Design and the Applied Arts Beyond Fine Art: Design and the Applied Arts

What makes something “Art”? Usually, when most people think of art, they might think of ... or .... or even or Are these art? What makes them art?

Which ones are Art? Which are not? Why?

What makes Fine Art, FINE ART? “Fine Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions, and/or intellect. Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.”1

Fine Art, in other words... The term Fine Art refers, very simply put, to making art for art’s sake… The name Fine Art is understood to come from the concept of Final Cause, or purpose, or end, in the philosophy of Aristotle. The Final Cause of fine art is the art object itself; it is not a means to another end except perhaps to please or stimulate those who experience it.

What does Applied Arts mean? The term APPLIED ARTS, also known as APPLIED DESIGN, refers to the idea of art being applied to a useful object – the idea of aesthetics (beauty) and design being applied to an object with an everyday function. Is this art? ….how about this? …or this?

What does that mean? Fine Artists are usually focused primarily on the aesthetics (beauty) or appearance of their artwork. In contrast, the purpose of Applied Arts is to be appealing and to be useful and sold - to satisfy the demands of fashion, style, function, materials and cost, which presents the Applied Artist with an extra challenge.

What exactly are the Applied Arts? The list of applied arts is virtually endless – design is literally all around us – but following are some examples.

On second thought... Actually…. Let’s see how many you can come up with! Brainstorm with a small group and come up with a list of where you see design in everyday life. If you’re stuck, think of a typical school day from when you first wake in the morning until you’re on the bus home in the evening… where do you see interesting design around you?

Types of Applied Arts/Design Craft Architecture Industrial Design Fashion Design Jewellery Design

and more... Packaging Design Advertising – Print Media Graphic Arts & Design Film Web Design

and still more... Toy Design Anime/ Illustration Furniture Design Photography ... and the list could go on and on and on....

So... Which is really ART? The artists involved in the two main areas of art – FINE and APPLIED – have long debated which is of more ‘value’ to a society, but there is no clear answer. What most artists do agree on, however, is that both are very important outlets for creativity and contribute to a visually stimulating and engaging world! And that every artist working in any discipline faces a series of creative challenges, both in terms of ideas and materials, that require them to creatively problem-solve.

Quotes to ponder... Design is customised art. Art is just an act of expression. Art: Art hides. Art has a meaning, and it hides it, on purpose. Art delivers a message, and it’s hidden, on purpose. It is an art to create art. Art is unusable, by definition. Design: 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. “I think the conversation boils down to that design and art are totally judged by two different measurements of value. The purposes are different. Is the purpose of design to ‘touch the soul’ as most art aspires to do?”

More Quotes... “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 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” “Design is about solving problems. Art is about creating them”

Design Task With a partner using large paper, create a series of six to eight design exercises to solve design problems using your choice of drawing media. 1. Geometric shapes to show harmony of shape, variety of colour, and informal (asymmetrical) balance of shape; 2. Geometric shapes to show harmony of colour and variety of texture; 3. Organic shapes to show variety of shape and size with gradation of colour; 4. Shapes and lines to show emphasis(dominance) of line with balance of colour; 5. Lines only to show gradation of line and gradation of space; 6. Lines and shapes to show emphasis (dominance) of texture and gradation of value; 7. Organic shapes to show movement or rhythm/repetition of colour with emphasis (dominance) of value; 8. Rectangles and squares to show proportion of colour and shape with rhythm/repetition of texture

Choose 1 Quote and Respond in a Paragraph Design is customised art. Art is just an act of expression. Art hides. Art has a meaning, and it hides it, on purpose. Art delivers a message, and it’s 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. “I think the conversation boils down to that design and art are totally judged by two different measurements of value. The purposes are different. Is the purpose of design to ‘touch the soul’ as most art aspires to do?” “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 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” “Design is about solving problems. Art is about creating them” 17