Design is NOT art.

 

Let’s just discuss why design is not art and develop an understanding of what designers actually do!

First, let’s start off by talking about the similarities that cause this misconception. Art and design share the same visual principles to create visual experiences. 👁 Shape, color, contrast, balance, positive space, negative space, texture, scale, and so forth — are elements used to connect with a person’s emotions. Design however leverages visual principles as one of the tools to help achieve goals.

So what makes design different from art? Art has no limits, no boundaries. It is freedom of expression. Art can serve any purpose it wants. If a designer were to try to be an artist that would mean expressing themselves through work instead of expressing a client’s brand. It would mean prioritizing aesthetics over functionality and usability. That spells failure. 😱 No client wants that! Design has to achieve goals and if it doesn’t achieve goals then it is 👎 bad design.

Design isn’t simply successful because it looks beautiful. It has to look great and perform a task it’s meant for. A designer’s job heavily involves business strategies. 💼 It’s about understanding business needs plus human needs all blended together to achieve an organization’s goal. In the end, if a business can’t connect with humans no profits would be generated. 💰 I’m not saying aesthetics don’t matter. It’s easy to trust and enjoy something that looks great. Aesthetics is simply one tool used in the entire design process. Sometimes to empathize and meet human needs designers create something “ugly” like how some people view this official Captain Marvel site for example. 😂 I personally find the site looks great and it’s successful largely due to its empathy with targeted users. 🦸‍♀️

Design is born out of human needs. It is not about creating art. It’s about creating solutions.

So don’t you dare call a designer an artist.