1. Mindful
Design

2. Design
How does mindfulness
influence visual communication
design outcome?
Yixin Cao (Milo)
Master of Visual Communication Design
The Design School Arizona State University
Graduate Supervisory Committee:
Mookesh Patel, Co-chair
Heywood William, Co-chair
Fehler Michelle, Committee member
Mindful Design
Mindful

3. Committee Signstures
Signature Date
Mookesh Patel, Co-chair
Heywood William, Co-chair
Fehler Michelle, Committee member
Signature Date
Signature Date
Thanks
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the kind
people who have helped me to expand my perspectival and my
inner lives, to improve my design skills and to pursue my
dream of study in the United States.
Mookesh Patel,
You taught me there is no such thing as a finished design; you always
pushed me forward to discover different methods and opportunities to
achieve higher levels of design thinking and imagination.
William Heywood,
Your deep knowledge about the interconnection between design
and psychology, especially regarding the practice of mindfulness,
which helped me improve my concentration, my empathy and
ultimately enhanced my design acumen.
Michelle Fehler,
Your patience and remarkable help, support helped me overcome
my fears and your encouragement helped me complete my
thesis experiments.
I am very appreciative to have had all of you in my life and having
you there has made me a better person and more sentient designer.
Lindsay,
your passion and enthusiasm for stepping beyond sacred cows and
taboos always influenced me to be intrepid to break rules and realize
that there are no boxes. You introduced me to the new world of
design.there is no box. You inducted me into a new world of design.
Lisa Peña,
Your understanding of design composition and creativity contributed
to accurate evaluation of the design outcomes, which played an
important role in this study researching an influence of mindfulness
in design process.
John Takamura,­
Your clear logical manner of thinking and your rich
theoretic knowledge were instrumental in helping me with the
research methodology.

4. Content
Abstract
Question
Key Words
Abstract
Literature Review
Matrix
Visual
Communication
Design
Mindfulness
24
14
10
Introduction
Problem
Importance
Purpose of Study
Discussion & Conclusion
Discussion
Conclusion
Bibliography
50
56
Methodology & Analysis
Research on Method
Audience Interactive Experiment
Thesis Experiment
Data Analysis
36
Appendices
Glossary
Group Survey
60

5. Abstract

6. Abstract
11
Abstract
10
How does mindfulness
influence the visual communication
design outcome?
Empathy
Concentration
Creativity
Nonjudgmentally
Reflection
Sentience
Design is much more than just a branch of
science; design, based in very simple core,
spiritual practices, is about creating change
from a foundation of deep understanding.
The designer must sense, indeed observe the
problem, through a lens of cultivated
empathy, perceive the problem as experienced
by others, and originate a new responsive
design as an output of that new understanding.
The work of design should reflect both the
personality of the designer and their environ-
mental perceptions, that is, the designer’s
perception of the original design (environ-
mental problems), filtered, altered and
ultimately transformed through the designer’s
deep reflective spiritual exercises, into a
new, fully realized design conception capable
of enhancing local to global environmental
conditions and circumstances.
For the designer to achieve self concentration
and full understanding of connection between
design thinking and outcome, they must
practice mindfulness and through this practice,
develop the sensitivity and the sentience
necessary to perceive environmental and
personal problems effectively. According
to a simple mantra from Irene Au, “mind-
fulness practice for better design” (Irene Au).
In Au’s lecture, she indicates how mindfulness
practice helps the designer to break free of
judgmentalism, of paralyzing fear of taking
risks, and boost personal creative acumen.
Beyond creativity, mindfulness also promotes
empathy, concentration, non-judgmentalism,
reflection and sentience, which are important
skills for visual designers enabling them to
think deeper and present information or ideas
through design more effectively.
This study of a mindfulness training to design
realization process will discover how
mindfulness and the achievement of clear
mind affects design outcomes. Such an
intentional process will allow designers to
realize the path to cultivating essential
skills, such as, creativity, innovation, con-
centration, effectiveness and empathy,
in order to enhance the spiritual nature and
depth of their thinking. Also such a process
must include an examination of relevant living
experiences in service to the thesis.
Deep concepts that come from the inner life
can be incorporated into the visual
communication design works discipline, and
will ultimately benefit different audiences,
environmental spaces and society as a whole.

