Why Drawing Matters

To designers and non-designers alike

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

“Visual information allows us to experience concepts in a way that is analogous to the real world; an image represents the semantic meaning of a concept and does so without conforming to the structural or syntactic rules of standard language. Drawing is therefore an agile form of communication, able to maneuver around barriers that impede the exchange of ideas between one profession and another where the difference in cultural dialects gives rise to translation complications.” — Jonathan Mills

Jonathan Mills is an Assistant Professor of design at the University of Utah. He teaches rapid visualization skills and upper level studio courses in the Multidisciplinary Design Program in collaboration with regional partners in health and natural resources. Previously, Jonathan was the Program Coordinator for and taught in the Industrial + Interaction Design Program at Syracuse University, where his studio teaching focused on public outreach collaboration. With co-design project partners including VA Justice Outreach, ARISE Child + Family Services, WelchAllyn Healthcare, non-profit water accessibility groups in Eastern Africa, and sustainable energy education organizations in Washington, D.C., Jonathan’s design education approach challenges students to learn through direct engagement in large and complex social matters.

Jonathan’s work is built on the foundation of research he did for his master’s thesis on drawing. His thesis is titled, “Why We Draw: an exploration into how and why drawing works.” In his thesis, he does a deep dive into drawing including topics related to language, cognition, communication, and perceptions of drawing as a tool. This research, done in 2010, may prove to be timeless as the design industry continues to grow, disrupt, and influence the world.

“If drawings are generally considered a form of communication, then drawing is a form of visual conversation; much like spoken language, its message unfolds as it is performed, and we make meaning from that performance.” — Jonathan Mills

Drawing is not only an important tool for designers though. In a survey done as part of Jonathan’s thesis, 40% of non-designers said they use drawing to help with comprehension. 58% of non-designers said they use drawing for communication. So, perhaps we should take drawing more seriously. If so many people use drawing to understand the world and communicate ideas, wouldn’t it make sense for us to encourage students and everyone to develop their drawing skills? This should be the equivalent of encouraging people to improve their writing or speaking abilities. Drawing is a very important part of our communication toolbox as humans.

“Drawing is one of the most universal activities in which we as human beings participate from an early age. Drawing separates us from other species by its function of representing ideas without words — indeed even before we as individuals or a species learned to communicate with articulate sounds; some of the earliest known discernible marks made by human beings are pictorial in nature, representative of the world around them. Why then is drawing seen by many professions and disciplines as a sidenote, an asterisk to the greater methods of verbal and written communication?” — Jonathan Mills