Promoting sustainable creativity: An empirical study on the application of mind mapping tools in graphic design education

Abstract

The development of creative thinking and creative problem solving is an important part of modern sustainable education. In teaching graphic design, educators should ensure the cultivation of sustainable creativity among students. Creative thinking and program development can be facilitated with the help of effective thinking tools. Among the various thinking tools, mind maps represent an easy-to-use visual diagram-based divergent thinking tool. However, few studies have examined the impact of mind maps on sustainable creativity in the design discipline. Similarly, few empirical studies have been conducted to analyse deeply the functional structure of and a graphic design education based on mind mapping. This study aims to examine the relation between students’ use of mind mapping tools and sustainable creativity in implementing mind mapping-based graphic design activities with a sample size of 35 first-year design students. Through an empirical experiment, each student was asked to create a mind map and generate a new graphic design work based on the given experimental materials. The results showed that the mind mapping tool plays an important role in the pre-conceptualization phase of the design process. This tool can effectively help designers develop creative ideas, stimulate their minds, and help them maintain their creative energy and have a sustainable and innovative creative ability.