Whenever the subject of Art vs. Graphic Design comes up for discussion, it always tends to be which one of the two disciplines has got the highest of hierarchies.
I have tried to understand the question whether it should be a difference between the two or should the discussion be more focused on the matter of when the two meet. To understand the underlying issue here it's perhaps in place to give a definition to what Art is and what Graphic Design is all about.
Art is everything. My personal definition of art is: Every human expression physically transformed between two or more human beings, be it shape, sound, word or light in any medium or constellation. The underlying word here is of course expression and not the form it's expressed by. If not transported, it's still just a thought. I guess we have to wait for the technological innovation to enable us to even transport r teleportation or an idea or a thought without the interaction or intermediation between people. Whilst Graphic Design is about making messages and expressions understandable to a mass audience, here, the use of color, shapes, pattern graphic language and of course typography is extraordinary important. In particular the use of typography is an essential element of all graphic design. Without it, Graphic Design will simply become just design or perhaps in one sense artistic impression.
Some of the greatest masterpieces in the history of mankind were and still are commissioned by someone else than the artist him/herself. As such the Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel, Taj Mahal. I can make the list very long...
So, what makes art and graphic design to collide? I think they’re twins trying to get away from each other. More accurate is looking in the mirror watching your self and still wondering is that really my face?
Myself, I painted my first oil on canvas when I was fourteen years old (I still own that piece). Today some 30 years after, I work as an Interactive Art Director doing digital stuff and User Interface. Does that make less artistic? I wonder!
By: Namroud Gorguis
Interactive Art Director