How Art Informed My Design Career: Part 1
Applying a decade of learning/training in technique, process and thought
Art and Design are two very different things. So different, in fact, that I’ve seen experienced professionals in the creative industry get visibly uncomfortable at hearing their methodologies used in the same sentence. So, to diffuse any tension you might be feeling right now, I thought I would start with a funny (and very embarrassing) story.
At the age of 17 I went for my college interview at the school at which I intended to start my creative career. I’d been drawing and painting for around 8 years at the time and knew that I saw my future in the creative field. This was my “dream school” because it afforded me the flexibility to figure out which part of the creative field I wanted to slot into. If I found the most satisfaction in painting, I would continue with that. And if I took a more keen liking to industrial and product design, I could move in that direction. It was all very exciting.
When my turn came, I went into the room carrying several thick binders full of my work. The panel took their time to go through everything and asked a few questions about the techniques I used to check if I knew what I was doing. There were pleasant discussions and their personable demeanour was a welcome relief to my nerves.
Then, the gentleman on the right said, “Okay Antara, your work looks great to me, but I have an important question for you.
“Can you tell me the difference between Art and Design?”.
And I couldn’t answer.
The irony was not lost on me; there I sat, with all my binders and portfolios, contesting my seat at an art and design school and unable to pinpoint the difference between art and design. Seconds later the true scale of the horror dawned on me — I did not know what Design actually was. I had at best a cloudy idea and, as it turned out, I had never articulated this nor had the need to articulate it to myself or anybody else. The entire experience was the kind where you’d promptly want to dissolve into the ground and disappear, so you’ll understand why my recollection ends here — I actually don’t remember anything more from that interview, until I came back out.
I know now not to be so hard on myself. At the time of this incident, I hadn’t had any real exposure to design and all my training had been in observational drawing. Those skills were already solid as stone and afforded me a reasonable amount of confidence in my creative abilities and thought processes. A good art and design school does not interview you to see if you already know, understand and practice art and design, but rather to see if your mind is wired to imbibe their teachings. Thankfully, mine was.
I also know now that the answer isn’t cut and dry, having been debated for hundreds of years, if not thousands (1). The image above is an excerpt from the article Art vs Design — A Timeless Debate from Toptal.com. An illuminating read — if you have 14 minutes to spare, check it out here.
It is the 21st of April, 2022. This is how I now understand Art and Design in my work and life:
Art Asks Questions
Design Answers Them
Art Creates Meaning
Design Solves Problems
Over 3 parts, I hope to relate my experience of receiving over a decade of training within the domain of Art and going on to practice Design for a living. I hope to cover learnings form both disciplines and the amalgamation of these learnings, share some of the insights that helped give my work meaning and grounding, and do my bit to settle the storm of confusion that often accompanies creative careers.
On the Importance of Process…
The two definitions above each contain a starkly different stance on the noun “Process”. One deals in the “natural” while the other speaks of a more inorganic and man-made concept. It is necessary to tap into both sides of this spectrum in a creative process. It seeks to be systematic and directed, but not deterministic; fluid and experimental, but not unguided. The creative process can take many forms and be applied to a variety of activities, tasks and requirements, in the sense that it is not limited to artists, designers and “the creative types”.
Anybody can benefit from creative processes, thoughts and value systems. What varies is the way you apply it and what you seek to gain from it. In creativity, process and outcome are independent of each other. However, by amending the relationship between the process and outcome, you can:
- Arrive at a single concrete answer
- Arrive at a group of possible answers and solutions with varying levels of efficacy, or even
- Refrain from conclusively answering the question, instead illuminating new channels of thought.
If you were a mechanical engineer, you probably wouldn’t be relying on the third one.
Process of any kind can involve various ways of thinking to arrive at a conclusion, whether convergent or divergent. In Part 2, I’ll be speaking about the two tools that I most closely associate with my Creative process. I like to call them my Weapons of Intelligent and Kickass Intervention, or WIKIs for short.
Stay tuned!
References
- Philips, Miklos. “Art vs Design — A Timeless Debate.” Toptal Design Blog, 8 May 2018, www.toptal.com/designers/creative-direction/art-vs-design.
- “Process.” Oxford Languages, languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en. Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.
