Our disscussion this week was based on an article over at
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com that talked about the differences between art and design. While these topics are subject to lengthy passionate debates among artists and designers alike, we love this stuff.
So each one of us took one of the concepts posted in the article and gave examples related to it. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts or comment on ours.
1. Good art is interpreted. Good design is understood.
This one was mine. I like the example of the Mona Lisa for art. It can be interpreted in different ways. No one really knows what Leonardo Da Vinci was thinking, but we can all come to our own conclusions about what is going on or what it means.
My second example was of a great Guinness ad that used the Tin Man drinking a Guinness with the words "surprisingly smooth". Here you are given a direction as to what you are supposed to think, feel or do. If you didn't get the connection between the smooth qualities of the beverage and the fact that the Tin Man is using it in place of his oil can than this ad failed in its design.
2. Good art inspires. Good design motivates.
First we want to put in a disclaimer that we think this one can sometimes work both ways, but we understand where this is coming from. Art can inspire or motivate, but what it moves you to do can vary. Good design can inspire or motivate too but I will let Joe Tucker's examples illustrate the point.
Joe used the artist Jeff Koons as an example. He re-purposes kitsch and pop culture imagery into avant-garde paintings and sculptures. He has created a series of bigger than life twisty balloon dog sculptures from stainless steel. Its truly amazing how he takes a simple object and recreates it using steel and metal to look like the real thing, the soul of the object is maintained really well. He takes something as simple as a ballon toy and and creates a master piece out of it. This kind of approach inspires other artists and designers to blend these ideas with there own to make new ideas.
Then as a example for design Joe chose the Mercedes Benz site. Smart clean design and easy to navigate, this helps me feel comfortable, and makes me want to click around. Calls to action are placed in a simple manner getting me where they want me to go quickly without getting frustrated. This elegant yet cutting edge style along with beautiful imagery of the product make me want their car. All of this motivates me to get into the product and hopefully complete the goals of the design.
3. Good art is a talent. Good design is a skill.
Once again there is some spill over here as well. But the point is that someone can be born with a knack for creating beautiful pictures, the right mindset or imagination to create beautiful art. Some people seem to pick up design faster too, but you have to learn what motivates people. You have to spend some time in society before you understand other people enough to make them think or feel what you want them too.
Stephanie pulled some great examples to support this. For art she pulled some pieces from Carol Kucera. They are really beautiful pieces that clearly show a style that shows a very organic thing that happens between her hands, the brush, and the canvas that was certainly practiced but you can tell it wasn't something she only learned in school.
Her design example is a site she has brought to us before, a great site for Nike Air Jordans. Yes there is definitely some artistry here, but more than that it required an understanding of usability that only comes from experience. To be able to break the mold of a standard website and still be able to move a user through an experience takes skill. That's something we can appreciate here at MindComet.
4. Good art sends a different message to everyone. Good design sends the same message to everyone.
Joe Carafelli had a great example of this key difference. For art he chose "Moutains and Sea" by Helen Frankenthaler. No one in the meeting saw the same thing in the picture. We all liked the piece but for different reasons. Once we heard the name we all went "aha" but we still called out different qualities of the picture we thought represented the title.
For the design example the logo that Joe chose was perfect. Even without the text to support the image you can tell what the festival is and what happens.
5. Good art is a taste. Good design is an opinion.
In true form David broke up the format a bit with his example, but as usual didn't disappoint with his explanation. He chose this art work, a bank building he walked past in downtown Sarasota. He had a friend, Shawn Dehart at
http://www.dehartdesignstudio.com send him a picture. This is clearly art, there is no clear message or intent behind this. The designer created it based on his taste. And you may love it or hate it based on your taste, the art passes or fails by that alone.
Now by simply adding some grooves or notches to this you could make it into functional design. They could be stylish seating, giving purpose to this art work. The designer then would be creating this piece built on his taste, but because the purpose of his design is to create seating. Wether or not you like it is up for debate, but it's purpose is still fulfilled as long as you can sit in it. From there it's your opinion weather or not it's a good chair.
There are a lot of different points of view on this. What's yours? We work for an interactive agency, but what kind of designer or artist are you. We would love to hear your take on it.
Read More & View Comments
Posted by James May on Oct. 06, 2009
Rich - No, thank you for producing some great tracks that are fun to play!
Posted by David on 12/30/2009 11:15 AM