Graphic Design is not Art

Design is not art. This statement, I have grown to know and prove over time. About a year ago, I argued this statement with a professor, frustrated at the very idea. I didn't understand how such a creative career was not synonymous with art.

But he was right, design is not art, it is a plan. A costumer wants a logo, brochure, business card, etc. and as a graphic designer, you must leave yourself out.

Graphic design is definitely a creative career, but the design must focus on the needs of the client. There is very little room for personal style with some clients, and a graphic designer must be very adaptable.

You must also leave your ego behind and be willing to accept criticism willingly and sometimes even leave behind the conventions if the client wants something different.

Digital art and graphic design are two separate definitions with similar mediums. A design can become art, but this is not the primary function. It must first communicate an idea with a very careful, well thought-out plan.

Graphic design can be the sexy career it's made out to be, but the leave the idea behind that you can have a distinct style with every design and will never have to revise your work.

Defining Art

To follow up on my last post, I had an interesting discussion with my photography teacher last night about what art is.

He told the class that any photo, painting, drawing or other famous artwork can be reproduced with programs like photoshop fairly easily with tutorials.

As a photographer who has seen the progression from dark rooms to digital, I asked how he felt about his own statement. The photos he spent hours planning, developing and mounting can now be reproduced by an average person who takes an average photo and manipulates it mindlessly as the computer tutorial tells him to.

This can't really be considered art can it? It's robotic.

He answered that eventhough a person can reproduce, they can never have his eye, or think just like him. For that matter, no one can. A person will never look at a tuscan field and see just what VanGough saw or look at a building and see the same angle and lighting that the photographer standing right next to them sees.

We admire art because of the artist's unique eye and the way it makes us feel. True art evokes emotion and thought. It takes thought to create and thought to understand. Even the simplest art is nothing more than scribbles if the artist did not have a plan.

What defines art and artists?

As an art major, this is an impossible question to avoid.  What is art? 

After a semester of art history one would think the answer would be clearer.  In different periods, art can be very closely defined.  Artists were often discouraged from being unique and expected to copy the masters.  

If art were this way today, it would be much simpler to know what is worthy of being claimed "art" but our ever growing minds and progression to uniqueness makes this simply impossible.

But does that mean art in this day cannot be art unless it is entirely original? Is there even an original thought left? 

To those questions, I have no real answer.  I can hardly even say my own work can be considered art.  I can follow techniques, express emotions, and create beautiful things, but none of those necessarily make me an "artist".  

And for that matter what makes an artist? 

Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons rarely touch their own work.  They are the idea behind the art, but hire a team of people to create it.  And these two names are highly recognizable in the art world.  

The same goes for Renaissance masters.  They would often only put on the final touches of portraits then sign it as their own work.  And this isn't something that these artists hide, it's not some big plagiarism conspiracy, but rather accepted in the art community.  

I won't pretend to be the authority on the subject, but I have come to my own understanding of what art is.  I think that it is anything that evokes an emotion in a person.  That may be the artist and not meant for anyone else to understand or even see.  Or it may be the viewer.  

Art can be anywhere, film, music, print, fashion, nature, it's an infinite concept.  

After reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I've come to find that some things like art and quality, are a lifelong struggle to define, but a true definition will never exist nor should it.  Defining either would fall short of what the words stand for.  

Creating First Sites

These are the first two sites I created. 

The top image is a screen shot of a non-profit site I made for a community service project that I participated in for Nebraska AIDS Project. 

The bottom image is a screen shot of my company site. It is for a T-shirt company run by my family called "SerendipiTees." 

I worked with coding pages and attaching the css with these two sites. I mostly focused on coding and functionality. I am just beginning to think about web design in my own sites.

Web Design Beginnings

Web design and coding are daunting tasks, considering how much there is to learn.

In a semester of class, I feel like I have learned so much, but I know in a year I will have a much vaster understanding, and still be far short of the possibilities of knowledge in web design.

Along with learning about web design, I have taken the last semester to create a web presence for myself. I can now be found on LinkedIn Twitter and Flickr.

Moving on: a look back at a year without soccer

About a year ago this time I had just finished a very successful season of soccer at Hastings College. I started every game at sweeper and went to the first round of nationals. Pretty impressive for a freshman.

I ended the season without an injury, but more sore than I've ever felt, homesick, stressed, and not involved in anything at school, but soccer.

I love the sport, but being labeled an athlete and nothing else simply wasn't me.

This year, I decided to pursue other aspects of Hastings College, outside of soccer. For the first time since I was 5-years-old, I am not involved in any organized sports.

However, it has opened up countless other opportunities for me that I could not have dreamed of fitting in my schedule last year, or accomplishing as a sophomore.

I just finished my first semester as graphics editor of the college newspaper. I had previous knowledge of design from being editor in chief of my high school yearbook, but looking at design from a newspaper approach was a completely different experience for me. I have learned so much about design principles and how to use the adobe programs.

I was also just offered the position of news director for hcworldnews.com. This is our college media website where the newspaper and tv news can be viewed online. In this position, I will be in charge of making sure each story is posted online every week. I will also work closely with the web master and learn how to do her job. The opportunity to learn about web design is one that I would not have expected looking back to a year ago.

I was also elected Co-Chair of the Artist Lecture Series committee. Being nominated for this group was an accomplishment in itself for me, but Co-Chair is an event greater achievement.

I have also become involved in peer education, public relations council and I am a resident assistant for my dorm.

I am not posting all of these accomplishments to brag or put myself on a pedestal, but to reflect on the idea I once had of the importance of soccer to me. Soccer has always been a very rocky experience for me, going from teams where I was the captain and starting, to teams where I prayed for playing time. The stress of it all still takes a toll on me emotionally when I think about it.

Many doubted my decision to quit, telling me I shouldn't "give up" or wondered why I would stop playing when I am a starter on the most talented team I've been a part of with a coach who truly believes in me.

These are all valid points, because I did have an amazing time on the field and an extremely knowledgeable coach. But as much as it meant to me, I never saw it as quitting, but rather making a decision that would better my future.

I still often miss being on the field under the lights, but quitting soccer might have just been the best thing for me. It has opened up opportunities for me in one short year that few accomplish over an entire college career.

Regression

When I tell people my dreams of one day working for a magazine, their responses aren't always as positive as I would hope. Most people tell me it's a dying media and I should have a backup plan.

While I am learning about web design, I would like to think that this will not become my sole medium of work, but rather a supplement to the print design I create.

I know that the web and new technologies are very practical, but the tactile experience is simply not there.

When I open a new magazine, my senses become engaged. The glossy pages slide through my fingers as I flip through for my first look. Then I begin to bend the spine back in a crackle to read stories more in depth. The perfume samples provide an aroma of sweet smells. And not to mention the art of fashion photography and beautiful page layouts.

These experiences cannot be experienced anywhere else.

Most magazines have a website which is definitely important to stay with the times, but I hope that this will never replace print.

I do understand the importance of new technology and I plan to utilize it in every way I can, but as far as replacing print? I find myself regressing from technology and remain faithful to the printed media.