Art is the expression of how a person views things, the world, etc. It is a visualization of their perception. Art is often associated with an exploration of different media, colors, and symbols. It is experimentation with the elements and principles of art. Art encompasses a variety of styles as well. It can be a captured moment in time; an emotion; an opinion. However, art doesn’t have to conform to seemingly traditional expectations, such as its use in propaganda and within the political environment. Art does not have to be an emotional outburst put on paper or a canvas. It does not have to be a political cartoon, calling out the defects of government. It does not have to be thought-provoking, moving, or deep. Art can simply be something that the artist finds pleasing and interesting. Artists create for the sake of enjoying how their work looks. No matter what its purpose is, art is a display of creativity that allows the personality of the artist to shine through. It incorporates aesthetic perception, principles and elements of design, and originality that produces a fulfilling product.
WHAT IS ART?
Design is the combination of elements and principles that create a piece that has aesthetic qualities, functionality, and purpose. Design includes the progression of innovation, from an idea formulated, next to its developing stages, and finally in its completed form. New technology had to have been designed—conceptualized, imagined—by someone. People who design are inventors; they make their ideas real. Design often solves a problem or serves a specific purpose. It makes something easier or more efficient because someone has imagined it so. The idea imagined is the genesis of the process, which can result in a solution to a given problem. The process can be algorithmic, formulated, or random in nature. Design describes the journey an individual takes when tackling a problem. Put simply, design makes objects appealing physically while allowing them to do their job efficiently.
Craft is the skillset used in creating something. Craftsmanship can be thought of in correlation to this concept—the quality of craft is determined by the individual’s skills and the degree of excellence with which an artistic work is created. Technique, neatness, presentation, and attention to detail are elements that play into defining the level of craft a work has. Passion is evident in craft—the more awe-some a piece is, the more it is thought of to have been something that the creator has enthusiasm and fascination for. The finished outcome of a project is envisioned and executed with craft; the craftsman is responsible for the result. The level of craft put into art is not done for the payout at the end, but rather for the love of creating. The best artworks are deemed so because of the passion put into making them. Craft takes years and years to perfect. There is always something new to learn and more to improve upon.
Knowledge and creativity go hand-in-hand in the artistic and design process. Creativity is what you do when you innovate; knowledge is comprised of concrete truths that you know. When applied together, they function cohesively to produce successful innovation.
Knowledge influences how an individual creates something. People take experiences from their lives and apply them, which helps an individual to determine how things function, what works/what doesn’t, etc. It is this personal experience which gives them an understanding of fundamental truths about how objects behave. When creating something, an individual will often incorporate functionality into the design. In fact, this is necessary. Obviously, they want it to be efficient and effective. When taking an idea and making it a reality, one must think about plausible applications of that original thought.
Creativity is how one puts knowledge to use. When developing a design, the creator may speculate and consider all the possible methods of making their creation function properly. A creation may be a brilliant idea, but knowledge is what makes it plausible.
These are not mutually exclusive, and neither has a tendency to precede the other. In fact, the occurrence of one before the other is wholly dependent on the thought process of the creator. An individual may imagine something that needs more functional thought and development in order for it to be a success; here, creativity preceded knowledge. An individual may be influenced by their personal experiences to dream up an object designed to fulfill specific needs, yet their creation may need work aesthetically or in regards to originality in order for it to be a cohesive idea. In this situation, knowledge preceded creativity. In the artistic process overall, creativity and knowledge build off of each other to allow innovation to reach its full potential.