This is (for my own reference) a potpourri of wise statements from all over the web on the differences between art and design.
Art raises questions, design gives answers.
Artists create something to appreciate, Designers create something to use.
Design is about solving problems, Art is about creating them.
Design is art without the bullshit.
Art is about creating things to communicate while design is about creating things to solve problems.
Art is “the products of human creativity” a definition of design is “the opposite of purposelessness or randomness.”
Design is the skeleton of what can become art if applied to figurative realism.
Design makes you think or do something, art makes you feel something.
In art, red is never “wrong”, In design, red can be wrong, and the wrongness can be described in both technical and conceptual terms, and sometimes even measured.
The product of design is an abstract (high level) artefact. The art is a concrete (in contrast to abstract) artefact. The process of realising both artefacts (abstract vs. concrete) can/and is the same in many cases.
Art is some guy using a medium to change how you see the world, whereas design is changing how we live in it.
Design is not art. Design is a strategic approach to effective communication through a visual interface.
The litmus test. When people enjoy Art, they say “I like that”. When people enjoy Design, they say “That works well”. This is not by accident. Good Design is something that works well.
The main difference between Design and Art is that Design has more constraints (budget, time, problem to be solved, etc.) while Art is only constrained by the artist’s talent and chosen medium.
Art hides. Art has a meaning, and it hides it, on purpose. Art delivers a message, and that message is hidden, on purpose. It is an art to create art. Art is unusable, by definition.
Design reveals. Design reveals meaning, design reveals a message, design reveals function. Bad design does the opposite: It obscures, it hides. The reason why that almost never makes bad design art is that the subject is supposed to be revealed.
Genuinely honest art is created without the market in mind – you are simply creating. Design is created with the market in mind– and the medium does not matter. If you’re a musician or painter, and purposefully crafting your work in order to sell, you’ve become a designer.
Art and design are interchangeable agents of language that speak differently within different contexts.
At their root, art and design are inseperable components within a creative endeavor. Where they are placed determines their function within society.
“Design is first and foremost an intellectual process. Contrary to popular belief, designers are not artists. They employ artistic methods to visualize thinking and process, but, unlike artists, they work to solve a client’s problem, not present their own view of the world. If a design project, however, is to be considered successful – and that would be the true measure of quality – it will not only solve the problem at hand, but also add an aesthetic dimension beyond the pragmatic issues.
I consider design not to be a series of “creative” one-offs, but an integrated process, from planning the appropriate communications strategy to designing functional and beautiful objects as well as – for example – implementing electronic stationery on clients’ systems.
What clients say and what designers hear are too often very different things. Design is a powerful tool to help clarify the problem. It is only when a common understanding has been established between client and designer that effective results can be achieved.
Artists do not work for an audience. They work for themselves. When designers work we should not have to worry about what our favorite color is, or whether or not it looks “nice”. Our aesthetics opinions really do not matter, we have to solve a problem, seperating ourselves from what the culture tells us what is “in”.
Design quality needs an integrated approach: look more closely than expected, ask many questions, think laterally, get involved in things you shouldn’t, do more than you are supposed to and have fun doing it. Problem solving is one thing, aesthetic pleasure another. Combine the two, make the engineer sketch like an artist and make the artist analyze like an engineer, and you are half-way there.” -Erik Spiekermann Berlin, March 2005
