I’m going to start the year talking a bit about psychology related to design, problem solving, creativity or wellbeing. I would like to go deeper and understand a little better why it is so important for me to draw the ideas that arise in my mind when I am involved in the design of a brand. This is why I have taken the license to name this article after the book by architect Alberto Campo Baeza; “Thinking with your hands”.
Have you ever had a brilliant idea when you are for example walking the dog, on public transport or while you are having a coffee? We start working on it mentally. Maturing it, moulding it into a shape that convinces us. Excited about our idea, we go to the paper or to the computer to start visualising what we have in our minds and… It has nothing to do with what we imagined. “This doesn’t work”, “I thought it could be solved this way”, “it wasn’t such a good idea”…
This has happened to me many times during my career as an architect and also as a graphic designer. If it has happened to you too, don’t worry. It is absolutely normal.
Why do we need our hands, not just our minds, to solve complex problems?
One usually thinks that the brain is not only one of the most important organs of the human being, but also the most intelligent one. However, it is so, because of what it perceives from other parts of our body such as our hands, sight, hearing, feet, etc. Thinking “with your hands”, thinking “visually”, thinking, seeing, smelling, feeling… Our brain actively responds to and learns from the stimuli it receives.
According to the researcher and expert in data visualisation, Colin Ware (Visual Thinking for Design), although we can form images in our brain, we work best when those images are outside, i.e. on a screen or on paper.
Visualising situations, processes, models or drawings has great benefits. It helps us to work together both hemispheres of the brain, helping us to better assimilate all the information that can be extracted from what we observe, enhancing our own intelligence. In addition, it allows us to make more sense of complex situations and problems and to understand them more deeply.
Almost 50% of our brain is dedicated to the sense of sight. An important part is devoted to pattern recognition, and recognising patterns leads us to better solve the problems we face. But not everything comes through sight, the hands also play an important role here.
“Recent research and anthropological theories give the hand a primordial role in the evolution of language, symbolic thought and, ultimately, intelligence.”
The Thinking Hand – Juhani Pallasmaa
You were driving and you started thinking about the conversation you had the other day with your friend and without realising it you arrived at your destination without knowing how? When you are in front of the computer and you are typing, do you think about every single key you have to press? Hands and brain are one: when you use a tool or object frequently, you no longer think about the hand and the object independently. The object becomes an extension of the hand, altering its natural possibilities and capabilities. Using your hands, you could say, is another direct way of using your brain.
It has been shown that people’s thoughts, decisions and reasoning can be transformed by physical interaction with things. This is where our question of why we use our hands when we try thinking or solving something is answered.
How hands help us think
There is an assumption that truly intelligent behaviour originates only in the inner part of the brain. Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau is professor of organisational behaviour at Kingston University, England, and Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau is professor of psychology at the same university. They wrote an interesting article for The Conversation that challenges this assumption. In it, they explain that actually using our hands while we think is a way of putting more strain on our minds.
In the process of solving a problem, we tend to pick up objects and manipulate them to enhance and transform our ability to think and explain ourselves. To demonstrate this hypothesis, they used three examples:
1.- Scrabble
The first example was demonstrated with a group of people who were asked to play the famous board game Scrabble. I don’t know if you have had the chance to play this game, but there is no player who just looks at the pieces without moving them. Players pick up, manipulate and rearrange the tiles they receive until they hit on a word. What’s more, the faster they move them, the more chances they have of finding words.
If thinking were only in the mind, what is the point of manipulating the tiles so much? This suggests that as players reconfigure what is in front of them, they are not only facilitating thinking, but it is the very action of thinking. That is, thinking with your hands.
2.- Paper and pencil
Another example is paper and pencil. In this case, researchers had a group of people physically interact with the elements of a problem. This helped people to better remember the information in front of them. This is because physical changes in the environment help people remember information. But it also opens up new possibilities for action, or helps us find new ways to solve the problem.
In this example, those who used pencil and paper came up with a closer solution to the problem at hand. Regardless of their cognitive abilities.
3.- Pack of cards
In the last example, the same information as above was presented, but in this case, in a pack of cards. Participants could rearrange them in any way they wanted. Not everyone used them, but those who dared, had a 75% success rate compared to those who did not.
Our ability to think and reason depends both on our cognitive capacities and on the wealth of objects on which to base our decisions.
Wow!, so these are the reasons why I need to capture, draw or write down my ideas when I’m designing. It’s actually quite interesting how our mind works, don’t you think?
Working with our hands impacts on our health
Working with your hands not only helps us to solve problems or helps us thinking, it also helps us to feel better. There are many scientific studies that advise doing a manual task to reduce the rate of depression, stress or anxiety. They increase skills and stimulate creativity.
Creation requires concentration and craftsmanship, which generates an emotional transformation that has an impact on our health. Our mood improves and even our immune system is boosted.
In my case, I notice this very clearly, not only when I draw, but also when I do some more physical activity with my hands. One hobby I have, and which I take up with great enthusiasm whenever I can, is woodwork. I love working wood with my hands. Not only because of its touch, smell or the generosity of this material. It really helps me to escape, to slow down the frenetic pace in which we live. It is precisely that moment, working with your hands, when you allow your mind to relax. A moment in which you “unblock” thoughts and let your creativity and imagination flow.
Conclusion.
Thinking is an activity that is linked to the physical environment and we use our hands to enhance it. In other words, people are more creative and efficient when they solve problems with their hands.
So now you know. The next time your children use their fingers to count, you see someone scribbling on a piece of paper while talking on the phone, or your employees or colleagues scatter information on their desks and walls, be reassured. They are increasing their ability to think.
Hi!, I’m Roberto Vidiella.
I am the founder and Creative Director of VIDI. I am passionate about graphic design, and through this blog, I try to deepen my knowledge and share what I have learned during my career. If you leave me a comment, you help me to keep learning and improving, and I’m really excited about it!