I thought a lot when I first got the brief. Because I am a person who follows my own feelings, I think it is difficult for me to introduce myself in the form of a map. Everything about me is difficult to connect with some existing logic. So I think maybe I can use some of my own changing factors as clues to form a logical map.
I just bought some new rings recently, and I thought that maybe I could show my growth and changes in my interests from the perspective of the jewelry I am interested in. I also did some exploration on this. I looked at my photos of different ages and compared the changes in the accessories on my body. But unfortunately, there was a period in my life without any accessories, that is, when I was in middle school. It is not too far-fetched to say that the schoolbag is my accessory, but it is meaningless for introducing my interests and abilities.
So in the end I gave up this proposal.
Going back to the map itself, I thought of the two cities I have lived in for a long time: Nanjing and Shanghai. It can be said that the two periods of life respectively cover the development process of my life skills and learning skills. I think this direction may help me to make a map that is enough to introduce myself more clearly. After researching the two addresses where I lived on Google Maps, I found some strange phenomena. I think this may be my breakthrough point.
I don’t know if it is due to the network. The real map and linear map are misaligned on my screen. I refreshed the page repeatedly. This process reminds me of the memories in my mind. The same is true when I recall the memories of the past. They all existed, but whenever I tried to recall, I found that what I thought and what actually happened were similar to each other but often misplaced. So when I introduce myself, my reflection and understanding of myself are also slightly misplaced. The theme of ‘dislocation’ will run through my map.
After determining the creative direction, I started from the elements of the map and drew the draft. At the same time, it also determined the logical structure of my map: combining the maps of Nanjing and Shanghai to piece together the memory of “me”. I think my skills and interests belong to my memory category, so my map is my memory map.
- First, I intercepted a relatively clear map of Nanjing and Shanghai. Enlarged the location of my home and the location of my dormitory. These two addresses carry a lot of my memory. Therefore, it has naturally become the initial structure of my memory map.
- Then, I simply spliced the two maps. What I want is to first draw a linear map of two areas, and then connect the streets to each other. The different blocks are the display of my interests and skills.
- In the specific address, I want to show the difference between the two places by drawing my desk. Because of the difference in the content of life, there are bound to be many differences between home desks and dormitory desks. They have different shapes and structures, and there are different clutter on the table. These show my different interests and skills focus in living in the two places. The overlap of the two desks is the complete me.
When the overall work progressed to this point, I suddenly had a new idea. If the overlap of two desks is the complete me, why don’t I directly present my map based on the structure of DESK OVERLAP? This may be more in line with the characteristics of ME than the previous map stitching. Therefore, I overturned the previous draft. I re-planned my memory map according to my interests and skills.
This is more like a memory bubble surrounding me sitting at the table. The order in which they are actually produced is well-documented. But when they become my interest and my skills, it is actually difficult for me to arrange them in a logical order. They are like bubbles crowded together, inseparable.
In the end, my memory map is like this. I hope to show through this picture that when I face YOU, you can see all the components of ME in addition to me. This is the complete ME.