Issue One is in our hands. Perfect bound, offset, cotton fibre stock; when we set out it was with great affection for the aesthetics and tactile sensory pleasure that is so integral to the experience of reading a document or taking in graphic material. Building a magazine from scratch is quite an undertaking. Gathering, priming, organising, personally creating a great deal of every pixel and then seeing it physically in print is very rewarding. The copy ain't half bad either (!)

Go here or here to order a copy.

Being a new dad of 3 months, I have a lot of content needing posted that sleepless delerium and general stretching in all directions work-wise just hasn't allowed for... I will get to it. In the meantime since it's going to be available for purchase from next week I thought I should throw a little of the material I created for the brand new and forthcoming Cleaver Quarterly magazine.

It's a really exciting project cooked up by three long term Beijing-based wordsmiths and all-round Chinese food aficionados. It's a food publication focused on the expansive world of Chinese food and its global diaspora; long form journalism, creative writing and graphic content delving in beyond 'how-to' recipes and 'the top 5 restaurants. . .', things that more commercial food rags tend to offer. I signed up for some art direction and graphic design.

I will throw up some spreads and more in due course but for now wanted to share the logotype. THe brief was to have something established looking, a nod toward trad/formal publication mastheads, not too retro/hip but with a sense of fun. The result looks pretty sharp.

And the one that got away

. . . Well, this one didn't make the cut (see 'too hip', probably) but I rather like it and it's nice to see some of the evolution of a logo

Find The Cleaver Quarterly at: thecleaverquarterly.com

I worked on this album art toward the end of 2013, it's now up on itunes for your aural pleasure. Matthew 'Joseph' Gabel wrote/produced this studio album "Tennessee Ghosts" throughout 2013 from his Beijing garden shed laboratory. It's fantastic. To my ears, dreamy soundscape, lyrical optimism, nostalgia and a good dose of indy americana. There's a seamless fusing of pure instrumentalism with a light sprinkling of more digital elements.

The artwork therefore needed to capture something 'flighty' and dreamy but also hold on to some of the rust-belt origins that inspired much of the overall vibe that's described in the lyrics. I think it has impact, but also sells the warmth and imagery of the songs. See the rest of the digital booklet.

I was commissioned to help out with album art, label branding and general art direction. Finally got a hold of physical copies so it's time to share. The album "A Little Hiccough from the Dear Lord", was done mid 2013, but is only just getting put out into the world (links to follow).

Drew Hanratty, and his merry band of Sino-American session musicians; all established artists in their own right, have slaved away to create a truly unique sound. Far from mainstream, accessible or indeed 'easy' listening - some of the core things they seem deeply motivated to avoid it would seem, it is highly satisfying stuff. To my layman ears, it's an amalgamation of refined, precise musical pedigree and playful avant-rock soundscapes. Technically complex arrangements, at times infuriatingly discordant, at others rousing and all laced with a querky, retro-futuro narrative voice. There's a strong literary influence. It's not for everyone, but it is quality, without compromise.

So, when it came to the artwork we settled on trying to balance an old world/new world aesthetic, 19th into early 20th century + Jules Verne meets Raygun Gothic (if that makes any sense) + a cleanness, minimalism, but with some fresh, bold, playful and somewhat 'loose', not-too-rigid aspects.... PLUS, there was an insistence on it having a traditional artisanal vibe, hence all the illustration and some typography being hand-drawn, this is the result. Go to the Project album for more images and details. Feedback so far is good, I think we got it right. At the end of the day, the design should not get in the way of the content it seeks to represent, it should give a good accurate sense of what lies within.

AESTHETICS AND A CULTURE OF ASPIRATION

The following text serves as a reflection on the relationship between ideas of social class, or status, and the design choices made to tap into the self-image and aspirations of a target audience; more specifically, discussion of how a message or product gets across to the desired consumer, identifying your market and whether it reaches its intended core group or not. What comes across as genuine sophistication in a message or brand and what is merely superficial adornment is a fine line. The desirability of something that is apparently of ‘high class’ is not new; drawing on observations made in the Chinese brandscape, viewed as a reflection of western ideas of the exotic or unfamiliar being desirable, highlights these issues perfectly. In discussing typography, other design elements and branding in general, I will be focusing on what constitutes the visual language of social status and the tropes that appear in every corner of the globe.

