A colleague of mine (you know who you are) reminded me about an extremely useful site out there for finding the right word to use when advertising a concept. As a designer, we are commonly asking out clients for words that describe a product or an emotion they are trying to convey. many times these words are for the best… generic and somewhat useful. There is a tool out there that makes my life easier in finding visuals and coming-up with solid concepts.

This tool is a thesaurus, but not just any old raggedy paper version, but one called Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus. Brilliantly designed, this thesaurus visually displays a word you look-up and allows you to visually explore synonyms and antonyms of this original word quickly and creatively. Not only that, but it will give you noun, verb, adjective and adverb uses of a particular word. You can add commonly used words to your Word List, as well as make and change setting of the display to your liking!

Thinkmap allows you to use the on-line trial version for free for up to about 5 words or linked words and then asks you to purchase the full blown version at $2.95/month (19.95/yr) for the on-line version, or $39.95 for a “Boxed” version. The “On-line” version personally is wonderful, because it is continually updated and accessible anywhere you have Internet access.

Not only is the thesaurus great for me, but even a great tool for teachers at schools, copywriters, proof readers and all around knowledge junkies.

Check this great tool out and really see how useful the Visual Thesaurus is to use.

Check out Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus here:
www.visualthesaurus.com