What modern design can learn from ancient cave paintings

Technology may be evolving faster than ever, but the fundamental way in which we consume information has remained the same. So what can our modern-day methods of visual communication learn from the very earliest forms of human art? Without getting too philosophical, illustration (as opposed to art) is often described as the craft of visual communication that helps with explaining an idea or process. It is frequently used in tandem with written text, and seeks to clarify an established message. We use illustration across Shopify products for wayfinding, context, clarity, and sometimes for sheer delight. As a senior illustrator at Shopify, I also create editorial illustrations, like the ones you see here on the Shopify UX blog. As part of the <a href="https://ux.shopify.com/designing-a-remote-ux-mentorship-program-704264f21cde" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Shopify UX Mentorship program</a>, I taught two designers very different methods of illustration: product and editorial. They were both interested in learning how the craft of illustration could help them improve their visual communication skills in mobile and experience design. I found myself digging deep and finding unique frameworks for explaining the art of visual communication, which I’m going to share by unpacking a recent editorial illustration and, of course, through a some parallels between children’s crayon drawings and ancient cave paintings. Woo. Was that dry? Let’s get to the fun part! Some of the very first documented pieces of visual storytelling by humans are cave paintings. One can argue these are simply art, an ancient need to immortalize what we experienced on cave walls, but look more closely and it’s clear there is a story being told here, a reason someone decided to put pigment to stone. It’s a stark, visual conduit for something that someone, at some point in time, decided was worth recording. <a href="https://ux.shopify.com/what-modern-design-can-learn-from-ancient-cave-paintings-4bad961c1188">Read More</a>