Is Graphic Design Even Art? 

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When I was in uni for graphic design and multimedia, I remember a handful of profs during the first week of class said something along the lines of: "Art is personal, design is commercial." So if you only want to do you and not willing to adapt, you're not gonna make it in the industry. Paraphrasing the hell out of it because English is not my first language. 😅

I really liked the video, as a graphic designer and artist myself I can tell you that graphic design can be art, but at the same time I believe we do have to make a distinction between art and design, design in its core is trying to solve a problem, while art is pure creativity. Growing up I had the same problem with wanting to be an artist but having to “settle” with graphic design until I discovered concept art and decided to go that path because I feel it’s more artistic.

To me graphic design will always be art as a graphic and artist at the same time who loves both drawing and cutting out pics of my phone or any other electronic device I love being creative and graphic design will always be creative as much as art is. Tbh art to me is anything creative like : drawing, painting, graphic design, nail art, music, game design, and writing. Anything can be art since art stems from the creativity of your brain. I love art and I love creative things and people it’s amazing all of the art that we can create.

As a Graphic Designer slaving away in an office space I have always explained graphic design as "Commercial Graffiti". It holds the same properties art exists in which is channeling into the creative frequencies in yourself and the world around and using them in what ever to want to convey or express onto any form of medium. But of course there is the other side of the coin which is the limitations you might run into when doing more "commercialized" work but through those limitations in that's where designers are able to convey their message in the more idealized way. Graphic design is the fundamental practice of defining and conveying the identity to anyones vision to share with the rest of the world. Graphic design is Art but art isn't graphic design.

It can be artful, both given freedom in layout/colors. Though typically, graphic design is adhering to parameters and specifics set by some authority who hires the talent/employee/agency. Words are most often included in those layouts, so there is less "landscape" available for creative focus/showcase. To be able to achieve an attractive visual with message does take skill/thought/creativity and does possess artfulness. And all done within confines set by others. I did design/advertising for years and enjoyed the challenge of the parameters. When I see designs of many things I come across, I do love a good/great visual and will stop to take it in to begin with.

I got into graphic design because I saw it as another form of art that I could use to express my ideas/thoughts. However, in school, I quickly realised this field isn't for those who's just lookin for art. Graphic designing is more commercial than the credit it is given. My teachers started to ignore me the more I worked differently, while my peers got all the praises for adhering to what could be sold commercially. And now that I'm trying to change, and kinda force myself ro make designs for sale, I see myself lagging behind and coming back to my pet projects. But then again, you just cannot complain since everything is for the eyes only. And what sells and pays the bills matters the most.

Andy Warhol is David Bowie if he was gayer

i think this is why i struggle to like andy warhol, because it just seems so uhh. corporate? (for lack of better terms) i know he was doing a lot of cool stuff during his time, but you can recognize the difference between personal artistic style within graphic design, and just design. as an artist myself in the industry, it can be a sacrifice between doing what the industry wants vs trying to keep your own style.

not that you asked for my personal opinion, but when it comes to art i really believe anything can be art, anything. anything that has passion, time and even the slightest bit of dedication can be considered art. art should be about the passion of people leaving their fingerprint on what they enjoy, even if that is all it will mean. there shouldnt be a real definition of art, and trying to gate keep the term just discourages and invalids people's work. i hate the pretentious idea that only certain things can be art, because if we really just take everything out of the context of human soul and passion, then nothing is art. music? strums of strings or clicks of keys. traditional art? just a bunch of lines and squiggles. its not fair totally ignoring the human input of perhaps what would be considered more esoteric forms of art such as graphic design as just "pasting shit in photoshop" while praising the human input of others, its inherently snobbish and selective. So in short, graphic design cool, graphic design art.

this is such a great video in every single aspect. im so glad i watched this, pleas make more, you are so good at it. you made my day better, thank you

I'm new to this channel... Love the way you edited this video canq feel the essence of 90s ✨... In my opinion it can be both it's just what we view as a designer... But I truly believe that designing can be more artistic if we do it as hobby/passion or even for our own work because we have the freedom to explore and do what we really love if that make sense.

i enjoyed watching this video so much it was really interesting, definitely deserves more recognition!

Graphic design can still be art. Your personal design projects that you create on Photoshop and Illustrator are arts. What can’t be art though is UI/UX Design. Every color you choose in a UI has to be for a reason and that is to please your investor and manipulate users into using your app/website longer, more retention, more conversion rate, etc. It is much easier and pay better than being a graphic designer though, as there’s almost no human touch. But god, it’s exhausting. Nothing human about the process of creating a UI, even the illustrations are notorious for being corporate.

