On Drawings and Design

A few years ago, researchers found what is believed to be the oldest surviving testimony of human drawings in a cave in South Africa. It is around 74,000 years old. Lascaux in France is a lot "younger" at just 20,000. And they are both breathtaking.

I am sure that even before these examples, our ancestors were already painting the walls of their caves, trees, tools, faces, bodies, and ornaments.

It doesn't matter how or what, but we have been drawing for a very long time. It could be a gesture in the sand with a stick, the intricate decor of a cathedral facade, or a kid drawing for her mom, but we need to draw.

Maybe we need them to put a reference point in our existence, some sort of a compass to find our way, to know where we stand, or to cope with life and with the idea of mortality.

At least it is for me.

We can't stop because drawings are what make us human. They testify to the ability to symbolize our inner thoughts into stories. By sharing them, we affect the environment around us and ourselves.

I draw, and that drawing changes me, then I draw again, and I change again. It's almost like the work I produce is an extension of myself on paper. In a way, it's more myself than I am, in an eternal vibrating cycle.

These vibrations, sounds coming from a single individual integrated into a symphony played by millions of others, are at the core of what Design is. It is not functions, not problem-solving, not marketing. It's the desire to make sense of the symphony or even just acknowledge that we can never grasp its essence at all.

Sergio Mannino 2022