COMD3504 - Section OL69 - Spring 2022

Author: Faye Wang (Page 3 of 3)

Discussion 2b – Xiaofei Wang

What is Design?

In my opinion, any behavior with thought can be called design in generalization. For designers, design means that designers have a goal and plan to carry out technical creation and creative activities. Designers use their knowledge, experience and talent to solve problems and achieve goals. The task of design is not only to serve life and business, but also to create artistic works. However, there are essential differences between design and fine art. Fine art is the self-expression of an artists through works. Fine art works usually are not created to achieve any certain achievements, it’s just an expression of artists’ inner emotion feelings. Nevertheless, the goal of design is to solve problems with a certain logic. Designer during creating process is facing many factors to consider: business, demand side, users, etc. Designer also needs to have communication with users in order to improve user experience. Sometimes design and fine art can be somewhat intertwined, because design is completed by designers using their own professional skills and knowledge, so the designer’s own aesthetic, preferences, inspiration and even values will also be involved in the design. This leads to another difference between designer and fine art, design serves for people, so it needs certain criteria, principles and norms to support. As opposed to being free to express emotion to fine art works as an artist. Overall, design is a creation with rules and responsibilities, based on the premise of achieving a certain goal.

Week#1 Response – Xiaofei Wang

Even though the design may not be transparent for people, like other kinds of art, it should become an integral part of their lives. According to the authors, the design must be accessible for broader communities since its central aim is to make people closer to the art. Munari claims that modern artists should apply their talent to satisfy the demands of other individuals. This statement implies that the design role is also to cover the interests of people who need it in various spheres of their existence. However, serving individuals’ daily needs, the design does not impede its aesthetic function and value but facilitates people to lead a more balanced life by observing and utilizing art in their daily lives.

People tend to imagine the process of creating an art object as the work of a particular artist whose methods and rationale are unique and hidden from others regardless of the type of creativity. Despite its creative nature, the design concerns include not only the idea and appearance of an object but also its form and functions. Unlike pieces of fine art such as pictures or sculptures, designers’ creations are not enduring but permanently renewed in different materials or applying novel techniques. Additionally, most objects created by designers lack their authorship and become the possession of a broad community, making design distinct from other art branches.

Since artists are more sensitive to the surrounding world and its alterings than ordinary people, they often concern themselves with unsolvable theoretical questions. Such considerations give designers the basis for their creative work. Nevertheless, artists should reflect on philosophical and ethical questions not only to find their inspiration but also to be able to integrate critical existential messages into their art and inspire others (Armstrong). Deep concerns about various aspects of human life stimulate designers’ growth and development, opening new perspectives and the ways of their representation. Furthermore, these questions help gifted people gather and create meaningful social projects raising up-to-date problems of different communities.

The central issues of the modern designers stem from the new technologies since the constantly open access to all the informational resources has caused problems of authorship, universality, and social responsibility (Armstrong). Although the Internet facilitates artists to share their visions and popularize their works, they struggle to protect intellectual properties. The rapid technological development has also made designers utilize similar software applications that threaten the uniqueness of their artistic style, partly unifying it to others. Another problem is artists’ liability for the contexts and ideas they spread through their works and put into the core of the nowadays culture they directly impact and people who appear under its influence. A designer is responsible for solving the problems mentioned above because they have enough knowledge and power to lead social opinions. By means of their artworks, artists direct people into a particular way of thinking, appealing to their perceptions on conscious and unconscious levels. Artists also ensure the link between the broad audience and culture and can shape the general attitude to the value of art by emphasizing their authorship. At the same time, designers who enable sharing their pieces raise social awareness of the most significant issues in the areas where people cannot cover them from different sources for some reasons. Additionally, artists remain responsible for their pieces’ aesthetic aspect and context even when they chase financial interest.

Video Introduction – Xiaofei Wang

Hi everyone, my name is Xiaofei Wang, feel free to call me Faye. This is my second semester in CityTech, but it’s my third year in college. I graduated from QCC in December 2019 with a major in digital arts&design, then I transferred to Citytech to finish my bachelor’s degree, and I’m now majoring in communication design because my future career plan is to become a graphic designer.

Here’s my links:

Behance: https://www.behance.net/542787345b83c

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/xfw0629

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