This is an age old debate but I’m just not sold on the idea of separating design entirely from art and I think visual communication design has a lot to share with visual arts.

Let me ask you few questions. Why do you think every serious design school starts their program with educating students about art history? And since we are talking of art history, what do you think of the work of visual artist in premodern era like the work of all the famous Renaissance visual artist which were commissioned by a client “mostly as propaganda tools” for a specific demographic and all the attention to the details to design a composition that achieves these goals? Do you think design can evoke emotions as “art” does? Lastly, where do you place the work of master designers like Paul Rand? Is the work of Milton Glaser categorized as art or design? Aren’t the magazine covers of George Lois solving a design challenge as well as asking questions?