Art VS Design

In my last post, I explained the difference between art and design and I’m going to giving more example in this week. It is true that designers and artists use a knowledge base that is shared when they are creating their visual compositions. This being the case, they have very different reasons behind why they decided to engage in their work. In the case of art, an artist starts working on a blank canvas and fills it with their own feelings and opinions as a way of sharing with their audience who later get inspired, relate or learn from the art (Mall, 2010). Art is therefore judged on appearance and the type of emotional bond it created between the audience and the artist. Designers on the other hand already have a set starting point before creating their work. Their goal is not to create something new but rather to create awareness of something that is already in existence with emphasis on its purpose. Often times, the goal is to get the audience to do something as the success of a design is based on its ability to provoke the desired action from the audience (Campbell, 2011).

There is also a difference in how respective audiences interpret the message they get from art or design. Art has the tendency to convey a certain emotion or opinion. That being the case, the emotions or opinions may have different meanings because art has different interpretations depending on how the audience connect with it. The Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, for example, has had different interpretations over the years. On one hand, scientists believe that the peripheral vision of the audience creates the illusion that Mona Lisa is smiling. Romantics, on the other hand, believe that she is smiling because she is in love while skeptics claim that there is no reason behind her smile. Contrary to art, any design that can be interpreted is considered a failure.

Designs are intended to communicate specific messages provoking the audience to do something.  If for example, a design was intended to get the audience to go and buy something, it would be seen as a failure if the audience did the opposite because a good design is supposed to convey only one message and that is the one that was intended by the designer . While art allows the audience to have their own interpretations depending on how they relate to it, a designer’s message must be received the way it was intended so as to have the desired effect on the audience (Campbell, 2011).