The very first things we know are made by human beings on the planet are drawings. They're
not writing, they're not buildings, they're drawings. Learning how to draw is a very important
part of becoming a fully rounded human being. So, if you can't draw, you have very little
visual sense. You have much less visual sense. So you're educating your visual sense, you're
educating yourself to understand the dance of colours and shapes all around you. If we
look around us at beautifully made buildings. Great signs, great advertising - we are completely
surrounded by drawn, or things that were once drawn, once sketched out by a human hand and
a human mind, and human heart. I hate to put things in economistic terms, because drawing
is about being more alive. being more human, having a richer sense of yourself, ultimately.
But if you're asking, does it affect the economy, does it affect the wider society? Absolutely
it does. It's central and not peripheral.
I would say drawing is an essential part of our everyday toolkit. We use drawing for communication
primarily. So, me and my partner when we are talking to one another, we'll use drawings,
like these ones here. Just really casual drawings just to get the point across. What are you
talking about? - This. And in a quick drawing, you can resolve a question that might have
taken half an hour to talk through. This is a 3D model which is based on a sketch in a
sketchbook and refined through drawing 3D modelling, printing out, redrawing in this
kind of loop system. The drawing there becomes an iterative part of the design process for
us as architects.
The whole of biochemistry is really about form and shape and the way things connect
together. The only way really to understand biochemistry is through visual/spatial awareness
in the way that the molecules and chemicals interact with each other. It's an incredibly
sculptural science, really. The wonderful thing about drawing is there's no physical
rules within it. You can do whatever you want, you can make things fly, and be able to just
experiment and play, is freedom. There are different types of drawing, there's very free
drawing which frees up your imagination. There's also drawing to help you understand seeing,
which is an amazing thing. It really trains your eye, trains your hand coordination. Trains
your understanding of form and shape and light.
With us it's interesting because we have a unique team of 80 people, and we have graphic
designers, industrial designers, architects, textile designers and all of them... draw.
That team has the ability to bring alive all kinds of projects. We had this idea of a magic
diamond and the idea was quite simple. That you take the diamond, and you look within
the diamond for something magic. It's the largest digital floating experience. It's
kind of a 3D hologram that is in this space, and you can spin it around with your hands.
So that simple idea of that diamond informed the way the product looked, set like it should
be. Larger than human beings... so this is how we do it. And actually, next thing we
know, we're building...
The Big Draw is about giving everyone an opportunity to get back to the drawing board. It gets
all of us working together whatever our age, whatever our ability, whatever our inhibitions,
drawing is less and less valued in schools, and we campaign to make sure that it continues
and becomes valued once more. So help us, by joining our campaign for drawing, and help
more people discover the pleasures, the joy and the absolute importance of drawing.