The designer is a visually literate person, just as an editor is expected by training and inclination to be versed in language and literature, but to call the former an artist by occupation is as absurd as to refer to the latter as a poet.

— Douglas Martin

This quote really does get to the heart of why I do not think of myself as an artist. I suppose you could say that I have such a high regard for artists, that to call myself one would be disingenuous. It’s similar to the way I think about my musical ability. I play guitar, but I would never call myself a musician. I mean, I don’t read music, I don’t know much music theory and I’ve never had any formal musical training. So to call myself a musician, in my opinion, would be to denigrate the noble title.

It’s true that, as the quote states, designers need to be visually literate, and I would also say creative. But Design differs from Art because Art always rings, to me at least, as being fundamentally personal. True, other people may enjoy and experience the Art, become moved or changed by it, but it usually starts as a personal expression. Design on the other hand, is not personal, it’s communal. Colin Wright on this point:

Art is like masturbation. It is selfish and introverted and done for you and you alone. Design is like sex. There is someone else involved, their needs are just as important as your own, and if everything goes right, both parties are happy in the end.

Wright’s humorous point rings true for me. Design can be Art, I won’t disagree that the lines are perpetually being blurred. But what I will say, and the reason I will maintain the distinction, is mostly because of my love and appreciation for what art and design can be, need to be, and what they will continue to be.

Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann

Tags:design vs- artDouglas Martinjosef muller-brockman