Design and Art by Alex Coles

In this text, three essays extracted from the compilation “Design and Art” by Alex Coles, are being analyzed or commented. This three essays seek to explain a clear definition of the word design and then proceed to relate/separate design, giving details about the function and goals of design and determining the motto and characteristics of art.
What is design? (Vilem Flusser, 1993)
According to Charles Eames, design is the arrangement of elements, which accomplish a particular purpose.
Design is an expression of purpose, which could be later judged as art. Design is not a craft for industrial purposes, though it might be a solution to industrial problems. Its boundaries are defined by the boundaries of the problems which is addressing. Design does not concerns itself with only one part of the environment and it is not a method of general expression, it is a method of action. Design is often a creation of a group, because designers must always admit the influence of those who have gone before.
Design implies the idea of products that are useful, though the use might be very subtle. Some designs are manufactures industrially and some do not, it depends on the nature of the design and the requirements.
Design depends on constraints, a sum of constraints. A good designer is willing and enthusiastic to work with this constraints. Some needs are ephemeral so are some designs. Only those designs that have a more universal quality will tend towards permanence, since design addresses to the need, no to an individual or to a mass.
About the word design (Charles Eames, 1972)
In the essay, “About the Word Design” by Vilem Flusser, the author starts to crumble the word design and starts explaining its origins. By doing this, one finally bec...

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...esign in the art" and here is where one may come to the point of whether design is the same as art. To many, including myself, the answer to this interrogation is: NO.
Art as mentioned above seeks to express ideas and communicate through beauty but lacks linear processes and does not seek to solve anything, neither does look for an audience, but only to please the artist and express the desire to convey something. The design, however, seeks to solve problems of a particular kind, persuade and communicate, even a design can come to express ideas but not always the designer’s. The results are due to design and process techniques things lacking in art.
These two words are synonyms for many but in reality, it is a misconception created by the public that, historically, sought design solutions in art and art solutions on a design.

Works Cited

Alex Cole, Design and Art