Design&Art

In high school, I took 2 classes I knew would impact my future as an artist or designer, or both. I took the basic visual arts class where I created work that went into the final senior art exhibition. My 2nd class was called Design Technology where I studied the steps/cycle and techniques in which a designer uses to create a product. So when I was given the task to discuss the difference between Art and Design, I thought back to my high school days and those classes I took.

To me...

Design tends to be created as a solution to an existing problem. A design may be considered a piece of Art but Art would not be considered a design. However it is not to say Art does not serve a purpose. Art, or a piece of artwork serves to bring visual aesthetic pleasure to people who view it, it may also bring ideas and emotions as viewers begin to peel the art apart and interpret any hidden messages and intensions of the artist. A designer creates things based on the set problem with constraints set by the client while an artist creates artwork from ideas that are true to him or herself.  He or she decides how the outcome will look like. However the process of making artwork or designing a product begin to have similarities. 

In my Design Technology class we learn about the design cycle which includes steps such as research, planning, create and evaluate, at the same time I realized when I create artwork, I adapted the same process. 

There are differences between Design and Art but when it comes down to the process, its about the same. As for practicality, Design leads to a final product that helps solve an initial problem. However Art may sometimes address a problem such as poster art addressing an important issue. Then would that be called a Design or a piece of Art?