7. Intro duction
Problem
Importance
Purpose

8. Introduction
15
Introduction
14
Problem
A
cluttered mind leads to a cluttereddesign;
an unfocused mind leads to a confuseddesign.
Design work represents how a designer reads his or her environment and reveals the inner activities of the designer.
The paramount of design depends on the clarity of mind and the level of concentration.
Designers need a clear mind in order to convey information effectively through visual communication design.
However, the world moves so quicklyand changes so rapidly,
people rarely take time to
p
a
u
s
e
and to reflect on their living environment and
thoughts.
reflect
this situation causes d i s t r a c t i o n and creates anun cused
fo
m
i n
d.
Visual communication is through visual aid and is described as
the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be
read or looked upon ( David,1981). If visual design cannot convey
the information and emotion properly, it is then a waste of
resources, time, and energy. Think of how many advertisements
and flyers we receive everyday, and how many of them
speaks real meaningful information and can be remembered by
their audiences? Visual design should not be a pile of stacked
information, the purpose of visual design should be an effective
and meaningful communication by deep and comprehensive
thinking. Irene Au suggests ”mindfulness practice
for better design”. It presents a connection between
self concentration and design expression.
Mindfulness can make people be more concentrated,
effective, empathetic, and objective thinkers.
The question is, how do these influences caused by
mindfulness benefit designers and will that be
reflected into the design outcome?
Importance
There is an energy inherent in us all, to imagine and
build things, and make connections to other people, places
and things in our environment; this is the source of
creativity. When we nourish ourselves, we nourish our
community. And when we nourish our community,
we nourish ourselves (Ylan Vo, 2011). So the relationship
between a better world by design and a personal spiritual
practice need to be explored.
WISE Employment’s community

9. Introduction
17
Mindfulness can be used to reduce distractions and increase
concentration. Mindfulness practices help people to release
themselves from their own egos, to see the problems more
objectively, and help designers to keep their attention on seeking
the core values of things and the most touching moments in
their lives. This is an effective way
to adjust a stressed and distracted mind.
Designers need to continuously learn and develop
formal concepts, methods, theory, and techniques to
convey the information efficiently by combining images
with text together. On top of that, in today’s world, more
and more designers start to look at things beyond
conventional understandings, and focus on the discovery and
solutions of complicated problems. Mindfulness allows
designers to gain empathy and different perspectives of
their environment, which will help designers
discover problems and find solutions by
connecting the inner and outside world.
However, sometimes designers are not clear
about the thoughts and how to make decisions
in design, because we judge the problem by
the ego, not by understanding the essence of
the problem. When one judges based on his
or her own ego, the conveyance of information
can easily be twisted, and the design could shift
from communication to subjective expressions.
Lack of empathy and mental harmony is also an
expression of the lack of attentiveness to
others. Skills and techniques might be able
to create some great designs, but empathy
is crucial forgreater designs. True empathy
goes beyond observation, it’s about getting out
of the head and feeling what others
have experienced.
Designers must dig deeper into the complexity
of society and inner self as a prerequisite
of any good design. Such a discovery needs few
essential elements: empathy, clear mindedness,
concentration, sensitivity, observation,
understanding, perspicacious, and innovation.
Objective observation, perceptual empathy,
and logical analysis integrate together and are
presented through the work of design.
This mindful design is beneficial to effective
expression, to communicate with clients,
and emotional transmission.
Researchers from the University of Rochester
Medical Center found that training doctors in helped
them to listen better and not be both at home and
at work (2009).

10. Introduction
19
Introduction
18
Purpose
mindfulness and design
This study will research the
relationship between
mindfulness and design.
Meditation will be a
representation of mindfulness
because it is an effective
way to practice mindfulness.
Through the comparison
of the design works by the
students who practice
meditation regularly and by
students who do not practice
meditation much or not at all.
This study will research how
mindfulness affects the
designers’ use of basic design
elements to present
composition and creativity.
Mindfulness is only
discovering part of the many
influences matters over
logic and thinking, but there
are so many other things in
the daily lives that are affecting
the way people think.
This research is not only
applicable to discover
the influence of mindfulness
on design, but opening a
new field for the development
of deeper design thinking and
innovative design strategies.
As designers we are not
limited to our own
professional field, and in fact
we need to research into
many other fields to be
comprehensive and thorough,
and to discover the method
to improve designer’s
creativity, innovative,
concentration, effectiveness
of skillful expression, and
empathy between design and
audience. Therefore, we
can maximize one’s potential,
set the boundary of design
beyond decoration.
Every designer is encouraged
to use their creative talents
to their highest and best purpose
and to demonstrate the
value of designers and design
thinking (AIGA).
Original design can be
transformed through
the designer’s deep reflective
spiritual exercises, into
a new, full realized design
conception capable of
enhancing local to global
environmental conditions.

11. Literature
Review
Design
Communication
Visual
Mindfulness

12. 100 ideas that changed graphic design (Heller)
5 Types of Meditation Decoded
Cage, J., & Gann, K. (2011). Silence: Lectures and writings
Baingio, P. (2011). What is the Meaning of Shape?
Center for Investigating Healthy Minds
Chimero, F. (2013). The shape of design
Hara, K. (2007). Designing design
Dondis, D. (1973). A primer of visual literacy
French Fries_Warren Lehrer
Gunaratana, H. (2011). Mindfulness in plain English
Lehrer, W. (1983). I mean you know
Irene, A. (2015, January 20). Mindfulness Practices For Design
Iyer, P. (2014). The art of stillness: Adventures in going nowhere
Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS)
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Meditation makes you more creative, ScienceDaily
Mindfulness Practices For Better Design, Irene Au
Poems of Mindfulness (blog)
R. Murray Schafer, short film "listen"
Rumi poem
Skolos, N., & Wedell, T. (2006). Type, image, message
What is graphic design, Juliette Cezzar
Hagen, R., & Golombisky, K. (2013). White space is not your enemy
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 26, 2007,
Mindfulness in Measurement
Burch, V., & Penman, D. (2015). You are not your pain
Kleinman, P. (2012). Psych 101
designcom-
municate
balance conscious-
ness
com-
position
creative efficient
Literatures Key Words
infor-
mation
spacesensesself -
discovery
experience silencereflectionempathy /
understand
emotion idea rhythmmindful-
ness
meditation

