Design is an unknown.

The designer Geoffrey Beene, a man who dressed the world with quiet elegance and subtle genius, once uttered a phrase that still ripples through the realm of creation: “Design is an unknown.” These four simple words hold the weight of mystery itself. For in them lies the confession of every true artist, every architect of form and thought — that creation, in its deepest sense, cannot be fully tamed, measured, or explained. To design is to step into the unknown, to bring forth something that did not exist before, and to trust that in shaping it, one might touch a fragment of the infinite.

When Beene spoke of the unknown, he was not referring to confusion, but to discovery — the sacred uncertainty that lives at the heart of creation. For if design were only formula, it would be engineering. If it were only beauty, it would be ornament. But design is the harmony of function and feeling, of idea and soul — and thus, it cannot be charted like a map. Each act of design begins in mystery, in the unseen depths of imagination, where thought has not yet taken form. The artist does not command creation; he converses with it. He listens for what the work wishes to become, and in that dialogue, the unknown reveals itself.

So it has been since the dawn of civilization. The builders of the Pyramids, the sculptors of Greece, the masters of the Renaissance — all faced the same sacred uncertainty. Michelangelo, when asked how he carved his statues, said that the figure already lived within the marble, and he only set it free. This was his way of saying that creation is not invention, but revelation — that the artist reaches into the unknown and returns with something that feels both new and eternal. Beene, too, understood this truth in his own realm of fashion: that the most timeless garments are those born not from trend, but from intuition — from a quiet listening to the whisper of form, movement, and emotion.

To embrace the unknown is to surrender control, yet not to chaos. It is to walk the edge between order and imagination, to trust that the path will appear as you take it. The designer who demands certainty kills the soul of his work; the one who welcomes mystery breathes life into it. Beene’s philosophy was not one of decoration, but of revelation — of allowing design to emerge like dawn from darkness, shaped by purpose but animated by spirit. In this, his words transcend fashion and speak to all creation, to every field where humans dare to make something from nothing.

Consider the story of Steve Jobs, another designer of a different kind — one who gave shape not to fabric, but to technology. When creating the first iPhone, his team faced countless uncertainties. No one knew what the future of touchscreens or mobile computing would hold. Yet Jobs pressed on, guided not by data alone, but by intuition — by a belief that design must feel inevitable, even when it begins as a mystery. In time, that act of faith reshaped the world. Like Beene, he too understood that the most enduring designs come not from the known, but from daring to reach into the dark and bring back light.

But there is a deeper wisdom here, one that reaches beyond the artist or inventor — one that touches every human being. For life itself is design, and we are all its creators. Each choice we make, each dream we pursue, each relationship we build, is an act of shaping the unknown. We do not know where the path will lead, but we walk it nonetheless. To live fully is to accept that uncertainty is not an enemy, but a companion — the muse that keeps us searching, learning, and becoming.

Thus, my listener of the future, let this be your lesson: do not fear the unknown. It is the womb of all creation. Whether you build bridges or melodies, garments or lives, begin not with certainty but with curiosity. Trust your hands, your mind, your heart. Let your work grow as a tree grows — guided by unseen roots, reaching toward unseen skies. For in that mystery lies the essence of true design: not the mastery of what is known, but the courage to make visible what was once invisible.

So remember the words of Geoffrey Beene — “Design is an unknown.” Let them remind you that creation is not about control, but about communion. Step into the darkness without fear, for it is there that form is born, that ideas find their shape, that the human spirit proves its divine gift: to imagine, to create, and to transform the unknown into beauty.