 “The Orient is not an inert fact of nature... not merely there just as the Occident is not just there either. Men make there own history... what they can know they have made and extend it to geography: as both geographic and cultural entities... as much as the West itself, the Orient is an idea... and the two reflect each other.” Edward Said, 1978. 

 “They wanna know who's my role model, It's in a brown bottle (You know our mother-fuckin’ motto) Hennessy.” 2Pac, 1994.

WE ARE NEVER ALONE 

Why discuss this theme you may ask? Well, I was traveling in the back of a taxi in Beijing one morning. It is the norm to have ads displayed on the back of the front seat headrests - increasingly these days, interactive touch screens, but in this case a regular print ad caught my eye. Partly this was because of the provocative, jaunty pose, and rather generously displayed cleavage placed centre right; add to that it was a western model - an only occasional trend in these parts (more on this later), but what really got me was the typography in the logotype and header. The ad is for a breast augmentation ‘salon’. 

 Initially focusing on observations made here in China, played against established patterns beyond its borders, I wish to present that the extent of how we universally identify the idioms and tropes of high quality, class or value, is actually quite uniform. Looking back at theories on Orientalism, I want to discuss the inverse of this. But in particular, Chinese society is ripe for responding well to these signifiers of perceived high living; there are rapidly growing numbers of newly wealthy Chinese drawn towards material and aesthetic symbols of success and achievement that are overtly representative of living large in western cultures. What are these elements? And, beyond this, I will discuss the issue of luxury brand image; what are its representational characteristics, what (un)desirable connections they have to there consumers and finally where is the line between subtle sophistication and garish crassness in design application. 

 FUR COAT AND NAE’ KNICKERS 

 Lets break down the coordinated attack of devices and signs at work in this ad: we have a clinically clean, slightly pastel-toned background; the model (western/european looking) is dressed in a glamorous silk evening gown, she is made up and bejewelled; logotype includes the name DonnaBella (Bella Donna), Italian for ‘beautiful woman’, the primary colour is a deep rose-pink and is in cursive script with some extravagant serif action - though in the alternate ad for the same company this is inconsistent - sloppy or intentional, either way not great. This is all suggestive of an elegant night out at the opera for a confident and desirable young femme. The rest of the tagline and copy is in Chinese, it describes the treat you are affording yourself by having the augmentation to your bust, and surprisingly, the price - 980 Chinese Renminbi, or approximately $600 US. 

 Basically, I witnessed the graphic equivalent of a downtown hussy strutting her stuff at the ambassadors party; the golfball-sized diamond ring and ruby red lip gloss belying any sense of subtlety and real elegance - I refer to costuming and propping, its not a judgement on the model herself. The idea that a boob-job would vastly improve your status in life is a really misguided attachment to a media maintained image of desirable body type, but pertinent here mainly because the asian female form is not known for being blessed with the more generous bust commonly found with western women. 

Seeing this ad reminded me of all the occasions I have come across signage, branding and imagery here in Asia where businesses and products apply characteristically western styling tropes and how these cliches no longer ensured the ‘class’ invoked by these branding elements. The key theme for many operations was that presenting an element of ‘foreignness’, an exotic entity in the marketplace, somehow also conveyed luxury. Even if the business was profoundly local in foundation as well as market demand for said product, the notion of something looking ‘imported‘ obviously carried the same cache as the exoticism we placed in our native lands on aesthetics of something from outside ones own familiar sphere. Unfortunately, this does not always carry off. The trend as mentioned, includes the earlier design choices and characteristics, particularly the use of English language in name and/or tagline, the frequency with which this is done badly though, i.e. heavy grammatical errors, or simply mixing contradictory terms, is a common sight on asian city streets. 