13. Literature Review
25
Literature Review
24
Visual Communication Design
Visual communication is through visual aid and is described
as the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be
read or looked upon ( David,1981). As the definition from
AIGA, Graphic design, also known as communication design,
is the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and
experiences with visual and textual content.
signs
typography
drawing
graphic
design
illustration
package
Design
Advertising
Animation
colour
...
http://www.brucemaudesign.com
http://www.thehoworths.com
bibigreycat.blogspot.com
http://www.brucemaudesign.com Gabriel Moreno
Apple iPad mini Advertisement militaryingermany.com
It also explores the idea that a visual
message accompanying text has a greater
power to inform, educate, or persuade
a person or audience (Smith, 2005).
For better understanding, visual, communication
and design, these words should be analyzed
individually, and then people will understand
the relationship clearly when they are put
together in an orderly fashion.
Visual communication in part or whole
relies on vision, and is primarily presented or
expressed with two dimensional images,
it includes:
Visualization is an important tool to convey information,
and also a way to express the design process. In the visual
communication design discipline, visual outcome is a
composition which is the placement or arrangement of visual
elements, like shapes, space, text, color and so on.
Composition can also be thought of as the organization of the
elements of design according to the principle. This
research will focus on the composition of shapes and space.
Elements of Design
Visual composition starts with the basic elements:
dot, line, shape, direction, texture, dimension,
scale and movement (Zelanski,1982).
The shape of an object is a primary condition
fundamental for our lives. Shape is the primary
visual attribute that elicits unambiguous
identification due mainly to its constancy. Another
relevant perceptual property is its uniqueness.
Indeed, it is unique and much more informative
than any other object properties, e.g., color,
shading and lighting (Baingio Pinna). Shape is a
basic element of design and it can be used to
convey meaning and organize information. The
figure or foreground shape is seen as positive
and the focus of the picture, it is often called the
subject matter. A negative shape is usually an
empty shape or space and is the background or
surrounding of the subject mater.
Space
All the design elements can only be functioned
on the basis of the limitation of space, and
therefore space has become a non-negligible and
perpetual element in design. Whether positive
or negative, space is more than a key element in
graphic design. Space is a requirement. You
cannot talk about, create or evaluate graphic design
without accounting for space. Effective graphic
design does four things: it captures attention,
controls eye movement, conveys information and
evokes emotion (Hagen, 2013). The different use
of space would lead to various feelings, and even
different emotion experiences. White Space is
intentionally light-hearted and conversational.
Positive space is filled space. Negative
space is empty space, which is not your enemy.
(Hagen, 2013)
Visual
http://www.kata-pult.com
http://www.kata-pult.

14. Literature Review
27
Literature Review
26
Communication
Communication is the function and main purpose of design.
The term effective communication occurs when a desired effect
is the result of intentional or unintentional information
sharing, which is interpreted between multiple entities and
acted on in a desired way. This effect also ensures that messages
are not distorted during the communication process. Designers
only can convey the information successfully by understanding
the visual composition well.
Kana Hara suggested the idea of “visualogue”
specifically in the field of information design,
which simply is the combination of “visual”
and “dialogue” (Hara, 2007). Visual design is
not only a dialogue through vision, but also a
dialogue through mind. Design is a two-way
conversation, good design works do not
only give the information that need to
be given, what more is the ability to integrate
the information and the sentiment of the
audiences, recalling memories and form a new
integrated one.
This graph from the book Designing Design is
to describe the relationship between the
senses and the transmission and reception of
information. From Kanya Hara’s point,
information can be gained by people through
the senses and perception, the original
memory can be connected with the design
impression by stimulating the perception.
That requires the designer to be well concentrated,
sensitive, and sympathetic, and thus be able
to manage some profound thinking about
design and social problems, treat collected
information objectively, and express them in
a clear and acceptable way at last.
Design does not become useful based only on
theories and knowledge. Designers must dig
deeper into the complexity of society and inner
self as a pre-request of any good design. Such
a discovery needs few essential elements:
empathy, clear mind, concentrated, sensitive,
observant, understanding, perspicacious,
and innovative.
Design
Designer Kaya Hara mentioned in his book Designing Design,
design is to recognize the world that we are living in
through creation and communication. An active recognition
and discovery would bring joy and pride (Hara, 2007).
From my understanding, design is the process
of deep thinking, and being open minded to
the world. Designers should be empathetic and
sensitive to the need of the clients, and to
concepts as well; they should find their own
way to keep their mind in a creative state
and let the ideas flow; and then find the right
way to express the idea and convey the
information to the audiences.
Designing Design, Kana Hara
Designing Design, Kana Hara

