The desire to feel increasingly entitled to occupy a more important position had led us graphic designers (a category to which I am always proud to belong) to define ourselves as visual designers, brand designers, brand consultants… however, our job remains deep rooted in craftsmanship. What therefore remains fundamental is the use of the hand as an advanced technical instrument which, through its complex movements, is capable of transforming an idea into a sign.
For the designer, the hand is the first fundamental interface for the expression of ideas and intuitions which are then ‘recorded’ on a sheet with pencils or digitally via a graphic tablet. The hand is the most sophisticated of instruments, the first that we use in synthesising ideas.
Even before they translate concepts into marks, our hands help us to reinforce thought and cognitive elaboration through gesticulation. In expressing ideas, concepts and strategies, we cannot but use our hands. The use of gesture activates neurotransmitters which are fundamental for memory. It is no coincidence that we Italians have developed, along with our great capacity for rhetoric, a repertoire of characterising gestures (almost a brand for us), which the designer Bruno Munari had brought together in his famous Supplement to the Italian dictionary.
Gianfranco
