Branding Assignment

AgeWell Forsyth Late Night Assignment

Get comfy before you begin!

Slip into your pajamas and big furry slippers. Sit back in your recliner with a warm cup of your favorite late night beverage—but don’t spill it on this!



This is your late night assignment. Email this assignment back to ray before our next meeting and I will share the results (ray@brandrave.com).

All of us have ideas. It’s just a matter of encouraging a flow instead of a mere trickle… Only a few of us keep in touch with this ability as we begin to take up residence in the left hemisphere of our brains as we arrive at work each day. We have so little time to be imaginative, but so much time to stop and fiddle with our solutions.

“BRAIN-clustering”
One way to cultivate and gain easy access to the brain’s creative potential is through the non-linear “Brain-sailing” technique we call “BRAIN-clustering”. It’s an act of self-definition of what you know, what you wonder about, what you feel, see, hear, touch, taste—all of which reflects your unique voice. The beauty of “BRAIN-clustering” is that it allows us to form new ideas intuitively, in a way where ideas come of their own accord.

What you should do: (this requires no formal training!)

1. Find some quiet, uninterrupted time and space (good luck!). Plan on taking about 20-30 minutes for the exercise.
2. Write “Empowerment” and “Inspire” in the middle of a blank page and circle it. This nucleus word will evoke clusters of associations unique to you. The nucleus acts as the stimulus for recording all the associations that spring to mind. “BRAIN-clustering” always unfolds from the center (see example).
3. Now, let your playful, creative design mind make connections. Simply let go and write as quickly as you can. Avoid judging or choosing. Let the words and phrases radiate out from the nucleus word, and draw a circle around each of them. Connect those associations that seem related with lines.
4. As you cluster, you may experience a sense of randomness or, if you are somewhat skeptical, an uneasy sense that isn’t leading anywhere. That is the logical side of your mind wanting to get into the act to make you feel silly for not setting thoughts down in logical order. Trust this process though. “BRAIN-clustering” is something we all do naturally, only seldom do we make these clusters visible on paper.
5. Let “BRAIN-clustering” happen naturally. If you reach a plateau where nothing happens, doodle for a while by adding arrows or something. Use as many sheets of paper as you need to capture your mindstream.
6. As you spill out seemingly random words and phrases around the center you will be surprised at the ideas that appear until the “aha” moment. You are done when you experience a mental shift characterized by the satisfying feeling you’ve discovered something--the “aha”.
7. Once you’ve finished the first word, write the word “AGEWELL” in a circle on the middle of another page and repeat the exercise.

So, give it a try. Let your design mind spring off of “Empowerment”, “Inspire” and “Agewell” and the associated words or phrases and “BRAIN-cluster”. Tap into your inborn receptivity to pattern-making and playfulness, discovery, and metamorphic connection. Happy “BRAIN-clustering”!