design and art
Argumentative Essay
The modern world is an incredibly diverse place. The advancements in of science and technology are continuously changing the life of each person and the society in general. Some features are taken by the community as usual after the short time passes, while the others are not accepted for a long time. At the same time, there are different features which are not approved by the society. For instance, a substantial number of people do not recognize graphic design as art. They claim that it is simply pixels and there is no possible way to treat it as art. The discussion around graphic design and the question whether it is art or not is are issues which provoke many arguments. Some people say it is art, while others completely disagree. I think graphic design is art even though these two phenomena are different in some aspects.
First of all, it is necessary to state that there is a wide range of features which are similar to art and design. Both of them have the primary goal of creating something visually creative, a masterpiece which would be impossible to ignore and forget. Additionally, both art and design have to follow the specific artistic principles. Moreover, very often, these set of rules are similar for art and design. For instance, there it is impossible to combine all the dominant colors on one piece of art or designed picture or leaflet. Apparently, these principles are similar in regard to those two categories because they include all the limitations of referring to the positive emotions and attractiveness in the eyes of humans (Marder, 2017). This fact proves that the rules of the art and design are generally the same that proves the credibility of the statement about their similarities.
Apart from that, both of the mentioned categories are highly subjective. They contain the style and taste of the creators, and both pieces of art and designed items are judged by every person individually. Although it is evident that there are no exact rules of judging them except the mentioned ones, even these rules of visual attractiveness could sometimes be violated (Roper, 2016). One person could say that the leaflet or painting of modern artist is a masterpiece, while another would say that it is a meaningless waste of time examining it and looking for a sound meaning of the observed item. The two mentioned factors lead to the third similar feature of the two observed categories, which is the fact that both of them are creative. Both types of objects reflect the mood of the artist or would it be the designer. Through them, a viewer could understand the feelings and style of the creator and emotions which he or she felt during the process of creating this exact item. What is more, it is notable that there is no firm line between artists and designers. There is no legal policy which prohibits the first ones to shoulder the role of the second ones and vice versa since both of them have at least specified proficiency in both of the fields (Lundgren, 2011). All the mentioned facts lead to the statement that graphic design and art have a wide range of similar things.
In turn, not only art and design but also their creators have many things in common. Students of both majors, namely designers and artists, study the same subjects (University of Notre Dame, 2017). Additionally, both graphic designers and artists utilize the same type of communication since they create meaningful visual content. The process itself is different, but the outcome is similar. Therefore, both designed item and painting by an artist carry some message which is communicated with the visual means.
Similarly to any other occupation, both designers and artists need to be skilled. Only in this case, their work would be evaluated appropriately. To achieve this stance, both graphic designers and artists should practice and work on their skills. However, these two occupations have one similar thing, which differentiates them from other professions. Hereby, both designers and artists need to have talent to create sound projects. This feature is also connected to style. It is impossible not to recognize the paintings of Salvador Dali or Vincent van Gogh as well as the visual advertisement of Coca-Cola or Fanta, which could be identified from the first seconds just by their style. From the above information, one more similarity between artists and designers could be defined, namely the development of their unique style (Leveque, 2013). In general, all the provided facts about the similarities between designers and artists show that these two professions have identical important points, which are impossible to ignore.
From another point of view, both artists and designers have a lot to learn from each other. This statement is especially characteristic of modern developed countries where the majority of people often do not even understand the differences between graphic designer and artist, stating that both of them create visual content. However, both of them have a wide range of things to learn from each other. First of all, artists are not limited to use the advantages of technological process. They could use computer in their process of creating a painting or in the search of some features which are necessary for the creation of the exact detail or fragment of the picture. This fact does not make them not artists as well as it does not make their paintings less art than images which were created before the invention of computers.
Additionally, it is a sound idea for every artist to use the technologies for generating the sketches of their future works or simply expressing their thoughts and ideas. This option is also not forbidden by any policy or ethical concern. Moreover, there are no doubts that the majority of the beginning artists use the technologies for their sketches (Palubiak, 2011). The tools needed for painting are expensive, so they use the advantage of technologies such as tablets to create sketches of their future paintings, which is a cheaper way to visualize the ideas. However, apart from the facts, there are also traditions which prove that designers and artists should stay united. The historical traditions are also a valuable point to take into account, and for the observed topic, it works perfectly. In Europe, designers and artists treat each other with respect. They do not claim that they have tangible differences and do not accuse each other of anything. They simply realize that both of them are creating visually attractive items, implying that they are colleagues; however, their method of doing it is different. Finally, both artists and designers should comply with the similar basic rules and follow the guidelines of composition, color choices, and accuracy. In general, they are working with same principles, while the tools are different. Stating that design and art are different would be similar to claiming that painting with a brush and with the help of various means is not creating art due to the tool which is used (Petrovic, 2013). That is why it could be stated that both artists and designers work on the same type of things, but employ different tools and have a lot to learn from each other.
There is also a widespread opinion in the society that art and design are similar, but only when people observe them on the modern art exhibition. However, the only difference between that design and plain design is that the second one is exhibited to the target audience, not on the exhibitions. That is why there is a difference between graphic configuration shown in the art performances that are considered as art, and all the other types of design, which are not treated similarly. Additionally, both graphic designers and artists have the same problems and tasks during the process of creating their masterpiece. For instance, both of these people very often have difficulties of choosing appropriate colors for their work. Obviously, they are doing it differently, but it is only a tool (Julita, 2011), while the action and problem are similar for both of them.
In turn, graphic designers sometimes have to work with the artist’s items as well. Sometimes, they just need to utilize the picture or photos of the famous painting. They would not be able to do it correctly without the necessary knowledge in painting and classical art. At the same time, artists sometimes work with content from designers such as photos, printed pictures, or similar things when, for instance, someone asks them to draw a person or place from the photo. This fact proves that design and art are closely connected. Finally, it is necessary to state that graphic design is a creative process which has to combine the most modern technologies with art to create the masterpiece which would communicate a particular idea or concept. Artists would not be able to do it without the knowledge of art techniques and concepts (University of Notre Dame, 2017). The above statements lead to the conclusion that there is no visible distinction between design and art.
On the contrary, there is still a substantial number of people in the society who still oppose the idea of calling graphic design art. They simply state that design is not an art form. However, some individuals are trying to provide better arguments. The first and the most notable one is the statement that graphic design cares only about money and is busy with selling products and ideas (Wright, 2017). At the same time, this statement is far from being true. In fact, every piece of art has its purpose. Pictures are painted for people to admire, while sometimes they are sold too. Although graphic design items would not leave any notable footprint, they are still considered art. Similar to the provided examples, design items have a different purpose which is to be utilized in some marketing campaign or sold to one of the brands.
The second argument to prove the fact that graphic design is not an art, which is commonly used, is the statement that artists should have talent, while designers develop it and are taught to be skilled (ONolan, 2009). However, this claim is not right as well. It is impossible for even the most gifted artist to draw a masterpiece from the first attempt. Even the most talented people need to practice to master their skill, which is then multiplied by talent. Finally, very often, people state that art is an expression of the emotions and feelings of the artist, while designers strictly follow the initial requirements. People think that design is just a routine work. In this case, according to this statement, if a person would ask two different designers to create similar items with the same initial instructions, he or she would get two identical works. However, everyone knows that it is not going to happen, and the two designs would be different. Designers express their feelings the same way artists do, but they use various tools for it.
Taking into account all the ideas and statements mentioned above, it could be stated that design and art are the two features which are firmly related to each other. Design should be considered as one of the forms of art due to notable similarities between them, which are impossible to ignore while classifying the design as not being the form of art.