 There are two points to note here: first, the desirability of the Other, second, the application of design elements that have connotations of european luxury and sophistication applied to a product or message that is decidedly unsophisticated, in fact bargain basement - six hundred dollars is not going to buy you the highest grade implants, nor mammoplasty surgeons’ hands to insert them. A completely inconsistent level of ‘class‘ being alluded to with the target market for a discount boob-job. 

 Obviously, speaking for the UK and parts of the western world I have experienced, we are not opposed to the odd flash of neoclassical/baroque/mock-tudor/blingy... tat. Unsurprisingly at this stage of a developing nations relative consumerist (im)maturity, in China there is a great deal of equivalence of this to be encountered. The number of Chinese families who would be considered ‘born with a silver spoon in their mouths’ in the aristocratic sense is not huge, however in terms of nouveau riche, as well as a burgeoning middle class, the numbers are increasingly vast. With the relatively new ideals of entrepreneurial individualism of course aspirational conspicuous consumption is in evidence.

 Occidentalism is perhaps not the most accurate term to apply to this phenomena since that particular descriptor appears in a number of contexts being used to define a rather negative perception held against the West and west livity by those living in the East. Stemming from the concept of Orientalism, where the East is in fact romanticised or exoticised, for me occidentalism ought to be an equivalent reciprocation of that rather than the resentful dismissal of all things  (apparently) corrupt, indulgent and amoral - as is often the perception of the capitalist west. Orientalist ideas in the art world are seen throughout Romanticism to Art Nouveau and in current times, a raft of fine art, graphic design, music and philosophical trends. They brought the richness, excitement and energy of the middle and far eastern peoples into the grey-as-a-grudge, urban industrial Europe - the influence still very much present, particularly as cultures mix ever more freely. Clearly alongside the appreciation of the intoxicating perceived liberty of these far off lands and cultures, there did exist a serious note of patronisation and superiority, obviously encouraged by the colonial exploits with these countries in the past. However this was validated, the sense of the Other was one of intrigue coupled with romanticism, and though this led to a regard of simplicity and even backwardness by some, it did allow for the east to be painted with a great deal of colour and beauty. 

 The debate over Said’s assertions in his writing on this matter continues, but what can be agreed on at least, is one, yes there is a tendency in any country to view the other as inferior, but two, there was also genuine affection held by Europe and outsiders toward a great deal of Eastern culture. Based on this it is possible to see to this day that, bull-headed xenophobia aside, we are both in the East and the West identifying aspects of desirability in the other, it is not one way traffic. Therefore, in the absence of a keener term, I propose co-opting occidentalism and morphing it to describe the now favourable light the west appears in. This manifests mainly in the superficial terms of materialism and displays of wealth and status; on socio-political levels, certainly the ‘official’ societal attitude, there is still a pervading dismissiveness toward all things western, but what is increasingly embraced in the realms of consumer culture; that if you drive a European car, eat cerviche, carve your bread with a Philippe Starck knife, dress in Prada AND your wife has a glamour model bust, you have arrived. In graphic design and branding realms, a requisite 'flashy' visual language is employed. Thus, in terms of upwardly mobile aesthetic displays of sophistication, class or quality; signage and font selection for business cards, display fonts for lifestyle ads and branding in general all follow a distinct pattern. 

Cursive elaborate script - as if lifted straight from Louis XIV’s memoirs; a whole raft of overly ornate, baroque touches including impossibly knotted floral bordering; gold leafing; deep reds, purples, emerald green; roman numerals; gothic animistic creatures; crests and coats-of-arms are all readily in evidence. The reason for our attachment to these design elements we westerners are already familiar with is obvious. The use of cursive script comes from a time where writing was a rare talent, even more so if you worked at it akin to a classical Chinese calligrapher. Greek and Roman or any of the other past eras cultural influences seen, are generally out of an admiration and idealistic nostalgia for times ruled by classes of people whom held 'the arts' as an expression of their level of civilizational advancement. Take your pick throughout the centuries of extravagant displays of artistry commissioned by monied elites, distill these down together and we see continued implementation of the resultant brew in varying degrees everywhere. The question is, is there a way to carry the image of sophistication and ‘high-end’ without the use of the cliches of swank?

