included some logos of companies that
were influential in my life such as google, twitter
and facebook. I did my best to emulate a hand
rendered version of each logo as well.

10. Getting started...
I learned quickly that I had far to many thoughts
that I wanted to capture and it was tough to
completely layout the entire mindmap on the
computer at first. So I gradually added thoughts,
then hand rendered some and went between
writing and laying out type on the computer
constantly. I used a combination of illustrator,
photoshop and InDesign during the process.
As I created my mindmap I took a series of
screenshots to help share my creative process.
I use twitter regularly and found myself sharing
my process periodically through twitter. It quickly
created a lot of hype for people to get excited to
attend our faculty show to see the detail behind
my project. On the next few pages I will show
images of the mindmap being created to help
give you a glimpse of just how much work went
into this project. The final project ended up being
a 36”x36” gallery wrapped canvas so it was
impossible to create and print all the typeset on
the computer at once. At times I found my own
handwriting to be a worthwhile addition to the
project that made it that much more personal.

13. Sharing the mindmap
The response as I was creating this project was
amazing. During the process and even months
and nearly a year later I still get people asking me
about how I created the mindmap. I have shared
some of the process on my blog. I found the close
up views to help those that could not see the final
project in person.

17. Involving my children
To those that know me they know my children
are my world. They are the reason I work so hard
and do so much in order to help provide for them
and hopefully someday they’ll look back and find
all the time I spent juggling so much was with
them in mind. Perhaps they’ll find all these crazy
endeavors I take on inspiring someday. But right
now they are beside me almost every step of
the way. When I created this mindmap my son
was nearly two years old and he clung to my
side for many hours as I worked on all the hand
written type. My daughter is at an age where
she enjoys being a part of any project I allow
her to be involved in. As I worked on this project
for countless hours, likely 80-100 hours, I recall
her begging me if she could write something to
go on my project. It wasn’t until the mindmap
was printed that I allowed her to contribute to
the project. I wanted to be sure the print I had
was one of a kind, and original, and the one that
would help me capture and hold onto those little
thoughts she added to my mindmap project.

18. Involving my children
My daughter wrote “We love you Mommy!” and
drew a stick figure for our family. It makes the final
printed project that much more special and unique.

19. Sharing my work
The final project I had printed on a gallery
wrapped canvas. It was 36” x 36” – a massive
size that I know would gain attention on display
at our faculty show. I knew such a large size
would enable viewers of my work to glance at
my thoughts more easily and hoped it would
draw them in to become more curious of these
thoughts that run through my mind often. I was
one of a select few faculty that displayed work in
the faculty show. I had on display 3 of the total
13 pieces in our faculty show. I received quite a
bit of positive feedback at the exhibition and still,
nearly a year later, I have people make remarks or
express their admiration of this project. Needless
to say, this is definitely not the last mindmap you
will see from me.