15. Literature Review
29
Literature Review
28
Mindfulness
It is this clarity of mind, this focused attention, that is paramount
to the act of designing: a cluttered mind leads to a
cluttered design; an unfocused mind leads to a confused design.
In the speech at the IxDA 2014 conference which was presented
by Irene Au, she asked the related questions,
And she found out that through mindfulness practices like
meditation and yoga, designers can cultivate these skills like
focus, empathy, and creativity.
“How might we more effectively cultivate access to our empathy
and compassion for people? How we can be more innovative and
bring more inspiration, delight, and heart to the people who
use the products we design?”
The simplest and most widely used form of
meditation is to sit and focus on the breath. People
use the breath to focus the mind and be in the
present moment. If the mind wanders, don’t judge
it, just let the thoughts pass and return the
attention to the breath.
Meditation is not simply a subjectively conscious
change in thinking, it is also literally change our
brain. Studies have found that people who practice
meditation have a much thicker or stronger
connection which links attention with sensory
processing in the brain. (Neuroreport, 2005)
Meditation is hard work and it takes a lot
of practice to get better. But that hard work is
worth it. People are gaining better insight
into how meditation affects the brain thanks
to MRI technology. Even though focusing
the mind is hard work, it doesn’t take long
to achieve the benefits of meditation. Just
meditating for 20 minutes a day for four days
results in a significant improvement in critical
cognitive skills (University of North Carolina
at Charlotte, 2010). The University of Miami
reported a study in January 2014, indicates that
students who practice meditation for seven weeks
can significantly improves attention, versus
students who don’t practice meditation had
increased mind wandering and diminished
attention over time (University of Miami, 2014).
Mindfulness practices help people let go of their
ego and deal with whatever is getting in the way of
achieving that focus. Then it becomes more an act
of love and compassion for people who benefit from
a clear, direct user experience.
In design, mindfulness will let designers focus
their attention to what is most important and
meaningful in the moment, which helps designers
to understand the problem more objectively.
Sometimes designers are not sure about the
decision and how to design, because they judge the
problem by the ego, not by understanding the
essence of the problem. Ego can become be an
obstacle to the work. If people start believing
in their own greatness, it is the death of creativity
(Marina Abramovic). Empathy, like focus, is
crucial for great design. True empathy goes beyond
observation. It’s about getting out of the head
and feeling others’ experiences in their own bones.
Most of the time people have opinions based on
their subjective criticisms and impressions, which
helps them to connect to others with similar
background, but limited their comprehensiveness
of a thorough and fair judgment. Researcher
from the University of Rochester Medical Center
have found that doctors are less judgmental
after mindfulness meditation; and another study
shows that people are amazingly much more
aware of some subtle facial emotions after some
yoga exercises (Beckman, 2012).
Logical thinking and emotional thinking take
different parts of our brain, and they hardly works
together at the same time, but they rather like to
switch from one type of thinking to another.
So what does this have to do with good design?
Good design requires both networks.

16. Literature Review
31
Literature Review
30
To understand the requirements of the client,
designers need more than just words. Designers
communicate with clients by understanding
their characters, knowing their aesthetic value
and their understanding of beauty, hearing
their stories and experiences, and then relating
these perceptual aspects into the design.
Mindfulness practice also make designers
easier to accept the feedbacks from
others objectively so that they can move the
design into its next, better, and further
stage. Mindfulness practice monitoring the
experience from moment to moment, with
openness, curiosity, and acceptance, and
without reaction, judgment, or holding on.
Research done in 2012 at Leiden University in
the Netherlands. Divergent thinking is a style of
thinking that allows many new ideas to be
generated. Open-monitoring meditation can help
you generate more ideas (Colzato, 2012).
Designers should be able to engage in both in
analytical thinking and empathetic thinking in design.
On one hand, the thinking process allowed designers
to learn the technical details of how things works. On
the other hand, designers should be able to understand
other people’s experience which takes empathetic
imagination (2012).