 As I looked further into this I discovered another suitable example of attempts at alluding to ‘it's foreign it must be classy’. The des-res high-end residential compounds around Beijing all go for it, not only in iso-logotype design, but the exteriors, adorned with a collision of millennia-spanning plaster stuccoes, cherubs, nymphs, greek/roman/greco-roman columns, fountains and the like. On top of all that, the language of choice is English. Where it falls down is that in fact these compounds only have cache until the next one pops up, which at Chinas current rate of development means probably before you would have enjoyed your first xmas in the place; add to that, the sometimes very amusing, out and out tacky, but usually just clumsy collision of words in the name. 

 Take your pick from the following cringeworthy and grandiose Chinglish names:  

‘New Times Square’, ‘Riviera Garden’ (‘garden’ sounds a little humdrum following the castanets and flamenco thrown up before it) ‘Chateau Regalia’, Chateaux Edinburgh’ (not much french spoken in Scotland these days), ‘Xanadu Apartments’ ...

and my personal favourite, ‘Merlin Champagne Town’ ... enough said, the list goes on.  

Of course, I don’t mean to come across as simply unkind; I grew up with greasy-spoon cafes and chip shops that had been given splendiferous monikers: Le Petit Dejeuner (fried egg and black pudding sandwiches) and Fernando's (these places the very antithesis of continental gourmands). Employing a decent bi-lingual copywriter might have saved a great deal of sniggering, but this is not the only aspect to consider regarding the cheapening of already cliched branding and graphic design styling. 

POLISHING TURDS 

 What we see is a presumption of what audience will respond to which imagery. This is a fine balance and relies on a creative director or designer being very well tuned into the tastes of the general public right across the social spectrum. 

A few words on materialism:

The notion of exclusivity and high-end, top of the line, limited edition, is the epitome of consumer motivation; wanting more, wanting better, wanting the next big thing before anyone else has it is the name of the game, its what keeps people spending and ultimately consumer economies afloat. The cycle of fashion and consumption in general demands a very short turnaround to enjoy the latest thing because pretty soon it filters down to mass market, becoming mainstream, by which point, if you’re a dutiful consumer, you will be lining up the next bit of flash. 

 Recent cases that highlight this include the British fashion house Burberry. In a recent documentary* the long running battle to reclaim there status as a provider of high-end fashion meant an effort to distance themselves from the decidedly low-end consumer group that for years had been sporting their tartan as part of a uniform that prioritised brand name over the cut or lines of a garment. Chavs, scallys, townies, schemies - pick your moniker, are not the only social strata to express their aspirational status through being covered head to toe in as many designer logos as possible. Crass as it is, there is wide participation in the notion that the better the car you drive, the watch or branded clothing you wear, the holiday resort you choose to be seen at ‘says something’ about you. It’s quite basic really, “I can afford this stuff so I must be doing alright for myself, show me some respect”. 

 Certain brands carry certain cache, mark you out as belonging to a ‘set’, ultimately a refined sense of class. In the case of Burberry, they are expensive well made garments, they are also very ‘British’, so being a fairly prideful wannabe alpha male on the estate in the UK, your image of being a bit tasty, is bolstered by dressing well. Unfortunately the cache is lost when everyone else wants to emulate that and the street is full of it. Incidentally, the more expensive lines from most fashion houses avoid presenting the logo on the outside of a garment - thats no good if you are trying to advertise what label you’re wearing, so sales on the cheaper items, like hats, t-shirts, scarves and so on fly off the shelf. It is a weird paradox for a company: you don’t want to be seen as a low-end generic brand catering to low-end consumers, BUT you’re selling so much, how can you fly in the face of the rules of capitalism and its materialist expression? Anyone who can pay the entry fee can take a seat right? Burberry shifted there styling to a place that made them less overtly branded, so, their client base returned to the discerning British urbanites and the conspicuously branded walking billboards moved to the next (or back to old faithful) kudos-gaining gear. 

