---
title: "Eight Common Mind Maps Are Right Here, Come and Get Them! (Including Drawing Tutorial)"
description: "Mind maps are certainly familiar to everyone! What exactly is a mind map? It is an imported concept, known as 'mind map' in English. Created by American 'brain man' Tony Buzan, it entered China in the 1980s and is an effective graphic thinking tool for expressing radiant thinking. In short, it is simple yet extremely effective, a revolutionary thinking tool. Currently, there are eight common types of mind maps. Want to know what they are? These pictures will tell you! The eight common mind maps are: Circle Map, Bubble Map, Double Bubble Map, Tree Map, Brace Map, Flow Map, Multi-Flow Map, and Bridge Map."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2016-06-12"
language: "en"
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---

# Eight Common Mind Maps Are Right Here, Come and Get Them! (Including Drawing Tutorial)

> Mind maps are certainly familiar to everyone! What exactly is a mind map? It is an imported concept, known as 'mind map' in English. Created by American 'brain man' Tony Buzan, it entered China in the 1980s and is an effective graphic thinking tool for expressing radiant thinking. In short, it is simple yet extremely effective, a revolutionary thinking tool. Currently, there are eight common types of mind maps. Want to know what they are? These pictures will tell you! The eight common mind maps are: Circle Map, Bubble Map, Double Bubble Map, Tree Map, Brace Map, Flow Map, Multi-Flow Map, and Bridge Map.

Speaking of mind maps, everyone must be familiar with them!
What exactly is a mind map? A mind map is an imported concept, with the English name 'mind map'. It was created by American 'brain man' Tony Buzan and entered China in the 1980s. It is an effective graphic thinking tool for expressing radiant thinking. In short, it is simple yet extremely effective, a revolutionary thinking tool. Currently, there are eight common types of mind maps.
Want to know what they are? These pictures will tell you!
**What are the eight common mind maps?**
Circle Map
Bubble Map
Double Bubble Map
Tree Map
Brace Map
Flow Map
Multi-Flow Map
Bridge Map
Looking at this, it might seem a bit confusing. Let me borrow a picture from the blog of Yang Yanjun, vice principal of the Second Branch of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China and an expert on 'Mind Map Teaching and Learning' at the Basic Education Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences. I believe everyone will understand after seeing it.
How to draw the 8 common mind maps?
Excerpted from Useit Knowledge Base '8 Common Methods for Making Mind Maps'
This article is reposted from the WeChat public account 'Good Teacher'
**Disclaimer: This article is authorized for reposting from my friend Xingren, not written by Cat.**
Yesterday, when talking about mind maps, Cat recommended a free software for Windows called Xmind, which is super super useful. You can easily search for it and download it. It might not be very smooth at first, but that's normal~
**When we use any new system, we need to go through a familiarization phase before we can better use a good tool for ourselves, helping us improve efficiency or achieve some goals.** The same goes for Xmind.
Actually, Cat hasn't been using mind maps for very long; I probably started after the Chinese New Year. After using it for a while, I saw this super detailed usage guide written by Xingren, and I found that she also included some small features that I hadn't noticed. Following the guide, I used it more and gradually became more proficient. So when I planned to write an article about mind maps, I remembered her super detailed guide and immediately asked Xingren for authorization~ Isn't that clever? Well, I think I'm great!
## With just a few simple steps, you can also make professional and beautiful mind maps
If you want a mind map software that is not too complex, produces beautiful results, and is preferably free, well, it's X-mind7!
This software is very simple and easy to use. It has a free version and a PRO version. Generally, the free version is sufficient. (Cat also uses the free version and finds it enough.)
This is the user manual for XMind7. It's quite powerful, isn't it?
Actually, computer experts can stop reading here, but for computer novices like me, you can continue. Below I will briefly introduce how to make a beautiful mind map.
1\. Open the software, create a new file, choose a suitable blank template according to your needs. This time I chose the balance map (counterclockwise). Then a 'Style' window will pop up, where you can choose a style you like. If you don't like any, you can choose a similar one and adjust it slowly.
Choose a suitable blank template
Choose a style you like
2\. After creating a new file, the software interface looks like this. The red box at the top is the shortcut keys, and the purple box at the bottom right is the function area for adjusting shapes, colors, fonts, and inserting icons.
Make good use of the bottom-right function area to create various personalized styles
3\. Enter your topic in the 'Central Topic'.
Actually, the software's built-in styles are also nice. You can directly enter the content of each topic without any adjustments.
4\. Use the bottom-right function area to adjust the shape, color, and font to your liking.
Adjust to your preferred style
5\. Press ENTER to create a branch topic, enter the content, and adjust the shape, color, and font.
Press ENTER to create a branch topic
6\. Press ENTER to create a second branch topic and continue entering content. Isn't it troublesome to modify the style for each topic? Don't worry, there's a trick. Select the adjusted topic, right-click and choose 'Copy Style', then select the topic you need to adjust, right-click and 'Paste Style'.
Cleverly using 'Copy Style' and 'Paste Style' makes it easy to create nice styles
7\. See, it's done quickly. Then we can consider subtopics for the branch topics.
8\. Select a branch topic, right-click and choose 'Insert' > 'Sub Topic', and enter the subtopic content.
Insert subtopic
9\. Select the branch topic again, this time directly press ENTER to insert a subtopic, enter the content and adjust the style. Soon a basic mind map is done.
You can select some nice icons in the icon window of the function area
10\. If you are not satisfied with the position of a branch topic, you can also select it, press the left mouse button and drag it to the appropriate position, then release the left button.
Select the branch topic, press the left button and drag to the appropriate position
11\. We can refine it, such as adding connections, summaries, annotations, etc. Select the topic that needs a connection, click the connection icon in the shortcut area above, and a curved line with an arrow will appear. Drag the arrow to the topic you want to establish a relationship with. You can also enter text on the line, or drag the yellow diamonds at both ends of the line to adjust the shape of the connection.
Add connection
12\. Done.
Drag the yellow diamonds at both ends of the line to adjust the shape of the connection
13\. Double-click on a blank area to add a 'Free Topic'. The draft looks like this.
Don't forget to add your name and date
14. We can also use free topics to create tasks on the mind map, like below. Please note that we need to select the 'Task Progress' icon in the icon area to indicate task completion.
Select the task progress icon in the bottom-right icon area to indicate task completion
15\. Finally, it's done. A beautiful and professional mind map is born. Isn't it very simple?
Mind maps can make books thinner. If conditions allow, it's best to print it out for easy review. In this way, we condense the content of a book onto one piece of paper. Looking at it, you will feel a great sense of achievement.
#### However, we should not put the cart before the horse. **The main function of a mind map is to help us analyze problems.** My approach is to first draw a simple mind map with paper and pen, not too complex, not covering everything. It's best to draw the map from memory after reading a section, and only look at the book if you really can't remember.
#### Mind maps are a personal experience. Looking at a hundred mind maps by others is not as good as drawing one yourself. Why not give it a try?
-END-
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