Does graphic design need art to thrive in today’s world? / How have graphic design evolved from art?
An Introduction
Based on a recent post on creativebloq which discussed the notion of understanding ‘art’ and ‘design’, it is undeniable that this article has caused a significant level of curiosity among artists and designers. Although the notions of ‘art’ and ‘design’ have existed in our society for a period of time, these ideals often creates ambiguity and causes misunderstandings not only for designers, but also the society itself.
For example, according to Bradley’s post on his website (http://vanseodesign.com/web-design/design-and-art/), he argues that ‘Designers can increase their value the more they know and understand art’. With his background degree in History and a decade experience in new media, it seems that he could easily theorise his understanding of art and design. The ‘theory’ was based mainly on his screen based experience without prior knowledge of art study. Therefore, one could easily argue how postmodernism has possibly decomposed information.
The notions of art and design have evolved from the 20th century to the era we live in today. When W. A. Dwiggins first coined the term ‘Graphic Design’ in 1922, a distinct line between the definitions of ‘art’ and ‘design’ was drawn.
This essay seeks to explore the understanding of art and design, with a particular focus on artistic value, personal experience and its perceived message. This essay is built along the strand of image and identity. Several case studies such as Paula Scher and Tracey Emin’s works will be used to achieve a better understanding of art and design.
Chapter 1 ‘ What is art?
The idea of art, poetry and fashion has prevailed since mankind’s earliest records in Africa, over 200,000 years ago. The earliest recorded language and form of communication were found in petroglyphs, pictographs, and many more. It is clear that language and art has played an important role in society in terms of communication. However, the question is, what defines art? According to Sigmund Freud, he explains that the definition of art revolves around a theme of motivated creations. He theorises that artists uses their life impressions and experiences to build the very foundation of their artworks. (http://public.wsu.edu/~kimander/biologyofart.htm) Also, the making and appreciating of art, according to Freud, is with relation to the concept of beauty, and the basic principle of pleasure. He claims that beauty is of no use, and that there is no real need for it in our different cultures, yet civilisation cannot function without it.
(http://www.rowan.edu/open/philosop/clowney/Aesthetics/philos_artists_onart/freud.htm)
From this we can deduce that firstly, an art piece can be rather subjective. It captures the artist’s individuality and project uniqueness as it is based on individual experience. Secondly, to know how to appreciate art, one uses their instinctual definition of beauty as a means of measure. However, if everything is based on personal judgement, who can actually define the value of art?
Taking an art curator as an example, according to a job profile page on Prospects, one of the responsibilities of an art curator is stated as ‘planning, organising, interpreting and presenting exhibitions and lectures’. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/museum-gallery-curator The question remains, how can an art curator truly bring out the purest interpretation of the artwork if he is not the artist, and how can the audience truly understand the artwork if they have not lived through the exact same experiences as the artist?
John A. Walker and Sarah Chaplin defined the term ‘artistic value’ as the discernment of a cultural artefact. The value of the artefact is judged based on its inherent outstanding quality, its aesthetic quality, and the importance of its content. (Visual Culture: an introduction, 1997) However, according to Freud’s theory, the content of the artwork is based fully on the artist’s own personal experience. This further emphasises the point that art cannot be fully understood, and no one, but the artist himself is able to understand the artwork. Therefore, based on this theory, it seems fair to suggest that the value of an artwork cannot be defined.
Chapter 2 ‘ How is Graphic Design any different?
Graphic design on the other hand, is arguably a new term. Much like art, it has been integrated in mankind’s culture since our earliest days. Visual communication has been prominent in mankind’s history, a popular example being cave paintings. However, the idea of ‘graphic design’ in itself prevailed only in the 20th century. (Steven Heller, Master of the Book) According to AIGA, the professional association for design, graphic design is the application of arranging and communicating ideas and experience using visuals and text. They went on to assert that designs that are purposed to be experienced immediately are easily recognisable, and are able to withstand the test of time. Therefore, it is inferable that a good design should allow the audience to have an instant understanding, thus having an immediate experience with the design work.
In the previous chapter, we have studied that an artwork cannot be truly defined, and therefore, its interpretation will vary from person to person. However, according to AIGA’s claim, graphic design is intended to be easily recognisable, and easily understood. Therefore it may be inferred that the audience should have a clear understanding of the designer’s intentions with his design work. This differs from our understanding of art.
We have also covered that art is based on the artist’s impressions, and in this chapter, we correlated graphic design with the communication of ideas.
In a book written by David Hume, he sets the distinction between the two. He defines ‘impressions’ as a mental occurrence that comes with great impact. Conversely, ‘ideas’ are merely faint copies of these impacts, which happen in the form of thinking. (A Treatise of Human Nature, 1739)
From Hume’s theory, it is a plausible conjecture that graphic design, a term used to describe the communication of ideas, could possibly be a subset of art, a creation from the artist’s life impressions. Therefore, it is arguable that graphic design cannot exist without art, because one cannot communicate ideas without first having an impression.
Chapter 3 ‘ Is it art, or is it design?
To increase our understanding of the two, Tracey Emin’s artwork will be used to further examine the