Someone once asked me after seeing one of my works: “How do you make those imperfect circles?” I replied, “By hand,” almost as if drawing a dot were something close to zen. It’s worth noting that no two dots are ever the same: each stroke leaves its own thickness, density, and precision. In those differences, we find something worth paying attention to.

Playing with Dots

The dot is the most elemental unit in drawing and design. It is not a minor subject: it is the foundation of all visual construction. From a dot, a line, a shape, or a texture can emerge. It can also stand alone, a minimal presence that leaves its mark on the surface.

There are several ways to make a dot, each with its own character:

Freehand: pencil, pen, marker. No dot is ever exactly the same as another.

With instruments: compass, ruling pen, templates with circles. More precise dots, though not necessarily perfect.

Digital: vector software. Reproducible with exactness, though their look may shift once printed.

Mechanical: stamps, perforations, dot matrix printers. Each technique leaves a specific texture, shaped by the process itself.

Every method produces not only a dot, but also a distinct visual and material effect. A dot made with a pen is not the same as one produced by a laser printer.

Munari and the Dot

Bruno Munari devoted much of his work to the elemental. In his children’s books, in his manuals, and in his research on art and design, he always began with simple forms: the square, the circle, the line, the dot. For Munari, what mattered was showing that the most basic elements could unfold into infinite variations.

Across his writings, Munari paid close attention to structures that appear simple. Following his method, an exercise with dots can become an inexhaustible exploration:

• Varying size, density, and distance.

• Moving from regular order to irregular dispersion.

• Exploring transitions: from dot to circle, from dot to line, from dot to plane.

• Experimenting with different materials: ink, graphite, paint, collage.

Exploring Dots

A few simple exercises can help explore their potential:

• Filling a page with freehand dots, without any prior order. Observing the clusters and the empty spaces.

• Setting up a strict grid of dots and then disrupting the regularity with small variations.

• Combining dots of different sizes to create visual gradients.

• Using the same dot with different materials: soft pencil, ink, marker, spray paint.

• Moving from dot to circle: expanding a dot gradually until it is no longer a dot.

That last one may sound confusing. Munari often played with these transitions, showing that an elemental form is never fixed. It can shift from one state to another depending on scale, context, and repetition.

A Small Decision… That Is Not So Small

A dot may seem insignificant. Yet once placed on a blank surface, it changes everything: it establishes a center, sets a weight, disrupts neutrality. Working with dots shows that in design and illustration even the smallest decision can transform the whole space.

In my own experience and practice, the dot is the most playful and experimental element. It opens up a space for exploration and discovery without requiring prior skill. A single dot can spark a graphic narrative and expand in multiple directions.

In an educational setting, the dot transforms easily and is accessible to all ages. It can become a trace, a bubble, a stone, a cell. Multiplied, it turns into a cloud, a swarm, a crowd. Shifted in sequence, it forms paths, networks, or maps. This versatility makes it approachable for children and at the same time stimulating: it invites association, variation, and the imagination of new relationships from a minimal form.