The Blob Tree is a visual tool designed to allow individuals to express themselves and their

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

s in a

non-verbal Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact (oculesics), body language (kinesics), social distance (proxemics), touch ( haptics), voice ( prosody and paralanguage), physical ...

way through the use of human figures known as ''Blobs'' who are genderless, ageless, and culture-less. The original Blob Tree was created in the early 1980s by Pip Wilson and Ian Long as a way of communicating with young people and adults who found reading difficult. The Blob Tree collection consists of a set of

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

of blob figures in various poses and expressions, each representing a different emotion or

feeling According to the '' APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations, thoughts, or images evoking them". The term ''feeling'' is closel ...

. These illustrations are intended to be used as prompts for individuals to identify and express their own emotions, or as a way to start a conversation about emotions and feelings. The Blob Tree has been adopted by professionals in a variety of fields, including

counselling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

therapy A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx. As a rule, each therapy has indications a ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, and

youth work Youth work is a community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In general, it provides an environment where young pe ...

, and in a variety of settings, including

schools A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

hospitals A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...

, community centers, and

prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

. The tool's success came from its

simplicity Simplicity is the state or quality of being wikt:simple, simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or Complexity, complex ...

and universality where the blob figures were easily recognizable and relatable, making it easy for individuals to connect with the illustrations and express their own emotions.

Inventors

The Blob Tree was created by Pip Wilson & Ian Long. Recognising the need for a non-verbal, universally accessible tool for

emotional expression An emotional expression is a behavior that communicates an emotional state or attitude. It can be verbal or nonverbal, and can occur with or without self-awareness. Emotional expressions include facial movements like smiling or scowling, simple ...

and

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

, they developed the Blob Tree as a way to bridge language and cultural barriers and make emotional expression more accessible to people of different ages and backgrounds.

Pip Wilson

Pip Wilson (1939–2023) was born in St Helens, Merseyside. A trained

youth worker Youth work is a community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In general, it provides an environment where young pe ...

working with gangs, running community centres and training youth leaders. He was author of many books including Gutter Feelings & Pip Wisdom. With many years of experience working with young people, Pip branched out specialising in team leadership, workshops, teaching and practical training in the area of

emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. High emotional intelligence includes emotional recognition of emotions of the self and others, using ...

. The intentions for the blobs according to Wilson was that they can "help facilitate and stimulate meaningful discussions about difficult issues or situations. Individuals or groups can start discussions by identifying themselves, or others, with an individual or group of blobs whose actions or feelings represent their own. " Wilson died on 22 September 2023. On the BBC "pause for thought", it referenced Wilson's "You are a beautiful human person", phrase which inspired much of the Blob Tree content.

Ian Long

Ian Charles Long, born in Birmingham in 1965 to Sidney and Doreen Long, is an author and artist and worked for 17 years as a primary school teacher. Long's contribution to the Blob Tree originated in discussion with Wilson who shared his ideas for a non-verbal image to help with emotional expression. Wilson gave ideas to Long who would illustrate the ideas and turn them into pictures. Through growing fame, the Blob Tree moved away from just visual tools and began to involve conferences and training workshops ran by Pip and then Ian Long at the request of schools, colleges and countries most popularly in the United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Bulgaria, Germany and Czechia. Since Wilson's death in 2023, Long continues the Blobtree with the Wilson family, which by this time also involves daily inspirational quote images posted on social media, and a new project called the 'Visual Bible' illustrating each verse of the Bible into Blob format.

Bibliography

Their most notable works include: * ''The Big Book of Blob Trees'' (2017). This book features 70 different Blob trees that can be used as prompts to explore feelings. * ''Blob Life'' (2012). This book looks at the journey of life which we all take from birth through to death and beyond. It covers many of the aspects of life using key aspects - birthdays, families, death, driving, shopping, holidays, school, home etc.

References

{{reflist Feeling Psychological tests and scales Nonverbal communication Medical photography and illustration