17. Methodology
& Analysis

18. Research on Methods
In order to discuss the influence of meditation on how designers use
the spaces in two dimensional space, I researched deeply in the
method of meditation and the use of elements and space in graphic
design before conducting this experiment.
Meditation
Meditation, also known as the Mindfulness
Practice, has been described as non-judgmental
awareness of both internal and external
experience, moment to moment. Meditative
practices have existed for centuries and since
the last couple of decades, the use of
meditation has increased due to an increasing
interest in the eastern cultures, and also
due to the increasing stress and anxiety of
modern life.
One of the psychological strengths of
mindfulness is the capacity to maintain an
emotional balance within any particular
life moment, whatever that happens to be.
Novice mindfulness practitioners (Solloway,
1999, 2000, 2001, 2004) were asked to
describe their experience of mindfulness
practice as a non-judgmental focus of attention
in the present moment.
These journal entry responses link
themselves to a number of important self-care
issues: the quality of the inner-life suggested
by Seligman and Csik-szentmihalyi (2000),
self-determination (Ryback, 2006), emotional
balance (Goleman, 1995), stress-reduction,
and empathy (Kabat-Zinn, 2005)
an open, undivided observation of what is occurring
both internally and externally rather than a
particular cognitive approach to external stimuli.
(Brown & Ryan, 2000, p. 823).
Composition of Design
Composition is the placement or arrangement
of visual elements or ingredients in a work
of art, as distinct from the subject of a work.
Visual composition starts with the basic
elements: dot, line, shape, direction, texture,
dimension, scale and movement.
Composition lead viewers’ eyes around the
design work and can communicate information
through character and direction.
The J.Paul Getty Museum
Methodology
& Analysis
34
Methodology
& Analysis
35

19. Audience Interactive Experiment
In this book, you can participate in this
thesis experiment on your own. Through this,
you can experience and analyze the
relationship between mindfulness and design.
On the right page is the Mindfulness Attention
Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003),
which is the most well-known mindfulness
instrument. Follow the instructions, you can
fill the form easily and the total score will
present the statement of your mindfulness level.
On the next spread, the book provides all the
materials for the audience to do a design
composition. All you need to do is to relax your
mind and just follow the instructions.
After this simple experiment, you can fill out
the infographic to analyze the data from
your own experience. You will see the
discussion and conclusion for these data results
in the following section of this book.
Want to participate?
Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003)
Below is a collection of statements about your everyday experience.
Using the 1-6 scale below, please indicate how frequently or infrequently you
currently have each experi ence. Please answer according to what really
reflects your experience rather than what you think your experience should
be. Please treat each item separately from every other item.
Scales:
1 almost always
2 very frequently
3 somewhat frequently
4 somewhat infrequently
5 very infrequently
6 almost never
I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until some time later.
I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of
something else.
I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present.
I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I
experience along the way.
I tend not to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really
grab my attention.
I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time.
It seems I am “running on automatic,” without much awareness of what I’m doing.
I rush through activities without being really attentive to them.
I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I’m doing
right now to get there.
I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I'm doing.
I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time.
I drive places on ‘automatic pilot’ and then wonder why I went there.
I find myself preoccupied with the future or the past. I find myself doing things
without paying attention.
I snack without being aware that I’m eating.
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
Methodology
& Analysis
36
Methodology
& Analysis
37

20. instructions
Time: 15~20 minutes
You can use the different shapes in the envelope below as your elements to
create your own composition, which is considered to present your emotion and
state of mind at this moment. There is also double sided tape provided for use.
One side of the shapes is black, the other side is white. You can use both sides as
positive or negative space, as you want.
You do not need to use all of them, you can decide how many you want to use.
There is no limitation of using and organizing the elements.
Let's start this interesting experiment on the right blank page.
Methodology
& Analysis
38

21. Your Data
Mindfulness Score
After this simple experiment, you can fill the infographic of
analyzing the data from your own experience. You will see
the discussion and conclusion for these data in the following
section of this book.
Use of Elements
black white
Methods of Design
Tear
B &W
Fold
Overlap
Symmetry
Symmetry
no yes
Thesis Experiment Data
Methodology
& Analysis
40
Methodology
& Analysis
41

22. Use of elements
570 elements total
used 295 elements
Compact space creates pressure, appropriate
space makes people comfortable and relaxed,
but excessive space may lead to estrangement.
Blank space should feel opened, connected,
and ventilated.
230 black 65 white
78% 22%
Thesis Experiment
According to existing research, I included the practice of
meditation in the process of graphic design.
Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale
(Brown & Ryan, 2003), which is the most
well-known mindfulness instrument.
Design Elements
All the shapes is one side black and one
side white.
six circles
six squares
six triangle
six curve
six line
11x11 inch blank paper
glue stick
For design elements, I made several sets of
paper and design elements in different scales
and ask 10 people to do the tryout. After the
tryout, I finally decided to use the 11 x 11
inch paper with the scaled design elements.
Shapes are used to convey meaning and organize information.
Jennifer Kyrnin
Shapes are basic of design. They are made up
of closed contours and three dimensional
objects placed in the design. We call the figure
or foreground shape positive and the focus of
the picture, it is often called the subject
mater. Negative is usually an empty shape or
space and is the background or surround
of the subject mater.
Materials
570 elements total
used 319 elements
White Space is intentionally light-hearted and
conversational (Hagen, 2013).
215 black 104 white
67.4% 32.6%
Mindfulness Practice Survey
the target group of this experiment are 38
students enrolled in an undergraduate course.
In the course there are 31 senior
undergraduate students and 7 first year
graduate students.
The influence of meditation is quite obvious
after a long time of regular practices.
Therefore knowing the meditation history
of the target group is essential before
the experiment.
To obtain the necessary information for the
experiment, I created a short questionnaire
on SurveyMonkey. Based on the frequency
of their meditation practices in the past year,
they are divided into two contrast groups.
The students in group B used more elements,
which included 10.6% more white elements.
This present that they use more elements as
negative space in the composition.
Methodology
& Analysis
42
Methodology
& Analysis
43

