“Hello! I am here!”

That’s what 40,000 year old paintings inside caves say to me. A graphic design that shouts out “I exist!”

Whatever the reason prehistoric graphic designers had for painting the walls of cold, dark, dank caves, it comes from a human need to express oneself and share an idea, belief, or experience.

Lascaux Graphic Design

The loveliest graphic designs I have ever seen are the paintings found in the Lascaux caves. Those early and clearly very talented artists had an intimate understanding of their dangerous and unkind environment. Yet their graphics are drawn with care and precision and thoughtfulness. And often they leave their human handprint on the cave wall — “I am here!”.

Expressions of self are not contained only to Europe. The oldest hand stencil has recently been found in Indonesia. The Asian artists have a different style of painting, yet the same need to make their mark.

Art — it really is for the ages!