The same issue cropped up with the adoption of Cristal champagne by the commercial hip hop fraternity. Songs from Jay-z etal sang the praises of a high rolling indulgent lifestyle, flashing the cash and washing it down with Cristal was truly living the dream. Questions were raised if this was a marketing arrangement, a cynical endorsement, but no, the interesting upshot was that the president of Louis Roederer Cristal coming out to publicly distance the brand from this ‘seedy’ element, stating his product was for a ‘certain set’ of discerning consumers. In response Jay-z and the boys tried to publicly set in motion a boycott - Cristal survives to quench the palates of the world’s bold and beautiful. Maintaining an image of exclusivity is important for luxury brand because if a fashion house lose this they will not be called upon for any of their couture or top line garments, and overall their reputation will decline; this equally applies to sparkling wine. 

 A further point to this is that, on the one hand you can have a product of genuine quality distinguished by certain graphic and aesthetic nuances and attract the ‘wrong sort’ of consumer that may cheapen the elitist cache of the product, on the other hand, lower rent imitators will take the superficial presentation of said product and sit cheek-by-jowl in the brandscape, diluting it and ultimately confusing the consumer. In the eyes of the consumer price is a good signifier of perceived quality, but beyond this, discerning taste, a heightened sense of awareness of elegance and subtlety in design and branding is needed. Increasingly these days consumers are more tuned to the language of design and marketing and so art directors and designers need to respond to this with more sensitivity and not just the default elements.

IN CONCLUSION 

 Why we should care so much whether a luxury brand maintains its elitist customer base is an obvious question, but focusing just on design creativity rather than the moral or philosophical aspect, I feel that ultimately the initial ad example I referred to at the outset highlights great carelessness in the design profession, as well as the sense of taste in the client and end consumer. Knowing what we know, that society, at almost every level it is engaged in seeking greater comfort, quality, it doesn’t matter if the understanding is applied to commercial design and advertising or the conveyance of a less ‘materialistic’ endeavour, we as design professionals ought to inject every ounce of blood sweat and tears into good design that is current, relevant, appropriate but that also carries that little spark of distinctiveness and in itself doing something new, especially if it is to stand out in a world saturated with branding, logotype and iconography. 

No matter whether in the realm of highly adnvanced cnsumer cultures, or in the gradually maturing Asian landscape, we can no longer rely on fro example, a package covered in decorative brocade bordering, or tall intertwining art nouveau glyphs or ‘deep and sumptuous’ tones, to actually contain anything of real value or pedigree. Yes, some things are married to their message, expensive jewellery, gourmet foodstuffs, high end electronics, all need to carry an air of ‘long established’ heritage, workmanship and finesse, and this will involve some exploration of traditional design elements, but these can be blended and evolved with more contemporary characteristics. Black and monochrome palettes with 'a bit of sparkle' may still have its place but this has to be used sparingly and not be relied on as a core theme, design choices like this can seem a bit stale. Pure minimalism is not necessarily the answer either, it can often look like the absence of design. 

The pluralistic heterogenous nature of the modern world means we can explore cross cultural fusions of colour and form, but of course with great care not to get it wrong, as with the examples I have highlighted above. Brand managers, designers and art directors need to be much more savvy about what design choices are made within the context of a global brandscape, grabbing superficially at imagery from outside of your own cultural context and applying it without properly assessing its appropriateness to a message is not good. 

Of course the client will maybe have strong opinions or 'a vision' (however deluded) about their status and relevant client base, in which case we get treated to some gloriously off-the-mark ad campaigns to keep us amused whilst stuck in traffic. 

 *

Thank you Dan Sayers.

The font used on my site is Averia Libre.

