{"id":21978,"date":"2014-08-29T18:01:56","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T10:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=21978"},"modified":"2018-04-09T20:05:31","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T12:05:31","slug":"design-vs-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Design Vs Art – The Difference And Why It Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Design versus art. What\u2019s the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer<\/a>? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our industry might not be able to see it<\/strong>. Your parents, for example, might refer to you as an \u201cartist\u201d even though you are a professional designer.<\/p>\n

How do you tell them, or anyone else who asks, that there\u2019s a big difference between art and design<\/strong>? Are you even sure yourself what the difference is? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading:<\/strong> 6 Key Things Lacking In The Design Community Today<\/a><\/p>\n

Art Asks, Design Answers<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s go back to when you first decided you wanted to be a designer. For me, it was while I was in school. I thought I wanted to be an \u201cartist,\u201d when really, I discovered that my skill set was better suited to design. Why? Because I enjoyed the process of solving problems<\/strong>. I wasn\u2019t as interested in posing unanswerable questions for the world to ponder. I wanted to nail down a system for understanding the world around me.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/strong> What You Discover After Finishing Design School<\/a><\/p>\n

The bottom line \u2013 the main difference between art and design \u2013 is that art asks questions, while design answers them<\/strong>. Design is there to fill a need. Art fills no need except its own internal need to exist and challenge the viewer. That\u2019s not a bad thing, by the way. Art is one of the fundamental building blocks of human culture; every culture that has ever existed has its own unique art forms that they leave behind for future generations. Think of archaeologists \u2013 what is the most common thing you hear about that is uncovered from civilizations past? That\u2019s right \u2013 art. Pottery, architecture, paintings on walls or stones. Art is very important. And so is design<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No Time For Wonder<\/h2>\n

Art inspires wonder and awe. When you look at a painting, sculpture, collage, or installation, your mind starts to churn with a horde of dazzling new ideas<\/a>, and you get inspired to ponder all the endless possibilities<\/strong> that have now been introduced to you by the artist and her work. Ah, the magic of art. What an exhilarating, deeply fulfilling experience.<\/p>\n

Designers have no time for that. If people are in awe of your design, that\u2019s cool, but it\u2019s not the main reason you created it. You design to make people\u2019s lives better in ways they don\u2019t necessarily see or appreciate, but without which they would be lost<\/strong>. The art lovers crowding around that Van Gogh at the Louvre probably all have their phones out, taking pictures. They aren\u2019t paying attention to their camera apps, but the designer who created it plays a very important role in allowing them to share their experience with their friends.<\/p>\n

Art Has No Set Process<\/h2>\n

Art has no process that can be replicated across the board to achieve an optimal result.<\/strong> There are no rules. At all. There used to be rules about who could paint what, but all of those got dumped with the rise of modernism. Ever since \u00c9duoard Manet started painting prostitutes instead of aristocrats, the art world has been slowly divesting itself of every single rule it once had<\/strong>. Some people are unhappy about this, but that\u2019s the way it is. Anything can be art<\/a> \u2013 a urinal, a tree, a dog \u2013 anything. Art has no rules.<\/p>\n

There are, however, rules in design. Even if the result is \u201cugly,\u201d there\u2019s an underlying structure there that solves a problem<\/strong>. There are the physical rules of design: the grid, the color wheel, the rules of composition and layout. Then there are the rules about what the design is supposed to do<\/a>. What problem are you solving? Is it ergonomic enough? What will the psychological response of the average user be to this particular arrangement of design elements? Will it cause them distress, or will they have a good experience?<\/p>\n

These are all rules that designers must take into account if they are to create a successful design<\/strong>. These types of rules may make an artist break out in a rash. But not us designers. We love this kind of stuff. Why? Well, I\u2019ll tell you\u2026<\/p>\n

Philosophical Opposites <\/h2>\n

You can appreciate a design even more once you know why it was made. It\u2019s not just a pretty picture \u2013 there\u2019s a concrete reason why it exists and a concrete problem that it solves<\/strong>. Design geeks love to get into the nitty gritty of what makes a particular design work so well. Simply put, designers use the left (mathematical) sides of their brains to create work that resembles something from the right (artistic) side.<\/p>\n

Read Also: <\/strong>Why You Need A Brain Trust (And 5 Steps To Build Your Own)<\/a><\/p>\n

