Comments on: Art or Design?

By: GAiL

GAiL — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 08:55:11 +0000

Being an artist/designer myself (no, I don’t think my websites are “artworks”, but i DO paint and take photos on my spare time ), there is an appeal to the word, “artist.” I sounds better than “designer,” because I think deep down people do understand these art-design stuff you’re talking about and unconsciously agree to it. I mean, why the conscious refusal to use “designer?” Because design DOES fulfill a function. And that’s kind of hard to admit if you feel you have an artist’s soul. It’s easier to just fashion yourself to believe that you are a “web artist,” or whatever you’d want to call it, that openly admit that you are adhering to a specific function.

I’ve been doing design for 9 years, and art for practically my entire life (both my parents are artists). I know when I’m doing art I feel I don’t have boundaries, and basically create an entirely different world based on how I feel, think, etc. Although I sometimes follow correct form (ie. realistic painting), it’s my finished painting that makes it distinguishable from being a DESIGN: there’s no practical USE for it, it’s just there, on canvas, made for the simple reason of expressing art. But when I design, there are a lot of things that I have to consider in order for the finished design to fulfill it’s function: for whom it’s for, what it’s for, when it’s for…

I guess that’s why I don’t agree with the “CSS artist” thing. Art is beyond functional. And no, it’s not because of “Academia” that gives me this thinking. I’ve never studied it (my course was MANAGEMENT), but I AM living it kinda hard not to. You’d feel the same way too if you’ve been raised to love art the moment you learned how to use a crayon.

By: Andy Skelton

Andy Skelton — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:57:40 +0000

Adam, perhaps it is better to say CSS Designers for all of the reasonable reasons that you give. If it pains you every time I write “CSS Artist” then consider this discussion my apology for offending your sensibilities.

I also thank you for bringing fine examples to light so that we can learn by exploring. That was a good exercise.

What remains is that I will continue to regard some designers as artists in much the same way that I regard some coders as poets. Perhaps you will learn to see the human expression, however square, that qualifies these things as art in my mind. Cheers, mate.

By: timethief

timethief — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:11:48 +0000

I delight in reading your blog Adam, although the text over graphics creates a real challenge for me vision wise. I have to struggle, squint and ctrl + a lot but doing so is worth it.
I am enjoying the art-design semantics debate but have nothing of value to type into the comments box. I see both the artistry in design and the design in art and from my point of view leaving the seams blurred actually enhances my appreciation for both in a way that trying to distinguish between them doesn’t.
Thumbs up for creating a blog discussion environment that encourages passionate debate without rancour.

By: adam

adam — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:50:53 +0000

Andy Skelton said:

The meaning of CSS Artist is lost on you as long as you insist on fitting it within the academic strictures of Fine Art and Design that you have learned so well. Academia has no place meddling in what is essentially promotional copy.

I’m well aware of the use of ‘artist’ to mean someone skilled in a particular craft. That’s actually secondary to your repeated refusal to use the word ‘designer’ in relation to anything web-based. The idea that ‘promotional copy’ on the web is somehow separate from the promotional copy of newspapers, magazines and TV is faulty at best. The idea that material learned in school is incompatible with information passed freely on the web is so poisonous to the free exchange of information that i hope you reconsider it.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 20:58:13 +0000

Gentlmen! We’re arguing semantics!