Lawn Solutions

Lawn Solutions Final

Lawn Solutions Iteration

LAWN SOLUTIONS RATIONALE

Heading into this project I had no idea on how to approach drawing decisions with no words. I knew I had to think a lot when approaching my iteration because I needed to let my ideas flow. I ended up being extremely happy with my iteration and used the outline for my final drawing. I decided that listing the chemicals one by one would be less confusing as there are many different scenarios. I used the different elements according to what the chemicals needed and found out that they were very similar. The only element that was different between lettered chemicals was the insect infestation. I drew the insects first before listing the other elements because it was the distinguishing factor. I had a hard time thinking of symbols that were sustainable for others to understand. I ended up using what I thought were universal symbols such as the thermometer, desert, rain, and a basic bug. While I was happy with the way this turned out, I was fairly surprised that I had not had an "aha" moment yet. I thought I had done something wrong but suddenly realized that my chemicals names looked very similar looking and could be confusing. Then it came, AHA!, color coding to make things more clear has alway been a favored technique. I decided to keep the letters black and the numbers orange so that people could distinguish what they needed easier. I ended up being very happy with my drawing and I believe that people of all kinds will be able to understand it.

Sketch #3 Collage

MY COLLAGE

-mix of both dark and warm colors

-Nature themed

-Man made objects also

-connections between products

-no specific order

-Nature vs. Man

-Abstract and Modern

-Food stands out

When this assignment was announced I immediately became stressed. The time limit was way too fast for me as I like to take my time when making art. Looking back at the assignment I understand why it is done this. This assignment boosts ones sense of analysis and ability to make connections. In the process of making this I had no plan. I was simply cutting things out that jumped out at me. When starting the process I had very little direction in where to put my images. My arrangement only included a little thought. When I arrived back at my dorm I was able to look at my piece for a longer period of time and jokingly made connections. The more I joked about connections the more I realized how much they made sense. I had a lot of pictures that dealt with nature and many pictures of food which contradicted each other. I believe it depicted a message of nature vs. man or the industry. I also used a lot of cool designs from a home decor magazine. This gave the collage an abstract and visual appeal. I ended up being very happy with my collage.

Mind Maps Sketch #1

MIND MAP #2

MIND MAP #2

MIND MAP #1

Upon starting my mind map I had zero idea on what my central idea and problem was going to be. This forced me to sit down with my sketchbook and think about what sort of problems I currently have in my life. This only took a moment as I realized what dilemma always arises here at Roger Williams. This dilemma is money. I thought about how much I am paying to go here and how I even need to watch how I spend my money here in order to stay in sufficient funds. I still want to have fun with all my friends so I decided to make a mind map that may help make me realize a solution on how to save or make a little more money. I started going off with the ideas and reasons that put me in this problem. I realized that things such as my smartphone, trips, food, and weekends have taken up the majority of my bank account. After I had found out these problems I became stuck on how I should solve my dwindling bank account. I left the sketchbook for an hour and then came back with a clear head. I then realized in my "AHA! moment" that a vast majority events in which I spend money all draw back to school. I then made numerous connections to what happens on campus and realized that a lot of things connected to each other. I achieved solutions such as spending less on food, sharing with friends, and music.

MIND MAP #2

For my second mind map I decided to take the problems of "Pressure of RWU" that derived from my money problems map. I decided to do this because at some points during the year I become overwhelming stressed with the multiple events in my schedule. I wanted to see if I could find solutions or answers as to why I feel this way. I thought maybe I could even find a way to control my stress during my mind map experience. I started with four main controls that I thought where most of my stress comes from. These subjects were doing well, procrastination, peer comparison, and self appearance. As mind maps work, I just started listing off words or ideas that came to my head when I thought about these stressful thing. The only problem I found when I looked at all my words is that I did not really see an overall connection. I was a bit frustrated as I thought I would have seen an overall correlation right away. After looking at the map a second time, I had an "AHA!" moment and realized that a majority of the things that caused me stress would all give me a life lesson. While I struggle with these things now, scenarios like this in the future will not be a problem for me. I achieved my goal of finding the origins of my stress and how I will benefit from the current stress.


CONCLUSION

From this first mind mapping experience, I realized I can use this tool to find solution and find messages from my subconscious. I thought that in doing this exercise that I would not actually find things I did not know. My current issues of money an stress is now probably going to dwindle in severity. I hope to use mind maps in my sketchbook for the future as I found it to be a great success. The "AHA!" moments were very cool and I wish to have many more of them. Overall, this was a nice beginning to my sketchbook.

Affinity Map Sketch #2

AFFINITY MAP CLOSE UP OF MIDDLE CONGESTION

AFFINITY MAP

Affinity Map Sketch:

Now on my second assignment, I was really excited to begin a new prompt and to let my mind function in a different way. After a long time of deliberation, I decided to go with an affinity map, as I believe I would have the most fun creating it. I had a hard time figuring out what topic I wanted to discuss never mind the control on my axis would be. I contemplated certain activities and other various things but finally ended up focusing my map on beverages. I thought that I could find a lot of units to add to my map and I immediately thought of what my variables would be. I chose the two extremes of youth and elderly plus the extremes of healthy and unhealthy. I was excited to start because a bunch of different ideas were just flowing through my head. The idea was simple and I like it as I got to understand how and affinity map worked. I encountered a problem with how general I wanted to get with my beverages. I did not know if I wanted specific names of beverages or just general names. I sat there distraught wondering what direction I wanted to go. Upon this contemplation I had an “AHA!” moment and thought that I would just find drinks that would correspond to age then it would fall into categories of unhealthy or healthy. This made this much easier to figure out and I was then able to finish my map. I achieved my goal of understanding an affinity map.

Conclusion:

This assignment was to help me better learn how an affinity map works and I believe I have achieved this goal. I knew that if I chose something different that I choose something different I would not benefit from the assignment as much. I knew that going into this course I wanted to learn more of the informational process. I learned all of the basic aspects of an affinity map and would consider the assignment a big success.