Picture Mix

I was asked by a friend to make a collection of pictures on the theme of austerity.

Here’s the development of the collection to the fourth draft:

• First draft http://www.picturemx.com/c/169a00de
• Second draft http://www.picturemx.com/c/170a3d5d
  
• Third draft http://www.picturemx.com/c/171ab8b8
  
• Fourth draft http://www.picturemx.com/c/172a8de8

I’ve stopped here to get my friend’s input.

I think a good approach now would be if she were to remove pictures from the most recent draft – the ones that she finds least relevant to the subject.

Hopefully that will give me a new direction to go in, to add more pictures in a useful way that speaks to her and helps her think the subject through.

The aim is to give her, and others, a collection that can be used as a base to think visually about austerity, to explore the subject through the use of mixes, based on that collection and perhaps others, such as Courage & Persistance and Fairtrade.

Update November 22

Here’s the revised version:

• Fifth draft http://www.picturemx.com/c/237afa1a

Here are some questions and conclusions people have reached through mixes. Click on the link to see the mix.

• Could we get the hang of blogging faster if we did shorter posts?
• Would it help reaching people if I sent emails as well as writing a blog?
• If I decide to go into Psychology as a career, I will have to sacrifice a career as an artist. But this doesn’t have to be for ever.
• Beginning with the easy targets can make tasks manageable and eliminate the chaotic nature of some situations. Like my new job.
• I feel the need for a change at the moment as I seem to have exhausted all possibilities where I am for work. I want to come home for a while to help me think, but can I really afford to do this?
• To train new employees the underlying logical processes need to be made clear or “smooth” so that the job can be picked up with ease.
• There are many threats pursuing my friend. For this reason she can’t communicate comprehensively – to avoid misunderstandings arising from this it’s best to talk only to her, and only on what is most important.
• I have been putting pressure on myself to make a change, but it’s important to remember that change is always a process rather than one big thing, because life is always changing.

How does Picture Mix work?
Picture Mix helps a visual thinker to weave their thoughts together by looking for ‘holes’ in pictures.

What do you mean by ‘looking for holes’?   
It is unlikely that a single picture will express a complete idea, or an entire problem.  Life is usually more complicated than that.  So when we start with putting a picture in a mix, we look for ‘holes’ in it – ways in which it does not say everything we want to say.  This then sets us off looking for more pictures to weave into it, so that together, in the mix, they will more fully express our thought process, or more precisely define the problem we are trying to grapple with.

Are pictures with holes a good thing?  
Yes. They are a helpful way to deal with reality, which is often complicated.  Picture Mix is for when you are struggling to understand an issue. In your desire to get through the jam, it may occur to you that a picture is incomplete; close to the answer, but not close enough.  As you continue to think about the issue and add other images, you may realise what it is that is missing. In this way, Picture Mix can help you to clarify your thinking, and may enable you to see a new/different route to a solution.

Welcome to Picture Mix. I hope you find it useful. Here’s what some other people have said about it.

Andrew Crick

—

“I really enjoyed doing this. I think what is cool about it is it pulls out aspects of an experience (puts aspects of an experience into words/images) that you would not necessarily know to, or think to, communicate with someone. It is interesting to think how different people will interpret a symbol based on their unique experiences.”

Beth

“At first I was a little overwhelmed by just how many pictures there were and didn’t know how I could hold them all in my memory to choose which ones I’d seen, and what they meant. But as I started to play with it, I found it fascinating. I experimented with choosing pictures for the way they looked and then reading what they were about. Before I’d even chosen to look at one or two pictures, I was already thinking in a very fresh way about the subject of my collection. I’d recommend anyone to have a go…”

Lucie

“The process of making a collection was much easier than I had anticipated.  As I sifted through, and chose the images and concepts that I wanted to include, I was able to maintain an unbroken train of thought that began and ended with the overall concept that I was attempting to illustrate.”

Sara

“Making a collection is always a mind-expanding experience. You can learn about, and consolidate what you already know, as well as find out how you feel about a subject. You’re also given the opportunity to learn more from what others know and feel about it. This can be done through interviewing people about a subject, and using their responses to inform your picture choices, or through sharing the creation process with them and observing their own picture choices.

The process of choosing pictures which you think are relevant to the subject area in itself can be enlightening. Finding a picture which resonates with you can tell you a lot about your attitude to a subject, as well as expanding or influencing this at the same time. By setting out in front of you in a visual–spatial format your understanding of a subject area, you can not only consolidate your knowledge, but also perceive new leads within it, and how your subject area may relate to another.”

Emma

“Making mixes is a really great way to help focus one’s thoughts on a particular topic or theme. By using the other mixes that people have made, as well as the dictionary built into the Editor tool, I’ve found it very easy to draw together groups of images on a number of themes. Enjoy.”

John

“When first introduced to Picture Mix, I was a little confused as to the primary function. Since spending time with the concept and the subjects of my collections, I have found it extremely interesting to see how so many of the images apply so well to so many scenarios. I have found the non-suggestive nature of the images useful, as one person may interpret one image one way, and another person may extract different connotations/meanings. This enables complete reliance on the way a person perceives the image, rather than text form, which is much more objective. This means the potential meaning of any given collection is completely up to the reader.

I have found doing lots of Picture Mix work at once a little overwhelming. The main reason for this is usually I am a fairly logical person, but with this concept, I find myself thinking ‘What COULD this mean?’ as opposed to my usual ‘What DOES this mean?’ approach. It is, however, extremely useful to prepare a collection on any given topic and to explain through the use of a mix.

I find it fascinating that one image by itself can mean something, but there will always be more images that are applicable to any one situation.

I can see how it would be a really useful tool for visual thinkers, particularly within the autistic spectrum. As my mother works with kids with severe physical disabilities, she has commented on how useful it would be for some of the kids she works with. The brilliant thing with Picture Mix is that it can be used at any level to explain near enough anything. It’s up to you how suggestive you are with the tool set. You really don’t HAVE to explain it to anyone: as long as it helps/aids you in the understanding of something, it has served its purpose.

Overall, I think it’s a very clever idea which should be a huge success. The fact that, after a collection is completed, it feels like each individual image is personalised for the topic makes it very clever, and overall, almost infinite in the issues to be touched on. Give it a go!”

Jack