Are You an Artist or a Designer?
Yea, I have the title of "Art Director." Yes, I'm in the Art Department. My wife introduces me to folks as an artist and my mom has been calling me an artist since I could pick up a pencil. But I'm not an artist. I hate being called artist and cringe every time someone exclaims, "Oh! You're an Artist!" when they see something I've drawn. But I'm definitely not an artist. I am a Designer, and proud of it!
There's a big difference. An Artist is a self-important, narcissistic, egotistical child who thinks everybody should listen to what he has to say. Sticking a urinal in a gallery and charging admission may be profitable, but so is fortune-telling. Putting a shark in a box may be "different," but so is Andy Dick. It's still pretty pointless. (No, Andy. Not you.) It's a scam. A hoax. And the masses who line up looking quizzical and chewing the end of their glasses as they ponder the porcelain magnificence are the same mindless sheep who pretend to enjoy dry wine. Ok, I like wine. But it was crazy when I was 8! They're still sheep.
Any history of the word Artist will take you back to a meaning that implies skill and craft. Much of the modern art these days are meant to be purely intellectual games, with no skill required to make the creator's point. There was a time when, if one wanted to be an artist, he had to start as an apprentice to a master, get paid nothing, devote himself completely just to learn the craft. He made his own paint, quarried his own stone, sharpened his own tools and wove his own brushes. These days, pooping on cardboard can land you international fame and glory. Where's the skill?!
Aside from the lack of skill, there's no purpose any more. The intellectual games are no longer fun. All the questions have already been asked. All the thoughts already discussed. There's nothing new. It's all just shock value. Kind of like a bad comedian who has to repeat someone else's jokes, or resort to potty humor to shock the audience, today's Artists often say something stupid, reiterate what has already been said, or just try to make us blush.
But a Designer has measurable value. We don't want people staring at our work from behind velvet ropes. We want people to use our product, have a great experience, or make money for our clients! By definition, our work is specifically created for a direct purpose! Custom-tailored and designed with meticulous care to most effectively give over a message, guide a website visitor, or use a product to accomplish some task, however mundane. We create interactive experiences to educate our children! We can reach millions people to do great things! We build buildings and make teapots sexy!
So, are you an artist or a designer?
Comments
Tevi -
I would definitely say that I am a designer although my friend is actually the one who does the designer for our sites. I used to think that today's artists were a bunch of lazy, stuck-up, narcissists. Now, I know that is very close to the truth. I am amazed at the few examples you cited are not only considered art, but that they are considered great works of art. It reminds me of the story of the "Emperor's New Clothes". Everyone wanted to seem smart, so they all pretended that they could see the clothes. Until a little kid asked why the man was naked...
I agree;-)
I have never conspired myself as an artist in Poland. In Poland this kind of label is reserved for big historical names — mostly.
I've noticed that US is more open for calling others, who do something of the artistic manner, artists. If they see that one draws, one is an Artist — period.
I am not sure it it's problematic from the semantic point of view, but I could never see myself this way.
On the other hand it became so easy to call myself a designer. Although it's just the beginning of my path, I do FEEL myself as a designer.
I think this easiness comes from not having such a historic comparison. There is Milton Glass and Alvin Lustig, but they are more approachable and not sacral, if you know what I mean.
One more thing : whenever I was saturating myself with pure drawing/painting I usually ended up feeling heavy and kind of sad.
It doesn't happen with designing. Even if the project is influenced by my personal vision ( there is no way to stay totally unattached ), it doesn't go that deep and I am never self-obsessed;-)
Thank you for this article. Great immemorial dilemma.
Marta Spendowska
I also feel quite uncomfortable when someone refers to me as an artist when I have never been one. I consider an artist to be someone who demonstrates fine art skills, such as with a paintbrush, or someone who can draw more than a stick figure with a good quality pencil. These people are born with this talent and they deserve to be called artists in their own right. Designers, on the other hand, do have an artistic eye for what looks good on paper, but from what I have experienced, they are not necessarily born with a talent to design. They are creative from birth, but the path to being a graphic designer is not something that is noticeable at the age of 4 while holding a Crayola. A Crayola doesn't symbolize a graphic pen!
When I was in 9th grade, I took a graphic typesetting class which consisted of ancient typesetting machines and printing presses. This class was offered, I think, purely for the fun of it. But, I was in awe at how much I truly loved it! That is when I first realized that I wanted to be a graphic designer.
Being an artist is a skill but so is being a graphic designer. I don't particularly like it when I hear of someone who is a self-taught designer and who didn't receive a degree. Or someone who worked their way up in a company and eventually became a designer. To me that is not fair...maybe because I obtained a 4-year degree in this chosen field? Maybe because I haven't excelled as quickly as I would have liked to in my 14 years of doing this job. Recently I had to do some major soul searching on whether or not I wanted to continue down this career path, and I really and truly do. I love it, even if it takes me until my 40's to really make something of it, I love it!
One of my college graphic design professors once said that getting a job in this field will never be easy, and it will not necessarily be the highest paying job around, but if you love it then you need to stick with it.
Thank you for listening. And, thank you for writing this great article.
Jody Searing
It's funny how much debate this article has caused, both here, and on the long LinkedIn discussion. (The longest thread I've read every reply!) Lots of interesting viewpoints expressed, and I'm pleased it remained totally civil.
My personal reaction to this article was that I found it to be highly illogical, devoid of intellectualism and rather egocentric. Its almost as though the author really is a genuine narcissist but is attempting to nullify this character trait by distancing themselves from the title of 'artist'. This is evidenced in the way that designers are implied to somehow be superior to artists in manner of character. I personally know many 'artists' who are the most kind hearted, humble people you would ever want to meet and many designers who are not. Fallacy by implication or bias remains a fallacy. To say that artists are narcissistic self-absorbed people is tantamount to saying that the earth is flat because it appears to be so from a given vantage. It is also unkind to lump all people into a given category, no matter what their vocation. In a sense, many professions can be given to a certain degree of egocentrism such as engineering, law, medicine, architecture, scientific research, internet media, advertising and marketing, and yes even design. Few designers are members of a proletariat community but many artists are readily accepted as such. Though there may be a partial truth contained in this original posting, the whole truth is not evident here. Van Gogh was an artist, yet he was not successful in his lifetime though he radically changed what we now think of the brush stroke, and many computer 'designers' use the 'Van Gogh' brush stroke in their work.
Charlene, thanks for reading!
Please look up Duchamp, Hirst, and Ofili and tell me they are not narcissists, and that their "art" has real value to anybody but themselves (after all, they did make money from it). They are far from the exception in today's art world, except maybe in terms of how much their stuff sells for!
Obviously, not *all* artists, or people who label themselves as such, are narcissists, or bad. I think the industry is filled with that, though.
Design has real, measurable value and, by definition, is driven by Purpose. Designers need to work together in a collaborative environment, and therefore, the bad apples tend to get weeded out pretty quickly. Of course there are good and bad people in every profession.
I prefer to associate myself with designers, since I try to make what I do have real meaning and real impact. I try to produce things of value and contribute to the world a meaningful, albeit, possibly mundane, way.
I'm no narcissist. But I appreciate your passion. :)
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