Readings: Design vs. Art

Storyboard sketch for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," illustrating planning in design.

When reading in the introduction of Launching the Imagination, I think the most interesting thing was the way Stewart explains, compares, and combines art and design.  It seems that the world is constantly trying to draw the line between art and design, and to create a functional and realistic definition of both.  Stewart lists aspects of "designing" or what makes something design, "to plan, delineate, or define, [...] to create a deliberate sequence of images or events, [...] to create a functional object, [...] to organize disparate parts into a coherent whole, [...] a plan or pattern, [...] an arrangement of lines, shapes, colors, and textures into an artistic whole" (xviii - xix)  I have no doubt that anyone would agree with her statements, that these are true elements of design.  But when you look at what she's saying defines design, each statement could easily be seen as a defining feature of art.

I think it's fascinating that there is such an argument between design and art being separate, and design and art being the same.  Something Stewart says right after her lists solves the argument for me... "Design is deliberate.  Rather than hope for the best and accept the result, artists and designers explore a wide range of  solutions to every problem, then choose the most promising option for futher development." (xix)  Combining both artists and desingers to form a group of people who "explore" solutions, and deliberate methods of communicating, I think Stewart shows us something that not many have.  Every artist thinks of the pieces of their art to find the best way to communicate their message.  Personally, I think that even the most abstract, spur of the moment art is thought through.  No creative person can stand not thinking about the meaning of placement, or the physical appeal at the very least.  We're too obsessed with concept and aesthetics to just throw a piece together.  I mean honestly... we're still arguing about the difference between art and design.  If that doesn't show our constant obsession with analysis, then I don't know what does.


For more reading and a new perspective on this issue....