Basically...

The dilemma is back. Now, what is this basic divide between art and design? There does exist a crossover;
I’ve always thought of design as a subset of art, like that of the relationship between a father and a son. Art being the father, produced and brought up a genre to the earth that went along the course of his fathers’ teachings - drowning himself in it but gradually drifting off into his own person. He came to be known as Design. This is however an extremely rudimentary approach to my understanding on the topic.


Another way I would distinguish the two would in the form of their characteristics; Art is more individualistic in its procedure. It is about ‘I’. It is about the artist and his ideas and his style and the way he applies it onto his canvas or another surface. Art has a tendency of creating works only to stimulate a ‘reaction’ from its audience; the artists’ point of view and the style and use of colours and flow is indirectly or possibly even directly linked to the reaction of the audience. According to a few Minimalist artists , “…art seeks to build that certain connection between the artist and the observers of his art.”
Design on the other hand, has a universal outlook and approach. It deals with the ‘We’ – which adheres to selflessness and awareness of the human body and its needs. There is a particular purpose and function that needs to be undertaken in order to complete an assignment.


In other words, Art seeks interpretation, while Design is meant to be understood.