23. methods of design
Methods 19 Students
Tear
B &W
Fold
Overlap
0%
52.6%
5.3%
84.2%
Procedure
Students filled out the Mindfulness Attention
Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003).
Students expressed the state of their mind and
emotion by organizing the basic design shapes
(i.e., square, circle, triangle, line and curve) on
the 11 x 11 inch square paper.
Group A
Group Diverse
Group A had 19 students who rarely meditate
or did not meditate in the past year.
15.8%
84.2%
10.5%
89.5%
Mindfulness practices help people let go of fear:
fear of being judged and fear or trying new
things (Irene Au).
Trying different methods to play
with materials is an important skill
for designers.
Procedure
The students in Group B meditated for 15
minutes with the meditation audio.
Students filled out the Mindfulness Attention
Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003).
Students expressed the state of their mind and
emotion by organizing the basic design shapes
on the 11 x 11 inch square paper.
Group B Group B included 19 students who meditated more
than several times a month regularly in the past year.
Methodology
& Analysis
44
Methodology
& Analysis
45

24. Symmetry
Symmetry 26.3%
Whatever the shape, to achieve symmetrical balance,
each side of a bisected design must be a mirror image
of the other in terms of visual weight. This is called
formal balance. As with all things formal, symmetrically
Group A
without
15.8%
balanced design has its uses. But it may tend toward the
traditional and conservative, sometimes stuffy or boring
(white space is not your enemy).
Group B
meditation
Methodology
& Analysis
46
Methodology
& Analysis
47

25. Composition and Creative Score
5
4
3
2
1
mindfulness score
5.3%
5.3%
26.3%
31.6%
31.6%
Discussion
When designers can be present, they are more able to
fully enjoy the experience of whatever activity they
are engaged in, rather than focusing on the outcome.
Being able to enjoy the journey more than the
destination is one of the best things designers can do
for the creativity (Iren Au).
Use of Elements
Without meditation, Group A used a total of
295 elements, including 78% black elements
and 22% white elements. In comparison , after
meditating for 15 minutes, the students in
group B used more elements, which included
10.6% more white elements.
Methods for Design
In the introduction of this experiment, there
is no limitation of how to use the elements to
present emotion and state of mind. Trying
different methods to play with materials is an
important skill for designers. According to
the data, the students in the meditation group
used more methods for design than the other
group. Compared with Group A, there are 15%
more students that tore the elements; 31.6%
more students used both black and white
elements; 5.2% more students folded the
elements; and 5.3% more students overlapped the
materials in group B, which do the meditation.
It shows that, the designers who practice
meditation are more willing to take risks and
be more open minded to try and fear less of
failure. These skills are important and are
required for whoever wants to be a great designer.
Symmetry
In visual communication design, we may
want viewers to focus on some information and
use the composition to guide the attention.
A successful layout is not necessarily balanced.
Designers have to account for visual weight. For
example, positive space is visually heavier than
negative space. So a lot of filled space requires
balancing amounts of empty space. Good design
may have a dynamic but asymmetrical balance
format, it tends to be more visually exciting and
interesting than symmetrical balance.
5
4
3
2
1
mindfulness
5.3%
26.3%
36.8%
21%
10.5%
Composition and Creative
Professional experts usually have an general
thoughts about design composition. They
can easily distinguish the good composition
and bad based on the knowledge of design.
Meanwhile the experts can tell how many
thoughts are behind the outcome of a design,
as well as if the idea is creative or not.
In this research, Professor Lisa Peña, an
instructor of the ASU Design School,
she graded the design outcomes in the scale
of 1 to 5 which indicates from least excellent
to most excellent based on the composition
and creativity without knowing anything
about the experiment.
The total score of Group B is 13% higher than
Group A. According to these scores, 26.3%
students got 4points in group B but just 5.3%
in Group A; 36.8% students got 3points in
group B rather than 26.3% in Group A. For the
lower score, there are 21% students got
2points but 31.6% in group A; the difference
got even more for the 1points, Group A got
21% more students with 1point than group B.
The results show that meditation which is a
significant way of being mindful does have a
positive influence for the design outcome. In
the respects of visually balanced composition,
creative way of using materials, successful
For instance, in the book White
Space is Not Your Enermy, it
presents that one composition
rule encourages you to push extra
negative space toward the outside
edges of your layout. Trapped
space is a puddle of negative space
landlocked inside the layout. It’s
like a bubble that can’t escape.
Because it creates a big blob in
the middle of your layout, trapped
space can draw attention away
from your other layout items. To
prevent this, make sure your
white space opens out to the
layout’s margins.
using of positive and native space, clear idea,
strong concept and so on.
Composition lead viewers’ eyes around the
design work and can communicate
information through character and direction.
Designers who can organize the elements
well and evaluate their role in the composition
of a work of design will be better able to do
an understandable design.
highlow highlow
Methodology
& Analysis
48
Methodology
& Analysis
49
Discussion
48
Discussion
49

