Is art design or is design art?
Is art design? or is design art? Can they be used synonymously?
These questions are very open-ended and can be interpreted in many different ways. First, design is a general term. It could refer to a decorative piece, sub-disciplines (ie. communication design, visual design), or a plan or project. I think of design as an intellectual process that employs a creative approach to visualize thinking and process.
To answer the first question “Is art design?”, the best way I thought of this question is by using a painting as an example. If I made a painting and painted a large red heart on a white canvas and then called it art, is that considered design? If the intention of my painting was designed for a specific purpose, a purpose to stimulate an emotional effect to my observers, then my answer is yes - art is design.
Regarding your second question “Is design art?” This largely depends on the how the word ‘design’ is used. If I designed a simple computer program that adds 1+1 and outputted the answer on a command line interface, then is it art? Probably not to most people. In this case it doesn’t make a lot of sense if design and art is used synonymously.
There are some cases where both terms can be used synonymously - when communicating visually to present information or visual design. Visual designs such as drawings, photography, and film making. These forms of design articulates a message creatively by engaging the audience is an art.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Vignesh
My thoughts on the topic…
I agree with you on that it totally depends on the context of whether design can be called art or vice versa or that they can be used synonymously.
One of the seven themes that Marty talks about, mentions that “art de-emphasizes rules”. This I feel is the important distinction between design and art
Sep 21st, 2007
heatherroinestad
The question “Is art design, and is design art?” reminds me of discussions I’ve seen about what the difference is between art and craft.
As I mentioned in my introduction post on the forum (I believe), included among my many personal interests are knitting and crocheting, both of which are viewed as “just craft”, and rarely (by few) as art (though I’ve seen things that certainly challenge that view in my mind); the reason for the question in these circles is that it seems anything viewed as a “craft” rather than “art” is often (by many) viewed as somehow lesser than “art”; it doesn’t help that it also seems that one of the dividing lines between “art” and “craft” is whether the resulting product is useful — if it’s something for someone to look at or listen to, but nothing else, it may be art, but if it has some practical purpose, then it’s “just a craft”.
So, is design art? It depends on your definition. I think there could be some art to it, but personally I see it more as a craft, with some instances perhaps moving into art. But then, as much as I value art, I personally value craft higher (I’m a bit of a pragmatist); to me, craft involves rules (to be bent and/or broken after you know them), requires skill, and generally produces things of use to the intended audience. To me, art is about the artist’s aesthetics and world view, in addition to the skill and effort required.
There is certainly room for overlap. Individual pieces can be art, craft, both, or neither, much like a square is both a rectangle and a rhombus. Good instances of both require skill and effort, in my mind, but the aspects that determine which a particular instance is are on different axes.
This comment is pretty much off the top of my head, so I may think of more later, or possibly think, “why did I say that?” after a while. But I think my answer to the question of whether design is art would have to do with a difference in focus — good design is about the user (there’s that word “use”), while as to me, good art is about the statement the artist wants to communicate. So, to me, design is a craft, which can have some artistic qualities.
Sep 21st, 2007
Rajasee
Design for me is any form of constructive endeavor that yields productive and progressive creations.
Art is the expression of creativity in various forms like music, movies, digital technology, fine arts, graphic design, etc.
For me, in most cases, art and design can be used conversely…
@Jason,Vignesh: good design translates into great art, bad design exemplifies bad art! So why not use them reversibly?
Sep 23rd, 2007
davidroyer
Great question. I have been learning alot about design philosophy in Erik’s course, but I still don’t have a satisfactory answer to this question. Here are some of my thoughts:
Design at its core is service to others and art is an expression of oneself. So is this the difference?
But most artists make art that they sell to people, which is a service to others. Intention is important in design. Perhaps it is the lack of intention of servicing others that makes art different from design? Or do artists have this intention?
The goal of some art is to make its viewers think critically about themselves, society, ect. These artists have intention and serve others, so this def. sounds like design. Maybe some art is design and some is not.
Sep 24th, 2007
ashley
I’ve never really thought about the difference between art and design…I guess I use them interchangeably.
I guess when I think of design, it seems like design is usually done for a specific purpose. You rarely design something that has no useful purpose. This works for interface design, interior design, architecture, and any other area of design. However, that doesn’t always mean that design is practical, but its intention is to be of some use to someone (even if it is one person). Design seems to be more about the planning and the process.
Art, on the other hand, isn’t necessarily created for any use. Many works of art are not meant to help people in any way except to be interesting to look at and art is often created without any predetermined process.
With that said, I think it’s impossible to separate the two. For example, in photography, the photographer “designs” a shot (settings, composition, lighting, etc.) but the end result is a work of art. Likewise, designers certainly use art to carry out their designs. So I guess my conclusion is that art and design are forever linked. Art depends on design and design depends on art.
Sep 25th, 2007
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