Now I have to admit, the Peacock metaphor stumped me. It did not really inspire me and it didn’t seem like it would work. However, I am currently sick with a sinus infection and that could have played a role on me not being able to brainstorm.

So the chosen metaphor is: “Life is a Highway”. Idea was given to me by friend, Andrew Luly.

Elouise said the Peacock metaphor is simpler than the “Life is a Highway” metaphor in that there isn’t much information displayed. In addition, she said “Life is a Highway” will be a challenge to display the calendar information.

Now to me, I think the Peacock metaphor is harder than the “Life is a Highway”. Trying to display the amount of information on a peacock and the details for the various events with the Peacock metaphor just doesn’t seem like it would work to me. Maybe if it was just strictly for the calendar aspect, it would work.

To clarify, I am interested in not only how the information is presented but the type of information that is presented.

One example is being able to see all your doctor appointments in a calendar year.

I view the calendar as not only something to help manage future events in your life but also as a timeline so that you can see past events.

This whole idea came from a blog that I stumbled across called LifestreamBlog.  It’s very interesting concept and I’ve already started to take some small steps.

To me, I view the metaphor “Life is a Highway” as an opportunity to explore alternative ways to view how events are displayed compared to traditional digital calendaring systems.

It will certainly be a challenge, but I welcome it.

I love organizing chaotic information.

The next step is to sketch the prototype application from beginning to end.

The metaphor that she was talking about was the Peacock. Even my other professor Chris Egert (my other Capstone Committee Member) commented on this metaphor and the possibilities such as movement and flocking.

Now I must say, I was very excited when I came up with this idea and was surprised with the response from my capstone committee.

The reason for it was because I literally came up with the idea for the metaphor the night before the critique and right before I went to bed.

I originally had plans to do a phyllotaxis metaphor. However, after spending a week on it and getting frustrated with trying to draw one and figuring out how to fit the calendar; I decided to give that idea up.

How I went from phyllotaxis to peacock is very interesting and I feel the need to better explain and document the process that I went through. This is somewhat documented in my sketchbook but I am going to clarify it more in this post.

So here is my thought process from one end to the other:

The main goal of this metaphor is: Pattern

• Phyllotaxis ->
• Snowflakes ->
• Dandelion ->
  • This idea came from the Garden metaphor.
• Animal prints (i.e. hyena, giraffe, a turtle shell, and the honeycomb) ->
  • This idea came from a book called “Patterns in Nature” by Peter S. Stevens
• Coconut fronds ->
  • I was inspired by my Bamboo metaphor and delve into this idea more when I saw a picture in the book by Stevens.
• Feathers ->
  • Somehow the coconut fronds reminded me of feathers.
• Peacock
  • In my search online for images of various types of patterns in feather, I came across peacock feathers.
  • This is where it hit me and the light bulb went off.

So generally this is how my brain works. When I think about how I brainstorm, I realize how much information I gather in my head.

My brainstorming session is generally filled chaos and lots of bouncing of various ideas back and forth and eventually leads to a mind mapping of sorts.

This chaotic process is clearly evident in my sketchbook. I start with a bunch of ideas and never really work at one idea for a long period of time. Well, at least in the initial brainstorming session.

I am always thinking about things (i.e. ideas, metaphors) when I’m not focused on something and I generally don’t physically jot them down.

I wonder if I should write it down but I realize it would be chaotic and full of words, images, and phrases with no sense of order.

It’s almost like my tumblr blog which I post random things that I come across the web that intrigues me. My ideas and inspiration comes from everything I encounter. I look at my surroundings, people, things I read, stuff from the web, etc. and tuck it away in my brain.

Hmm…Maybe I should jot them down.