26. Attention to Details
Mistakes 21%
In order to be fair, I print the introduction and
read the exactly same material in front of both
groups, there is one sentence as the following
“Please write your name in the back of the paper.”
Attention to Details
In order to be fair, I printed the introduction
and read the exactly same material in front of
both groups as the following:
“You will be given several shapes as the
elements to create a composition on the
blank paper to express the state of mind
and emotion at the moment.
One side of the shapes is black, whereas
the other side is white. You can use both
sides in order to create either positive or
negative space.
You do not need to use all of the elements, but
you are required to use at least one element.
There is no limitation of using and organize
the elements on the paper.
You should write your name on the back
of the paper.”
However, there were 4 students who wrote
their names in front of the paper in Group A,
and only 1 student in Group B forgot to write
the name. 15.7% more mistakes were made by
the students in the group without meditation.
A focused working condition can help
designers think deeper, more comprehensive,
and more efficient on problem solving. The
increase in efficiency saves time and energy,
which would give the designer more time to
relax and rest, or invest the valuable extra time
on other worthy matters. This virtuous cycle
is very positive of keeping the designer creative
and innovative.
5.3%
However, unexpected results came out from the
experiment. There were 4 students who wrote
their names in front of the paper in Group A,
and only 1 student in Group B forgot to write
the name. 15.7% more mistakes were made by
the students in the group without meditation.
This signified that meditation helps people to
be more aware, focused and attentive.
Conclusion
This experiment indicates that mindfulness
definitely has a positive affect in creativeness,
concentration, and being observant.
These influences are also a result as reflection
of the design outcomes. Mindfulness is only
discovering one aspect of the influences to our
logic and thinking, but there are so many
other things in our daily lives that are affect-
ing the way we think. Skills and techniques
are very important and are essential in design,
but more importantly, designers should care
about the way or ways to enhance creativity
and effectiveness of logical thinking.
Designers should ask themselves how to
convey information more effectively? How to
make a design more understandable? How to
make the audience have a deep empathy with
the design? In the cerebral field, studies about
the quality of information indicate the
difference in the quality of information could
have different speed of information flow and
difference affection
Just as doctors give medical treatment to
patients, designers try to solve the problems
in modern life through information
conveying, which the goal is to give users
power that can enhance their ability to
accept the information.
Methodology
& Analysis
50
Methodology
& Analysis
51
Discussion
50
Conclusion
51

27. Conclusion
53
Conclusion
52
This is an important part designers need to
research on and understand about.
There are lots of other research exploring the
different things affect creativity and skills.
For instance,
Creativity and Sleep (APA)
The Diet, Exercise and Creativity Connection (August McLaughlin)
How Caffeine Affects Your Creativity (Tanner Christensen)
Research: Too much, too little noise turns off consumers, creativity (Phil Ciciora)
Music’s Influence on Creativity (Kevin Carroll)
How Your Mood Affects Your Creativity (Sam Mcnerney)
The more exploration of
methods we as designers tried
the better the chance
for finding solutions that
provide the most positive
impact on the design thinking
and creativity. Designers
really need to master how to
do an understandable,
comfortable, simple and
emotional design. Successful
design requires both technical
merit and creativity. Great
design requires tremendous
attention to detail, at the
same time, the design work
should have a soul.
The work of design should
reflect both the personality of
the designer and their
environmental perceptions,
that is, the designer’s
perception of the original
design (environmental
problems), filtered, altered
and ultimately transformed
through the designer’s deep
reflective spiritual exercises,
into a new, full realized
design conception capable of
enhancing local to global
environmental conditions and
circumstances.
http://www.huffingtonpost.comhttp://s224.photobucket.com
http://nuimagemedical.comhttp://prettymomguide.com