I wanted something informal and contemporary but also evoking some tradition. This I think hits the spot as it carries a look of ink bleed you'd get on moveable type and at the same time a kind of neon-light bleed effect. The result is something retro-futuro and both fantastic as display but very easy on the eye for short body text as well. 

 Why does it work so well? The gist of it is a kind of generative typography built by layering and averaging the footprint of over 700 different fonts. If you visit http://iotic.com/averia/ you can get the full lowdown. 

 It has a look of imperfection and therefore uniqueness, but is precisely the opposite; a collective, egalitarian, all-encompassing uniformity. Probably because of its bleeding edges and apparent informality, it is not suitable for every occassion, but in a way it's the ultimate font, by literally being an average of so many. Bastard child or hybrid? I love it.

ar·ti·san noun \ˈär-tə-zən, -sən,

chiefly British ˌär-tə-ˈzan\

1 : a worker who practices a trade or handicraft : craftsperson 

2 : one that produces something (as cheese or wine) in limited quantities often using traditional methods 

Origin of ARTISAN: Middle French, from northern Italian dialect form of Tuscan artigiano, from arte art, from Latin art-, ars 

First known use: 1538

 art·ist noun \ˈär-tist\ 

1 a obsolete : one skilled or versed in learned arts b archaic : physician c archaic : artisan 1 

2 a : one who professes and practices an imaginative art b : a person skilled in one of the fine arts 

3 : a skilled performer; especially : artiste 4 : one who is adept at something First known use: circa 1507 

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary [accessed 01.12])

 Across the entire history of mankind there has been a very practical need to fashion objects, create signs, symbols and messages to be used in our everyday lives, whether it be for the purpose of survival, advancement, greater comfort or communication. At the same time, man has always had an aesthetic appreciation for form and visual beauty. Skilled hands used to shape or form something whole and complete from a collection of materials or elements; to create some kind of order out of chaos.  Every tool that has been crafted, from the bow and arrow to the satellite, has been tuned to the highest level of technical performance possible for the time, but it has also been shaped with an effort to include a degree pleasing symmetry, dynamism and aesthetic quality. Separating the two disciplines of art and design has long been a topic of rich debate. Initially it seems easy to cite examples that belong purely to one or the other, but I would like to argue that they are inseparable and most any one example of ‘art’ carries design characteristics or intent and examples of ‘design’ equally, always carry artistic qualities. 

TOOLS OF THE THE TRADE

 So what is design? According to Sir George Cox, former chairman of the Design Council, it is 

“... what links creativity and innovation. It shapes ideas to become practical and attractive propositions for users or customers. Design may be described as creativity deployed to a specific end.” 

Any object, any format, whether 2D, 3D, static, kinetic or otherwise that is made with some degree of functionality, can be considered design. This includes tools: everything from the knife or cup, through to the laser guided missile or CAT scan machine, they all have a practical application in assisting us, whether conveying food to our mouths, detecting illness or besting our enemies. In graphic terms, subway maps, menus, written language, signage, and so on can all also be considered tools of a sort. These things have a ‘job to do’, to assist us in our daily lives in ever increasing degrees of care and comfort. These tools are conceived of to resolve problems; somebody identifies a need and a comes up with a solution. Involved in all of this are the design professionals: architects, interior/product/graphic and multimedia and so on. Most of these roles have existed for thousands of years - albeit in increasingly more skilled and complex terms as time has gone on. Focusing on graphic design for now, the remit is to communicate information, a message or give a visual sign in a way that the intended audience can take onboard as easily, quickly and completely as possible. This could be to announce price reductions at a local furniture store or to carry a persuasive political agenda to sway public opinion, and anything else in between. 

