Graphic Design

The Art of Design: Art vs. Design

by Rob Krabbe

In music there are musicians and there are mechanics.  People can be taught the beginning to advanced mechanics of creating music.  Some are extremely accurate and good at what they do.  A musical artist however is an animal of a different sort.  A musician, besides being an optimist if he or she even owns a cell phone, (Kidding. That is usually a joke about drummers, and is old enough to have used “pager” as the mechanism) is someone who may or may not have advanced skill, but has the depth of emotional artistry and the inborn gift to create art in music. Of course there is grey area in all of this.

What separates art and design is a complicated subject and has been debated seemingly since the beginning of time. Were those drawings on the cave walls an artistic expression or simply a warning about big, dangerous animals with sharp teeth just outside the cave?  Artists and designers both create, but their reasons for doing so are usually different.
Economics can be the biggest motivation for the difference between art and design.  I know many designers that are also artists, and of course, some that are not, but I have not met many artists that rather be designers.

The most successful works of art tend to establish a strong emotional bond between the artist and the audience.  By contrast, when the most successful designs generally cause a strong emotional bond of the audience to an object, product, or idea, instead of the artist.  When I look at a masterpiece of art, I feel something about the artist, and I often have an empathetic response. I may not know much if anything about the artist before I see the work, but if a piece of art is of that special depth and quality, I learn something, feel something, and invest something of myself in the viewing of that art. A connection is made between the artist and the viewer of the art. 

To say that not everyone sees the world the same way is an understatement of ridiculous proportion.  In fact, some will only see the potential for profit in anything they look at.  That is the state of humankind.  The artist may create some new feeling, some new way of looking at something, or some nostalgia that is pleasing, or even a brand new chaos or thought that we connect to. The designer’s job isn’t to invent something new, per se, but to communicate something for a specific purpose; a designed response.

That purpose of good design in a majority of cases to motivate the audience to do something: buy a product, use a service, visit a location, learn certain information, or appreciate something someone else owns or values. To cause us to covet, in one way or another, enough to alter behavior to meet the designed response. 

What about the creator’s abilities?

More often than not, an artist has natural ability. Of course, from a young age, the artist grows up drawing, painting, sculpting and developing their abilities and skills.  Honing the skill sets for their art for a life time.  Discipline?  Yes, but moreover a passion fuels that discipline in an artist’s motivation, and it can even border on the obsessive. But the true value of an artist is in the heart and soul of the talent (or natural ability) they are born with. There is some overlap here: good artists certainly have skill, but artistic skill without talent is, arguably, worthless.

Nothing is completely black and white, but good art causes a different result in everyone who views it. Good design tries to send the same message to everyone who views it.

Logos

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition. Logos are either purely graphic (symbols/icons) or are composed of the name of the organization (a logotype or wordmark).

The Robbie Oster Logo is a simple example of a text logo, design to fit into a web theme on the client's web site.

The Wood By Warren logo was designed as a graphic logo, and has a text element for caption, which is tied into the overall graphic design. This was designed for a clkient's web site as well, but also can be used for truck door magnetic signs and other types of uses. The graphic element is readily identified at a glance and from a distance.

Look at other examples of logos HERE