28. Bibliography

29. Bibliography
57
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30. Appendix

31. Appendix
61
Appendix
60
Appendix
Glossary
Mindful Design
Design is much more than just a branch of
science; design, based in very simple core,
spiritual practices, is about creating change
from a foundation of deep understanding.
The best products, built environments, and
systems are those that naturally respond to
people’s needs and articulate healthy and
positive relationships, even implicitly. The
more awareness and attention we afford to
those we want to serve, the better we will
know how to serve them.
Convey Information
The information is presented by arranging
the visual elements (like images and text) in
relation to each other. This information
should be understood by viewers apposite
and evocative.
Awareness
The state or condition of being aware; having
knowledge; consciousness (dictionary.com)
By creating more awareness in one’s inner
world, people would become aware of a larger
range of options in how to respond to
situations and make decisions. By creating
more awareness to the outer world, people
would gain a more thorough understanding of
the impacts of their choices and behaviors on
themselves and the world at large.
Empathy
The ability to understand and share the
feelings of another.(dictionary.com)
Empathy requires us to observe
Empathy requires us to use our intuition
Empathy requires us to ask questions
Empathy requires us to listen
Empathy requires us to be patient
“Empathy is about showing solidarity with
others who have a one and only life on this
planet.”(Jeremy Rifkin) Solidarity
requires communication
Composition
In visual communication design, composition
is the placement or arrangement of visual
elements, like shapes, space, text, color and so
on. composition can also be thought of
as the organization of the elements of design
according to the principle.
Visual Communication Design
Visual communication is communication
through a visual aid and is described as
the conveyance of ideas and information in
forms that can be read or looked upon.
( David,1981)
Mindfulness
Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-
by-moment awareness of our thoughts,
feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding
environment. Mindfulness also involves
acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to
our thoughts and feelings without judging
them—without believing, for instance, that
there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or
feel in a given moment. (Jon Kabat-Zinn)
Literature review
‘The selection of available documents (both
published and unpublished) on the topic,
which contain information, ideas, data and
evidence written from a particular stand-
point to fulfil certain aims or express certain
views on the nature of the topic and how it is
to be investigated, and the effective evaluation
of these documents in relation to the research
being proposed’, Hart (1998, p. 12).

32. Appendix
62
Method
Methods are specific techniques and tools
for exploring, gathering and analysing infor-
mation, for example observation, drawing,
concept mapping, photography, video, audio,
case study, visual diary, models, interviews,
surveys, and so on. (New Collins Concise
Dictionary, 1986).
Methodology
Methodology is the study of ‘the system of
methods and principles used in a partic- ular
discipline’ (New Collins Concise Dictionary,
1986). Methodological sophistication leads to
appropriate choices among methods. It can also
lead researchers to develop and apply new
methods. (Friedman, 2002)
Morphological matrix
Separating out the form/structure of a system
or object from its function and setting it out
in a matrix, in order to organize, analyse and
present ideas and derive new solutions.
Further references: Jones, J. C. (1981) Design
Methods: Seeds of Human Futures (Chichester:
Wiley). Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M.
(1994) Qualitative Data Analysis (Thousand
Oaks, CA:Sage)
Thesis
Thesis as ‘argument’ – rather than the
commonly held perception of a substantial
text as the PhD submission itself. In Art
wand Design research, a thesis may comprise
several elements: a body of creative work,
other related/supporting/complementary
artefacts, a written text contextualizing and
describing the argument.
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive, or
experience subjectively. Eighteenth-century
philosophers used the concept to distinguish
the ability to think (reason) from the ability to
feel (merriam-webster).
Negative and Positive
The figure or foreground shape is seen as
positive and the focus of the picture,
it is often called the subject matter. A negative
shape is usually an empty shape or space
and is the background or surrounding of the
subject mater (Hagen, 2013).
Reflection
Human self-reflection (Anon, 2013c) is the
capacity of humans to exercise introspection
and the willingness to learn more about
their fundamental nature, purpose and essence.
The earliest historical records demonstrate
the great interest which humanity has had in
itself. Human self-reflection invariably
leads to inquiry into the human condition
and the essence of humankind as a whole.
Visualogue
Kenya Hara suggested the idea of “visualogue”
specifically in the field of information
design, which simply is the combination of
“visual” and “dialogue”. Design is a
two-way conversation, good design works do
not only give the information that need to
be given, what more is the ability to integrate
the information and the sentiment of the
audiences, recalling memories and form a new
integrated one (Kenya Hara,2007).

33. Appendix
65
Appendix
64
Group Survey Mindfulness Practice History Questionnaire
This questionnaire is designed and provided by Yixin Cao (Milo).
I will perform an experiment with all the students in GRA
423/598 during the class on Mar 17. The test is about "How does
mindfulness practice (like meditation) affect design outcome?"
I need to divide students into two groups. Here is the
questionnaire which will be helpful for this experiment.
1. Please type in your full name, thanks
2. Below is a list of categories representing a variety of
mindfulness practices that you may or may not have experience
with in your life. Using the frequency scale below, please
choose the one that best represents the amount of time you have
ever spent with these mindfulness practices.
Aggregation of Perceptions
From Kanya Hara's point, information can
be gained by people through the senses
and perception, the original memory can be
connected with the design impression by
stimulating the perception (Kenya Hara,2007).
Space
All the design elements can only be
functioned on the basis of the limitation of
space, and therefore space has become a
non-negligible and perpetual element in design.
Whether positive or negative, space is more
than a key element in graphic design. Space is
a requirement (Hagen, 2013).
Nonjudgmental
Tending not to judge other people harshly
or unfairly; not too critical of other people.
Avoiding judgments based on one's
personal and especially moral standards
(merriam-webster).

34. mindfulness influence visual communication design
Master of Visual Communication Design
Graduate Thesis
Yixin Cao (Milo)
The Design School Arizona State University
May 2015