Mapping a System: Concept Map Final

For the creation of our poster, we incorporated images and text for the title to add interest to the piece. In addition, we added typographical elements which highlighted key terms that labeled subdivisions of our research. We used a green, analogous color palette that related closely to the object itself. One of our highlights was the interactive element contained in the historical lineage of the lawn. Specifically, this element is a small, interactive book, composed of multiple sheets of information.

Lawns influence culture by being a social conduit where people gather, mourn, play, eat, socialize, and live. Most people take this everyday object for granted because it has become embedded into American culture. During our research, we found that lawns are a part of the American Dream, which allows one to define individuals based on social class and weigh in on our overall judgment of people.

Some of the most interesting research regarded the DIY movement. This movement originated from the Popular Mechanics and hobbyist culture which evolved into the modern hip and popular subculture. Additionally, the Flymo Lawn Mower captured our interest due to its commercial success and very foreign nature of the object. Researching this object appealed to us due to the wide range of emotions which it would display. The backyard, as a type of lawn, can be considered a fun and playful spot, whereas a cemetery can be considered a sorrowful and mournful spot. The use of lawn for public in contrast with for family produces another range of perceptions. The lawn can be seen as cozy and tight knit, whereas a public spa can ce be uninviting or dangerous.

The final images of our Concept Map: "Lawn."

This is our final Concept Map "Lawn." We kept the greens that went well from my iterations, adding a new green to the initial categories that lawn splits off into. We went with brackets to group to gather the third layer of information together. We also chose a logo and text for our map to bring in the actual object. For the larger categories such as "Lawn Origin," "Lawn Mower," and "Lawn Care" we chose to create a small timeline booklet that was stapled together and adhered to the poster.

Close up detail of the center - name and logo as well as the four main categories that the chart splits off with.

I learned a few different lessons from this project. One of which was how in depth the history of lawns. I did not know before how in the beginning of time how lawns that had tall grass and weeds were once considered beautiful. It was not until some aristocrats decided that they wanted to play lawn sports that grass started to be cut. I learned about how really it was due to the creation of water hoses, fertilizer and chemical weed killer that the current status of lawn maintenance was created. Had there have been no invention of the different tools to keep up maintenance on your lawn, there would be no high standard today of lawn care. I also learned how the same amount of research done for a research paper goes into creating a map. Also I learned that a concept map is a good way to strategically place out information. 


I realized how hard it was to create a spacing standard to be used throughout the poster. When we started the final map, we had to decide how large all pieces of it was going to be so that it all fit, before we were able to start writing the data on the map. Visually I learned that the colors can help or hinder a design. Originally I was using a set of colors in my iterations that was not all shades of green. Even though I was using a different color for each layer of information, it really came together when I used an analogous green color scheme.