Many tricks and creative devices are employed by the designer to keep the chosen format and content relevant and as tightly tuned to the intended audience and times as they can. It is worth noting here that design work is rarely carried out on a whim, it is commissioned - a designer, whatever their area, will be working to fulfill a contract or brief on behalf of a client (of course pro bono or ethical, community oriented pieces are produced, but nonetheless a brief is set with an intended party represented). This means that as a designer you are being asked to apply your specialist, or artisanal talents to an endeavor that has a predetermined desired outcome or result. Whether this is a commercial end, educational or otherwise, all graphic design jobs have a goal or end point in mind just as product designers have practical or physical needs to fulfill. The same is shared to one degree or another across the design professions. 

The Egyptian temples at Giza, skillfully crafted to convey a message of great power, influence and cultural sophistication of the pharaoh, also served as meeting places; their walls carrying tales of historical import, mythical and spiritual doctrines, even laws of the land in intricate and glyph pictographic writing. Establishing some of the lasting design principles; those of grid system, symmetry and repetition of form, the Egyptian artisans spent decades, centuries, perfecting skills that passed on through the rest of art and design history. By the time King Darius of the Persian empire was pressing his portrait onto the back of the first coins, a precedent was firmly established of the political propaganda that continues to this day - tribal crests and insignia, or logos, having already been around for some time now being carried around as constant reminders of their rulers face in the purses of every citizen. When the printing press arrived in the 15th century, knowledge and wisdom through literacy was democratised and the world would not be the same since. All of these examples are representative of significant practical and material efforts to serve a purpose, but we can also easily acknowledge the aesthetic results of these endeavors. 

The ornamental organic relief carving of the egyptian columns served no structural purpose; Darius’s head rather than that of a lion or other deity, and in such life-like rendering did more than imply financial value; the intricate differences and flourishes in early block typefaces in many cases might involve higher degrees of legibility, but more often than not intended to bring more character and life to an otherwise bland page of copy. As eras came and went, powers shifted, cultures evolved, we saw demands in terms of sophistication, complexity and taste in the aesthetics of all things. Clothing not only protects modesty and your body from the elements, a vast industry exists to serve our need to express ourselves through our choice of attire. The technology industry certainly shifts new products based on performance enhancements, but undeniably a large factor in consumer choice depends on the look and feel of the hardware - see Apple as a case in point, their incremental updates do not always carry a dramatic shift in functionality, but appeal to the aesthetic desirability of having the latest and sleekest piece of kit. It is incredibly difficult to identify a practical object, something designed, that does not also carry some degree of finesse or ornamentation. 

ART IS ART 

What is art? Having wrestled with this question for a while, and watched others lose hair and spit feathers over it, I would like to add my two penny’s worth. There are two sides to this, one, what can be defined as a piece of art, in and of itself, and two, how to deal with the idea of perception. The first point involves a number of factors. An individual gathers together materials and organises them together in a manner that pleases, or at least satisfies their urge to do so. This in turn may be figurative or abstract, it may involve paint and canvas, bronze, clay, animal entrails, an array of pixels, but whatever the medium or format, a conscious human decision has been made to create this piece of work, no matter how course, crude or apparently random their use of said materials. At the root of it, there was an instinct, a motivation or calling to set out to make it, the results may not always be defined as beautiful, but, I would argue, there has been a reason, a spark, an influence to trigger the particular form that comes out of this process. So, out of this I would argue that there is intent inherent in a piece of art work and that work may have an overt agenda to play out, or it may stand for a sign of the times, a manifestation of the human psyche - at that point I leave it alone for fear of disappearing off down a well trodden road of lofty definitionsand counter definitions. 

Cerebral, emotional and metaphysical experience, in a sense are very much a function. In fact the human mind requires stimulus; whether pure distraction, entertainment, shock, delight and so on, just as much as it requires educational growth or pure information geared toward making progress through life. All of the aesthetic pleasures enjoyed through art serve a fundamental purpose in humanity, feeding our soul, enriching our experience and appreciation for the world around us and everything in it. 

