Katerina Down

As most of you will have noticed the style and layout of the site have changed dramatically in the last 48hours (those reading in an RSS reader will have to go and check out the changes).

I have changed not only the site layout and design, something I have been meaning to do for six months or so but have also changed the branding.

Why the change?

This semester brought about another assessment item that required the development of a visual identity, and this was the result. While I am still happy with my old design, a vote was taken and this was a unanimous winner. So here it is. Please leave me any feedback you have!

What else is new?

The change has also coincided with increased freelance work with a positive outlook of more to come. Soon I will be able to show the new website of Johanna H Studios, while almost complete there are still some creases to be ironed out, also there is another website in the near future.

On a more personal note, I have successfully completed another semester of my BCI (Communication Design), leaving me with three semesters left, and as I can’t wait to get out and start working I am available for hire and actively looking for more clients to assist to grow their business or provide the perfect gift.

Need anything designed?

Looking to improve your business online presence? Just starting out as a new business? Or looking to get some printing done but want that professional look. Please contact me to discuss your project and receive a quote.

The second in a series of word puzzle shirts. These shirts are designed to make you think. Could you work out what it means without the title? You can buy the t-shirt here.

The first in a new series of T-shirts, based on a collection of word puzzles. These shirts are designed to make you think. Could you work out what it means without the title?

Taken on an escalator in at the Floating Garden Observatory, Osaka, Japan. Converted to Black and white and cropped for stronger effect.

When asked if I feel I am a designer or artist, straight away I will say I’m not an artist, but a designer. The line between artist and designer can been seen as both clear cut and sharp but conversely as all shades of grey. The more I think about it that shades become less clear, so what am I?

As a graphic designer, my work is commercial graphics derived from client briefs. I believe design is a commercial transaction. This means that while commissioned to make an attractive work, my primary role is to communicate the client’s message to the audience. When push comes to shove, if the work communicates the message effectively the outcome is successful, even if it is not what I would have chosen.
Differences of opinion between the designer and the client are another reason that I am surely not an artist. When my ideas and concepts are compromised with the client or what I believe to be the weaker concept is chosen, the outcome may not be ideal in my eyes but the work could still be a success. In saying that the constraints of a commercial brief are a welcome challenge are often useful as a spring board that boosts ideas.

In late 2006 I began to look more seriously at print objects collected over the years and have spent time flipping through the items, admiring the stocks used, their weight, their texture, and the surface pattern, all of which added to the story the piece was telling. The designs printed slowly started to infiltrate my brain until I could spend hours wondering how they did this or that. This is another area where the grey’s are more clear cut.

Discovering the methods and processes used by another creative plays a role in any artist or designers own growth and development. I feel that artists will more commonly look at other works to expose an opportunity to further an idea to take the “rules” used and “break” them to create something new and innovative. I believe that the way a designer looks at an inspiration is different, it is the message that is being portrayed that will affect the use of similar styles and processes in their future work. Where an artist may see an image and want to paint their own creation in a similar style, a designer will look at the message and investigate how the style strengthens that story.
One unexpected lessons from my recent studies has really blurred the line I see between Art and Design. With so many students in the class all given the same information, message and concept the variety in the outcomes were extensive and inspiring. While talking about this phenomenon I had a light bulb moment, if everyone’s ad is different when given all of the same elements there must be an artistic element. The work must be art in some form as if it were not

wouldn’t everyone’s work be the same? We all got the same brief, content and message to tell, used the same program and still they are all so different

The idea that everyone will read a work their own way has always been evident, but the way that I sent my message and story to others was fairly subconscious initially. Looking around the classrooms the different points of view and the impact of each message on each student became more and more intriguing.  It made me more aware of the endless possible messages that each story I am asked to tell could communicate.

This is a very useful tool when designing to create a solution that will most effectively connect with the target audience, everyone given a brief creates something that they feel will communicate best with their audience. Being something I have always related to artists I begin to comprehend the blurriness of the artist/designer line.

As my studies continue I am developing a greater love for deciphering the messages that people will receive from a piece of work. Every piece that I have created since stepping into the world of design has had a message to send to the reader or viewer. From a small ad to an extensive website design there is always a message, it can be glaringly obvious or very subtle, only readable through the colours and broader design style.

I like to vary how I tell the message, some messages are told better when only hinted, others, need to be glaringly obvious

A design is created to tell it’s story in the most effective way, I beleive this is the difference between art and design. I feel that artist would spend more time trying to complicate the message to a point where the really message is often very ambiguous. I realise that the experimentation and huge variety of art telling the same message is very closely linked to her inspiration of getting her message to another person her way. As I discover the complexity of the relationship between art and design, more and more I feel that maybe they can’t be separated, maybe my designs aren’t just designs but artworks too.

Although now my opportunities aren’t the same as I used to have, the travel I have done has expanded my horizons, and taught many lessons about the importance of visual communication. The use of graphical elements that many people take for granted are not fully realised until you can’t understand the typographical elements of a sign. The way that anywhere in the world a ‘Stop man’ communicates not to cross the road shows that visual icons are just as, if not more important in the global community to express the stories and facts. While there are many universal icons, the use of style and colour also enable a message to be understood without knowing the language. The use of green and white with a strong bold text for an exit sign is also seen across many cultures. The use of graphics as a worldwide language, as seen over sea prove that the message doesn’t need to be said explicitly, opening many more doors.

I do know that the availability of worldwide communication does not eliminate the need for an understanding of the demographics and culture of a piece’s target market. Designing for different people means the message will be read differently, this is very important in my work as I try to  focus on the communication to a certain group rather then the aesthetic appeal. Her works are required to talk to at least one target market, although many briefs require more then one market to be reached, the works must communicate to many and thus must be interpretable in multiple ways.

The difference here between artist and designer? Is that the artist focuses on communicating the message from a more personal point of view. I feel artists do not aim their work as specifically to a target audience but instead they create the work for themselves and it may appeal to one or many groups in society. Many artworks are created to leave the message vague and open to interpretation that touches the viewer, the pieces are aimed to touch the viewer personally not just tell their own story. Thinking here, I again think I am more determined that I am not an artist but purely a designer,

“my pieces are designed to tell their own story, I know people will read that story differently but I try to make the story direct enough that they still gain the same meaning. They are not made to touch the viewer and let them decide what it means”.

Coming back to this draft a week after I wrote it I still beleive that I am a designer and not an artist but I am much more aware of how my work can be called art and my definition of what’s design and what’s art has changed.

The line drawn between art and design is one of many smaller lines, the scope is large and the variety extensive, it includes more shades of grey than many feel possible. The debate of where creative’s lie in the spectrum is set to continue and develop for many generations to come.