#ThinkfullyHabit: Draw your own conclusions
"I don't think drawing belongs specifically to artists...Drawing is our thinking. It's our visual literacy." Tania Kovats, Drawing Water
Drawing can help reveal patterns more clearly, explore ideas more fully and imagine alternative outcomes more easily. We are not talking about being an artist or drawing a piece of artwork, we are talking about visualising what we are trying to make sense of – whether through diagrams, sketches, flow charts or visual representations. It’s not about aesthetics or creating an outcome in its own right, it’s about tapping into visuals as an alternative to language. Designer and theorist, Professor D.B.Dowd argues that it makes sense to treat drawing as a symbolic tool. One thing we know is that it’s a deeply human tool - humans have been drawing for at least 73,000 years.*
“Visualising information, so that we can see the patterns and connections that matter and then designing that information so it makes more sense...that’s important.”
WHY?
The simple act of visualising information and ideas can often help reveal new considerations and connections – and it can be about the everyday. The Dear Data project** is a great example of how drawing can be applied to even the very minutia of everyday life. Here, two information designers collected data about their own lives each week for a year and translated this into a hand drawn visualization on a postcard which allowed them to discover and share different aspects of their lives with each other.
Drawing ideas and objects, even in a primitive way, encourages our brains to engage with subjects in new or different ways. Visualising ideas can often help us comprehend large amounts of data that is far harder for our brains to understand through numbers or words alone. It means that sketching on napkins or creating a visual depiction on a scrap of paper can be just as valuable as other ways in which we try to make sense of the world. Drawing can be applied to many things – whether it’s sketching out processes, documenting emotions or visualising ideas and solutions. It allows us not only to diagnose, but also to imagine alternatives and ideas that don’t already exist. Ralph Ammer, Professor at the Munich University of Applied Sciences argues that drawing supports our thinking because it ignites our intuitions, makes life more beautiful, helps our understanding, lets us imagine new things and helps us share and communicate more effectively with others.***
If it feels tricky knowing where to start, next time you start to take notes, why not simply try drawing diagrams and sketches of the information and ideas instead. Add labels, but keep the drawings the main thing on your page. Afterwards, take a moment to see if and how your drawings help you make sense of the information.