The second definer mentioned above, that of perception, is relevant because it is often said that art is art because someone, often the artist, has defined it as such. There are many ways art makes its way into realms of widespread acceptance, i.e. the institutionalzation of art as defined by galleries, critics and the like, but really, thats just opinion and weighty recognition. Ultimately, for my purposes here, I would argue that art is commonly regarded as differing from design in that it exists more for its own sake rather than having a responsibility to communicate an agenda. But this is where I raise a contentious point; no art is created without some glimmer of communication, as in there is always a mood, a tone, a cultural or stylistic and certainly emotional content at play. The very fact this work has been seen publicly is to allow others to share in this experience, as in to be the recipient of this message. To that end, art serves a purpose and it carries value, meaning, or message as much as 'design' does. 

So, while it is true that design tends to always have a purpose, some non-commissioned graphic work, for example street art, seem to be created for the pleasure of creation, certainly not for profit. BUT nonetheless this still carries an agenda, even if it is just to entertain or decorate - this would fall under some kind of community service at the very least :) In the case of culture jamming, from the now high profile likes of Banksy, there is obviously quite an oblique political or social comment in play; graffiti being an ancient form of civil protest and public display of dissent. An artist may argue against their work having any kind of meaning or purpose, but that's unlikely, it would be to my mind, an exercise in denying its value, any relevance or that it exists at all. 

WHATS THE MEANING OF ALL THIS? 

David McCandless, writer and designer, specializes in data visualisation, otherwise known as info-graphics. At the end of 2010 he locked horns with Neville Brody - lord of the D&AD, bastard child of the Swiss Style and deconstructivism. BBC Newsnight was showcasing McCandless’ latest info-graphics -commissioned to explain some of the socio-economic patterns across the world, and the issue was this: 'did these visual ways of representing hard data really help people get to grips with the serious information being conveyed?' Lord Brody said NO. 

His argument was that, in part the serious nature of the information was somehow cheapened or dumbed down (but in a pretty way), so it lost some of its gravitas but also that the ‘beauty’ in the compositions really just distracted altogether and it would be admired for its aesthetics rather than making any real impact. I could see his point, but it was kind of ironic that some of his own most notable early design contributions include distorted and diffused typography that, while I think look awesome, definitely interfere with legibility... a guys entitled to change his mind I suppose. 

Sometimes heavy data, or comparative information can be a little hard to digest when presented in raw form, you have to really care to want to maintain focus and come away with the bigger picture, so, by presenting this ‘bigger picture’ as A BIG PICTURE takes a great deal of effort out and, if done effectively will transmit meaning in a much shorter time frame with hopefully a more dramatic immediate impact. Mr McCandless definitely held to this logic, and if you look at his work there is compelling evidence. Being too clever clever, and certainly putting form over function is not a good way to behave as a designer, but I found this area of design represented a perfect example of how the arena of art; prioritising creative expression and pure aesthetics, and that of design with its need to carry effective functionality, merge perfectly. 

The question that remains: Can design be considered design if it is executed without any of the earlier mentioned apparent functional ends attached to it? Or does that then become art? Can art be considered art if it is not purely decorative or aesthetic.... does it then veer into design territory? 

From the examples discussed above, I hope to have made clear that this question is not actually relevant. That in fact the two disciplines are joined at the hip. Art in the classical sense (pick a movement), was certainly commissioned, it certainly carried content and agenda; whether religious, political or otherwise. In modern times art is sometimes cynically generated to follow an in-demand trend and taste, therefore targeting a consumer, for profit. ‘True art’ - if such a thing exists, may be generated altruistically, but as stated, there will still be some meaningful purpose to it, purposes that tend to overlap with those that a designer typically works with. The terms artist and artisan to me share too much to be completely separated from one another. Non-commissioned design does not become art or lose any of the elements that allow it to carry a functional purpose, just that that purpose will exist for personal creative agenda. But this fact that both art and design can be seen to communicate messages and have a functional role to play in our lives for me confirms, while this effort to maintain distinct boundaries will keep rolling on, it is maybe worth accepting that more unites than divides the two. It may just be a massive semantic runaround.

So art is art, design is design, art is design and design.. is art. 

*