Stories & More
Menu

A-school or D-school?

23/11/2010

0 Comments

 
There is an age-old debate, especially in design schools about art vs design. There is a strong need to differentiate design from the arts, especially the visual arts. Many a time, designers have reacted strongly when they are referred to as artists, with a vehement 'No we are NOT artists' kind of reaction. There is a need for design to be recognized in India as a stand-alone profession, without any of the old bedfellows. 

'Art and design' is a term in itself, coined over time. Many colleges and courses refer to themselves as 'Art and Design' schools. My under-graduate programme in Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai was an Art and Design programme. Applied Art is another term commonly used to describe Graphic Design in particular. It stems from the older days of the profession. It was art, that was applied for commercial purpose. Prior to Independence India did not have any 'design schools' per se. The closest thing to design were the art schools, with their Fine Art and Commercial/Applied Art and perhaps Architecture Departments. So art and design seemed like natural partners. Post-Independence India saw the rise of D-schools. In the West too, Bauhaus and Ulm were the real forerunners and pioneers of pure design, unallied with any other profession.

Still, it's a bit perplexing when designers recoil from art. Design and art can feed each other in a healthy manner, instead of being kept strictly apart. Reminds one of the old days of Convent education when boys and girls were not to interact with one another under any circumstance. In the same way, its unnatural to keep art and design at arm's length from one another. It is like trying to separate maths and science. Each can be studied in isolation, but they share certain core principles and at the basic level it helps to study both. Visual communication would gain immensely from a little more hobnobbing with art. An exercise in the various print-making techniques would help students in understanding of colour, form, and composition among other things. Great artists, though not designers, have design sense. And great design is as beautiful as any piece of art.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2018
    May 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    May 2015
    September 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010


    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    America
    Animals
    Apple
    Art
    Bakery
    Behaviour
    Book Review
    Books
    Business
    Commemorative
    Communities
    Computer
    Conference
    Consumerism
    Content
    Context
    Culture
    Democracy
    Design
    Diploma
    Disaster
    Driving
    Editorial
    Education
    English
    Entertainment
    Equality
    Ethics
    Feminism
    Film
    Font
    Food
    Gandhi
    Gender
    Global
    Government
    Graphic Design
    Habits
    Healthcare
    History
    Image
    India
    India Post
    Information
    Interaction
    International
    Japan
    Knowledge
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Literature
    Local
    Media
    Mediums
    Mobility
    Modern
    Monument
    Music
    Nid
    Parsi
    People
    Phenomenon
    Plays
    Politics
    Poverty
    Publication
    Rape
    Reading
    Religion
    Review
    Rights
    Royalty
    School
    Sleep
    Software
    Steve Jobs
    Story
    Tarantino
    Teaching
    Technology
    Travel
    Typeface
    Typography
    Unity
    Veterinary
    Visual
    Web
    Women
    Writers
    Writing


    Links

    The New Yorker
    Writing For The Web
    A List Apart
    The Better India
    Wordnik
    Design Is History
    The Grid System
    Chicago Manual Of Style
    APA Style
    Motivated Grammer
    Thinking For A Living
    Philatelic Database

    Old Blogs

    Designscene
    Parsee
    Visibility

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2010–2015, Armeen Kapadia. All Rights Reserved.
  • Blog
  • Blog