A Personal Touch: Student Interview

Hey all! After a mini-hiatus (thank you, Spring Break), I'm back with more posts about technology in the art world. While I have more information on Adobe and their advertisements coming soon, I want to start off this week with something a bit more...fun!

I recently sat down with one of my closest friends, Erica. A bit you should know about her:

She's a sophomore Art major at UMCP (just like me!) and recently was accepted to the very-difficult-to-get-into design concentration. While she works in the fine arts, too (and I've seen her work - it's truly amazing), she tends to spend most of her spare time working in Photoshop. Though it's not common to use Photoshop as a painting tool (it's mostly used for pre-existing image manipulation), she does so. She's been interning at a PR firm that works to create brochures, pamphlets, invites, and etc. for big events and programs. You can find her DeviantArt page here.

On to the interview!

Note: Since I took quick notes from talking to her, I've turned them into (coherent) full sentences. It's still all of her thoughts, though!

Question

Do you think that art has become more prevalent because of graphic design?

Answer

I don't think it's become more prevalent, but we don’t notice anymore how much art perpetuates so much of society. Logos and marketing are now part of every day society, in comparison to seeing paintings and other fine art in museums.

Question

Do you think that art has become de-valued? Is it not as important?

Answer

It's not really one or the other. I think art now is being used in a broader spectrum, because now it's in addition with whole other field of graphic design, which is used to create wedding invitations, logos, magazine layouts, etc.

Question

Is there still room for fine artists?

Answer

Yes! They take advantage of technology in different way. They use websites to host their exhibits or show their past works - they've adapted to a new technological age.

Question

Are graphic designers equally as artistic?

Answer

I think they do a different kind of art. They're related but still very different – they need to be talented at different things. The “best painter in the world could really, really suck at design.” So one is not better, it's just different.

Question

Any general comments?

Answer

There are even more new products to use art in different aspects of society (both mainstream and not-so-mainstream). I think products such as Photoshop and Flash have revolutionized both the art and design worlds. I don't think the fine arts will “die” in a sense, though. Art will continue to change and grow with the times – but instead of replacing each other, “people will always be finding new ways to make beautiful things.”