Language of ideas

While words are fundamental not just to communicating ideas but to the process of ideation itself, design ideation is also a dialogue between visualisation (non-verbal) and language (verbal), similar to what has been described as 'the language of design' (Donald Schön 1983). Yet effective idea communication suggests a further requirement, that is, openness that combines sharing, collaboration and transparency. If not, it may be difficult to fully grasp the idea presented. A historic example is Mariano Taccola, the early Renaissance artist and engineer, who struggled to explain an innovative boat design by Brunelleschi, the famous architect of the dome of the cathedral in Florence. But Brunelleschi was also known for his reluctance to share his ideas in deatail for fear of plagiarists. Flummoxed by Brunelleschi's complex boat design, and failure to explain it in each and every detail, Taccola concluded: 'Ingenuity resides in the mind and intelligence of the architect rather than in drawing and writing'.