Banger, you're gonna grow for sure

this is a good video, i have a video on my channel on a goofy history of branding that covers some of this history stuff you talked about and more, but i have a few note as a graphic designer and artist myself. also, nice editing and use of type, i could immediately tell you were a designer from that haha. i think you could have benefited from a stronger definition of art. obviously art is hard to define, but defining art is key to defining the differnces between the two. is it the object? is it the interaction between art object and person? is it a feeling produced? these things also affect the medium of design, so how do they differ? personally i think there's a lot of overlap. subjectivity exists in both art and design, as does objectivity even though people treat it more on the design side. additionally, no matter the "art" there's always elements of it being "designed", calculated plans going into the execution that are determined by objectives the creator wants to achieve. a lot of designers, particularly in the awful tech space, are really snooty about this but i think anyone who understands both art and design history understand it's impossible to separate the two into a binary. i think the roll of advertising, marketing, and the rise of capital and the idea of a brand play a MASSIVE part in this mental distinction but that's a topic i might talk about another day. anyways, solid work here, subscribed.

It is art with the goal to emotionally move and coerce people towards giving money, eyes, attention, taste, etc... But like, it's art. You can also use it to say other things, as stated with Warhol. Unfortunately, everything is art because we're human

Love your vid!!!❤

Taking the very historical root, graphic design can be seen as originating as the art of typography. In that case knowing that typography is one of if not the most important aspects of art movements (especially political ones) it is a very important art.

Awesome video!! Just curious, what's the name of the graphic design book you flipped through?

Amazing vid man 👏👏👏

i like the editing if the video and content afc

awesome video

who is the guy in the pattern shirt with the backpack at 4:00 with Andy?

great breakdown brotha

warhol wasn't a good artist, his "genius" is that he produced something that he could sell as a collectible to keep his speed parties funded, and not even have to make the works himself, setting up a sweatshop to do it for him instead. Warhol would not have been particularly relevant had his name not been shilled by the media, he probably had a blood relative in the media or something of that sort. The Art Nouveau revival in French comic books and American rock bank posters in the late 60s-70s was a lot more "artistic" and still commercial in a sort of way, but overall it feels more artistic and soulful.

personally i think art is any information conveyed in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and graphic design fits both of these criteria😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😮😮😮😮😮

Okay buddy

Those hieroglyphics were the first forms of graffiti art technically, not really design, but I get you. Great video tho, keep up the good work!

I like this topic and your video. It’s easy to label graphic designers as hoes but after moving out of NYC to the boonies I can’t help noticing that retailers in these little strip malls have signs that are seemingly intent on being illegible, just like static noise as you’d drive by. I so want to help them with just a few design basics plus some flair to attract people.

graphic design is not art in the same way that drawing and painting are not art, they are practices that can be art depending the way they are made. but graphic design have something else that dont make it art: by definition, graphic design is visual comunication. Comunicantion can be art, but more than often isnt. When we see a logo for exemple, it is not a art piece, it is simply the visual comunication of a brand, a corporation. In that case, it is as much art as the photo in your ID is art. So just saying that graphic design is art is missleading, it in most times, isnt because have a clear function to comunicate something visually independing on the expression of its maker. An I say all of this being an actual graphic designer myself, I went throw college and worked with it, and I can say that most of the job is not about you expressing yourself (something that is imperative to art) is just making something someone wants the way they want it. Thats why I also hate working with graphic design, it is more thecnical than u may expect.

i feel like everything is art

I was stopped by my much older brother😢

I agree it is art, but I'm not sure it's good art to me. Emphasis on "me". Great video, you've just gained a sub!

You may not be looking for notes but as a Visual Communication Design Professor, Graphic Design is a form of Art. It is a medium like painting or sculpture. The term Graphic Design is now antiquated like "Commercial Art" or "Graphic Art." The accepted term is now Visual Communication Design. And what separates VCD with ART is the context in which it is presented first. Secondly, Art invites the viewer into the Artist's world and the viewer must bring something to the work to get something from it; VCD is a visual way to present a message. Art is up for interpretation where as VCD has a specific message that the intended audience will understand. Also, I will commend you on using proper quotation marks and not tick marks (inches) however learn to hang them properly when staking the type. And the yellow type gets lost in Elvis Costellos poster. Thank you for doing this though.

design = functionality + aesthetics . bye

Just watched a video on why andy warhol was the worst kind of artist lmao.

Uh. Andy warhol didnt design the dang soup can. He didnf even think of himself as an artist. Youre right, graphic design is art, but bringing Warhol into it isnt helpful

its a craft.. its not art