Art, as we\u2019ve learned, has none of this structure or reason for existing. You don\u2019t need to understand why a work of art exists or how it was made<\/strong>. All you need to do is appreciate it for what it is. Art for art\u2019s sake<\/em>, as they say. That\u2019s not to say there\u2019s no value in analyzing art according to the time it was made, or deconstructing the process. It just isn\u2019t necessary in order for you to enjoy it.<\/p>\n

Too Much Design Ruins Art, And Vice Versa<\/h2>\n

Exactly what it says above. Art and design are related<\/strong>, in a general sort of way, but, as we\u2019ve seen today, they are not identical<\/strong> at all. The two are entirely separate disciplines, and things can get very muddled if you merge them too much.<\/p>\n

Imagine if you brought home a chair that was in an art installation, and you sat on it. It now has lost its value as art, and is just another chair. Art is much more dependent on the context in which it exists than design is<\/strong>. In fact, I would say that design is<\/em> the context much of the time.<\/p>\n

Again, art and design are both vital to human culture and progress<\/strong>. I love and enjoy them both, but at heart, I am a designer. If you love to provide solutions to problems<\/a>, rather than ask questions, then you are probably a designer too. If you\u2019re the opposite, you\u2019re most likely an artist.<\/p>\n

What Do You Think?<\/h2>\n

Are you a designer or an artist? What other differences and parallels can you draw between art and design? Tell us what you think in the comments.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Design versus art. What\u2019s the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our industry might not be able to see it. Your parents, for example, might refer to you as an \u201cartist\u201d even though you are a professional designer. How do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[352],"tags":[510],"topic":[4520],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDesign Vs Art - The Difference And Why It Matters - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Design versus art. What's the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Design Vs Art - The Difference And Why It Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Design versus art. What's the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-29T10:01:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-09T12:05:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Addison Duvall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Addison Duvall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Addison Duvall\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee39080532d48918a80a4e7c76bdbc65\"},\"headline\":\"Design Vs Art – The Difference And Why It Matters\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-29T10:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-09T12:05:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1084,\"commentCount\":16,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Web Designers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Web Design\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/\",\"name\":\"Design Vs Art - The Difference And Why It Matters - Hongkiat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-29T10:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-09T12:05:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Design versus art. What's the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/design-vs-art\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Design Vs Art – The Difference And Why It Matters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat\",\"description\":\"Tech and Design Tips\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"Hongkiat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/hongkiatcom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/hongkiat\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/hongkiat\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ee39080532d48918a80a4e7c76bdbc65\",\"name\":\"Addison Duvall\",\"description\":\"Addison is the author of Food Identities, a blog that explores the crossroads of food, design, and culture. She's written some things, designed other things, and eaten a whole lot of food.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/addison_duvall\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Design Vs Art - The Difference And Why It Matters - Hongkiat","description":"Design versus art. What's the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Design Vs Art - The Difference And Why It Matters","og_description":"Design versus art. What's the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/","og_site_name":"Hongkiat","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","article_published_time":"2014-08-29T10:01:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-09T12:05:31+00:00","author":"Addison Duvall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hongkiat","twitter_site":"@hongkiat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Addison Duvall","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/"},"author":{"name":"Addison Duvall","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee39080532d48918a80a4e7c76bdbc65"},"headline":"Design Vs Art – The Difference And Why It Matters","datePublished":"2014-08-29T10:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-09T12:05:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/"},"wordCount":1084,"commentCount":16,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Web Designers"],"articleSection":["Web Design"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/","name":"Design Vs Art - The Difference And Why It Matters - Hongkiat","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-29T10:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-09T12:05:31+00:00","description":"Design versus art. What's the difference, and how does it affect your career as a designer? We all know there is a difference, and those outside our","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/design-vs-art\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Design Vs Art – The Difference And Why It Matters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","name":"Hongkiat","description":"Tech and Design Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Hongkiat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","width":1200,"height":799,"caption":"Hongkiat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","https:\/\/x.com\/hongkiat","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hongkiat\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee39080532d48918a80a4e7c76bdbc65","name":"Addison Duvall","description":"Addison is the author of Food Identities, a blog that explores the crossroads of food, design, and culture. She's written some things, designed other things, and eaten a whole lot of food.","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/author\/addison_duvall\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uxU-5Iu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21978"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27233,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21978\/revisions\/27233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21978"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=21978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}