By Kayla Rondinelli

What place does art have in design? As someone who defines themselves as an artist, painter, creator, and maker above all else, I often struggle with feeling like I truly belong in the design community, or if I even want to. Graphic design is a relatively modern field. The problems design looks to solve are taking place in a digital age, characterized by the extraordinary speed of technological innovation, in cyberspaces and in seemingly infinite realms as yet beyond human comprehension. Art is not a new field but a critical part of human history, ‘Art’ permeates all parts of life; society, culture, and professions of all kinds. While it seems to have withstood the test of time; proven by the fact that people still visit art that was created tens of thousands of years ago, the world as we know it is changing. Though traditional art will never be completely replaced by the digital medium, with the emergence of AI-generated art, the progression of VR spaces, and the development of NFTs in the art business, it is no surprise many artists like me are feeling lost and overwhelmed in this new environment.

I recognize that my art practice and my design practice are rooted in the same place. The way I see the world and experience the visual universe around me comes directly from my background in the fine art disciplines. However, as I enter the professional design field, which is eager to tackle a newfound problem sphere, I cannot help but wonder how fine art can play a role. In its most basic interpretation, art provokes emotion and needs no purpose, while design solves a problem and requires a purpose (Philips 2018). But this is only a surface level analysis. Surely design can provoke emotion, and art can solve problems. But then why is there such a growing disparity in the fields? Are all artists designers? Are all designers inherently artists? In which camp do I belong?

Analysis of the concepts of design and art reveals that there are obviously distinctions between the two. Design has to function, while art does not. Art relies on evoking emotion, design does not (Suhad 2020). A painter would explore a personal journey in the making process while an interface designer would implore a data-driven, wholly structured, research-guided process. However, art and design have been developing throughout human history in tandem; they are interconnected, no matter the distinctions in process and thinking. So, at what point does art become design and when can design be considered art?

True fine art is not simply a flippant display of visually pleasing elements. Art is a philosophical inquiry, an intense observational practice, an attempt to present stimuli to arouse emotions, and it provides an opportunity for expression utterly essential to the human experience. Successful design serves people. It has an inherent purpose in its process. Design is testable, data-driven, research guided, created within a context, anticipatory, personalized to the user and developed for a particular audience. Naturally, there are things that art can accomplish that are not required of strong design, just as there are things that design can do that art is not capable of doing.

So where does that leave the artist-turned-designer? Perhaps with a serious case of imposter syndrome, stuck in a limbo between each field, never able to be as free-thinking as an artist and not data-driven enough to be a successful designer, now feeling like a fraud in each discipline. My artistic practice informs my design, but in doing so, must I choose to forgo data exploration, use case scenarios and context in favor of risk-taking, inventiveness, and creative expression? What if the way I have been taught to think and see the world throughout my fine art training has destroyed my full potential as a designer?

While this is clearly a debatable matter in both communities, further investigation reveals that an art education and background can inform design practice. Instruction in fine arts is important for many disciplines: It can promote more effective creative thinking, aesthetic awareness, exposure to culture, and allow for a deeper appreciation of the visual world (M. 2020). My background as a fine artist has provided me with a variety of guiding principles through which to approach my work, something that has been integral to my design education.

My first exposure to the critique atmosphere was in an art classroom. This is a valuable tool within a design environment as well. Just as getting new insight and perspective gives you a better picture of how an audience is perceiving your art, utilizing a collaborative atmosphere in design research can reveal what your stakeholder is getting out of your design. Similarly, through my exploration of acrylic painting, I was able to adapt to a mindset where art is never truly finished, I could always go back and rework parts of the piece. This approach has shaped how my design process functions best. I am always prepared to make new sketches and iterations as a way to further advance and develop my design. Additionally, I was introduced to the elements and principles of design in a fine arts context. It was easy to understand that there are ways of highlighting or emphasizing particular components depending on the message you want the viewer to understand. The psychology and physiology of why the human eye reacts to certain visual stimuli the way it does, and why we as human beings respond accordingly has been very applicable in my design work.

Furthermore, my studies in high detail and textures as a painter has certainly made me more analytical in my design work. I understand how manipulating small artistic design elements, such as type setting or line thickness, can have a drastic effect on the overall design product. Finally, being educated in a variety of mediums allows me to think more critically about different tools and platforms used in design. Understanding that there are better mediums for conceptualizing what an artist wants to make in an art piece is the same principle as leveraging specific tools and programs to best fit the needs or objectives of a particular design.

         As I begin to look forward to a career in graphic design, I know that the future spaces I’ll work in will come with their own affordances and difficulties. Lamentably, seemingly everything created has a digital version of itself or makes use of some technology, and fine arts is no exception. There is now AI trained to make art faster and more accurately than humans ever will. However, just because we are entering the most digital age the world has ever known, does not mean that the human drive for expression and mark-making will become obsolete. While some might argue that design is more relevant than art for it must have a purpose and a function to exist, art still holds a significant place in the human heart, mind, and culture. Often fine art’s purpose is exploration itself. It is the making process of true art that enables it to be extraordinary. And perhaps art has a purpose too; after all, art should inspire. Art is one of the most fundamental ways we connect with our history and with the human experience. If not all design is art, and if not all designers want to call themselves artists that will be just fine. But for me, the very act of painting, designing, creating, and making is what makes me a part of something greater than myself, not the title I choose to live under.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Camplin, T. (2019, April 12). Art and the Elites. Medium. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://medium.com/conscious-paradoxalism/art-and-the-elites-e783ce12eb8b

M, S. (2020, May 7). The Difference Between Design and Art. Medium. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://uxplanet.org/the-difference-between-design-and-art-d9b293360ed2

Philips, M. (2018, May 8). Art vs design – A Timeless Debate. Toptal Design Blog. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.toptal.com/designers/creative-direction/art-vs-design

The Professional Association for Design. (n.d.). What is Design. AIGA. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.aiga.org/what-is-design