Alice Vine
BA Graphic Design Year one
Could it be argued that Fine Art ought to be assigned more 'value' than Graphic Design?
In order to answer the question, firstly the differentiation between Fine Art and Graphic Design needs to be established. As a generalisation, art is known as an expression. I believe that Fine Art is very much this. Any pieces created under the title of Fine Art are an expression of the artist which may conjure up one or several reactions. They may provoke emotion from the audience or prompt questions to try to establish the meanings behind the artwork and the feelings of the artist. Graphic Design, a more contemporary genre, is also an Art. However, rather than the artist creating a piece from sheer desire to express a certain emotion or even a fact, design may be said to be channeled expressionism. The designer must fit to a brief of requirement, rather than raise questions or give a starting point to a viewer to think up thoughts (which might even contradict those of the artist). In order to successfully fulfill the brief the audience must think the same thoughts the designer set out to convey. The Graphic Designer is taught to inform, instruct, promote or persuade. Some might say that Graphic Designers are Fine Artists who have given their work purpose, and who have the ability to understand, relate and communicate to an audience.
Secondly, it is necessary to establish what we mean by 'value' in art. Surely a value would change according to different personal or professional criteria. Amongst many 'value' criteria in art, we could include whether the piece has commercial value, whether a message is being communicated, and If so is it a clear message. Is the viewer free to make their own message? If the message is clear does this make the art itself bad? Or even the opposite, that is to say, if the message isn't clear does this make the piece of art good? Or is it just the amount of skill that makes the art more eligible to be assigned more 'value'.
You could even ask why does art have to be assigned a certain amount of 'value'. It is necessary to be appreciated? It is almost as if there is a hierarchy. Is is a hierarchy of usefulness or beauty? Once again, it depends on personal and professional criteria. Does art lose its artistic value when assigned other values such as practicality? Is it modern day culture that has done this by relying on the consumer based lifestyle. "The strategies involved in catering for, sustaining and expanding the new mass market subsumed the question of design through its role growing within advertising, marketing and retailing" (Penny Sparke 2004:15). "By 1914 the framework was in place for a new, modern visual and material culture-not yet called 'design'-which was defined to a significant extent by its role within conspicuous consumption and the socioculture requirements of the marketplace." ( Penny Sparke, 2004, 'An Introduction to design and culture:1900 to the present' p24).
There is no doubt that design has followed the rise of consumerism and the two are intertwined. However, as has been the case with Fine Art for many years, it must be remembered that Graphic Design is now a growing recognised genre of art as is witnessed by galleries such as The Design Museum, London where viewers can appreciate the works of art for their own sake. Works of art found in a design gallery can vary from video to 3-D constructions. Some exhibits could even be included in a Fine Art exhibition and indeed are. The Tate Modern frequently shows a wide range of both Fine Art and Design based art. "Many designers are artists and many artists are designers, the line between the two is complex and intriguing." (Craig A Elimeliah, 2006).
Perhaps the best evaluation can be made by looking at examples. One of the earliest example of Graphic Design is the Sir John Everett Millais' painting "Bubbles" (fig 1: Sir John Everett Millais,1886) which featured in a marketing poster for Pears Soap. (Thomas J. Barratt,1886). This example is interesting because a piece of Fine Art had been "borrowed" in order to advertise soap. It could be said that it was a vulgar exploitation of Fine Art. It seems as though much more skill had gone into creating the work of art rather than the Graphic input to the piece. The Designer has chosen the painting because it is already conveying a pure, soft image. The designer cannot be credited with this. It could be said that the use of the painting detracts from its original artistic values since the viewers thought and feelings are channeled in one direction. This example highlights perfectly the way in which a piece of art which once had mixed messages was adapted to play a more limited but practical part in the commercial market. However , without the skill and artistic precision in the first place, the same look would not have been achievable.
There is also a role reversal. In some pieces the Graphics may dominate the overall artwork. There are cases where a more meaningful value is assigned to the work of art only after the input of Graphic Design. Figure 3 (anonymous artist, 2009) is my next example. If you were to cover up the text the audience is left with a simple piece of photography which may promote a range of starting points in interpretation. Removing the hand to show the text immediately gives the piece a sense of purpose, or in other words a clear value. The photograph is an aesthetically pleasing image to look at but with the injection of Graphic Art, the artist conveys a much stronger point and true to form, the viewers thoughts are channeled.
My next example is figure 4 (Richard P. Lohse, J. Müller-Brockman, Hans Neuburg and Carlo L. Vivarelli , date unknown found 2009). This strikes me as a solidly contemporary Graphic Design piece. It is both aesthetically attractive and conveys a message effectively and successfully. Its layout and spacing is studied as attentively as an artist's brush work. In this case, the layout is the value that inspires thought processes. Questions arise such as why the artist has laid it out in this way and whether there is a subliminal message behind the spacing, layout and typeface. These questions allow just as much freedom to the viewer as those prompted by a piece of Fine Art. There is a contemporary re assessment of the meaning of beauty as it proves you can find such a thing purely in text and layout of a foreign magazine, even without understanding the language involved. Composition in Graphics is now seen as a skill in itself without involving content. "A constellation of changes that are forcing scholars, artists, critics, policy makers and art administrators to reconsider their assumptions about culture, nationhood, aesthetics and government policy." (Jody Berland, Shelley Hornstein, 2000, 'Capital Culture; A reader on modernist legacies, state institutions and the value(s) of art' p87).
My final example is a propaganda poster (figure 5 Abram Games, 1939-45). It could be said that this is an example of art which accentuates the idea of communication in an artistic yet effective way. The image has value in its own right both in artistic fulfillment and because of it's ability to communicate a clear message without having to rely on the text. Stylistically, this piece is ahead of it's time. It uses clever imagery, such as the juxtaposition between the domestic table setting and the labourer's tools. At the same time the piece has clear relevance and accessibility. The text is a strict informing line which can't be misunderstood. Although the addition of the text is not absolutely necessary because of the clear imagery in the picture, it adds a practicality and urgency value considering the economic circumstances.
To illustrate this point we should look at a piece of Fine Art adapted as a propaganda poster during The Great War. Figure 6 (Courtesy of Imperial War Museum, 1916). The purpose of the propaganda was to testify "...to the fact that various nations participating in the Great War depicted women as saintly mothers, nurturers and protectors." (Nellie McClung, 2005). The painting has value as regards aesthetic skill, but when expected to fulfill the purpose of being a propaganda piece, the painting is weak. This is not the artist's fault as he perhaps didn't intend this purpose. There is no channelled persuasion or instruction, as only assumptions can be made from this painting. The audience are not viewers in a gallery looking for beauty and artistic skill with the freedom to take what they want from the painting. The audience is a mass quantity of people who expect propaganda to tell them what to do. There should be no room for misunderstanding. This is where design and text are vital, to channel the thoughts and leave no confusion.
In my examination of Fine Art and Graphic Design that I have found that there is no clear distinction between the two genre. I think that it is a pointless exercise to evaluate one genre against the other, or even once piece of art against the other out of context. I have found one lear hierarchy of usefulness or beauty but it is fair to say that my personal values would pull me towards Graphic Design given that I believe that beauty and purpose can go hand in hand.
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