ABSTRACT
The main theme that emerges throughout the literature is the almost universal frustration, at best, or resistance, at worst, that art and design students feel towards ‘academic’ writing. J. Hockey notes that there is considerable reluctance, amongst creative art and design students, to systematically document and reflect upon their research and creative processes when conducting higher degree research. H. Edwards notes that mind-maps are popular in design education and typically get used in ‘brainstorming’ sessions as part of the design process. In design practice the visualisations form the basis of the designed object whereas in design writing visualistaions form the basis of designed writing. Writing the thesis involved a lot more editing and some rewriting rather than starting entirely from scratch. Many design academics are aware of and have used the mind-mapping techniques developed by T. Buzan and B. Buzan.
