The Yin Yang of Creativity
What are you? Artist? or Designer? Both? Goldfish? Me, currently, I am a writer. Usually I am a designer, but tomorrow I might decide to be an artist.
Here’s the cold hard truth. Art is one thing, design is another. If you disagree comment below and we will rough it out. I know sometimes it can be difficult to find the line between the two, but they are completely separate things which cannot exist without each other. Here’s the skinny:
Yin: Imagine a world with no rules… I can see the art forming in your head now. Imagine… Breakfast every meal, lions as pets, clown suits at work. Totally mythical right? No one can tell you what to do. You just express your human nature. This is art. Art doesn’t have limitations, or guidelines, or procedures. Art has only one boss and that’s the author, or the painter, or the sculptor. (here’s where it gets deep) Art is expression, feeling, raw emotion in the artist toward it’s audience. And it needs no explanation. There is a true beauty in art and if you don’t think so you’re lying.
Yang: On the other half… meet design. If you haven’t met than you’re also lying. You see each other everyday. Noted as the first profession to ever exist, design is with us each second of each minute on this wonderful planet. Now imagine the world you live in (or just open your eyes and look wherever). This stuff is design. Design is calculated. Design has clear objectives. Design is planned. If you don’t get it yet take the shoe for example. what do you think it was made for? If you said, “To hang on a wall and feel a sense of sentiment,” then you may also rough it out with me in the comment section. And for the other answers: Yes! To support the spine, protect the foot, make small people taller… all those things. So making a shoe out of Jello wouldn’t make sense - now would it? This is design. Using a set of steps in order to achieve a desired outcome.
Both Art and Design coexist in a world where we try to find meaning. Some things are harder to define, others not so much. But what we clearly know is that one cannot exist without the other, and that’s that.
