Art is a form of expression giving order to a human's reaction to his/her environment. 

Art can instruct, remind, and persuade.

Art communicates and extends experience, gives form to feelings, searches for and demonstrates reality.

Art has the potential to guide the people and values of the culture that has produced it.

The components of a work of art - subject, form, content.

The Subject of a work of art (which in representational work is an identifiable visual theme) often relates to the originating experience, sensation or reaction of the artist that causes a work to come into being.

Form is all the perceivable characteristics of a work, 
and their arrangement.

Content is the meaning or message that is expressed by a work of art. The reason for its creation

Design is activity by or for a definite reason. Design is structure, order, organization. Design is rational and intellectual. 
 

Design elements	physical realities: line, shape, color, value, texture.
Design principles	guidelines to establish form unity: harmony, variety, dominance, balance, movement, proportion, economy.

COMMUNICATION  MODEL Communication is message conveyance. SENDER - encode - MEDIUM - decode -  RECEIVER                                - FEEDBACK LOOP to sender Some commonality of Sender and Receiver reference frames is required.

Perception/reality, very often "the medium is the message."

Form follows function - The appearance or structure is determined by the performance objective. Establish function first, then create form to fulfill it.

Fine art must really only satisfy one individual, the artist. Applied art is meant to accomplish a purpose beyond the personal aesthetic statement of its creator. Applied art must often reach and satisfy a mass audience. The graphic designer may be expected to move millions of people to read a sign, understand a concept or follow a map.

Graphic design is an applied art 
The creative production as well as the final appearance of fine art and applied art are often identical because the same equipment, aesthetic judgements, and creative approach are employed. The graphic designer is also an artist and though the designer operates within a structure of limitations, there is almost always latitude for personal influence to emerge. The designer, in this sense, does make a personal contribution to the expression or interpretation of ideas.

The following statements relate to "Design Disciplines" in applied art areas.

• Design may be considered as a medium for persuasion.
• Design is concerned with function as well as appearance.
• Design simplifies use, manufacture, and maintenance.
• Design may be considered as an instrument for organization.
• Design can save money by reducing the cost of labor, materials, and production.
• Design must perform in response to human needs.
• Most professional designers believe that products and machines are to be kept subordinate to human beings.
• Design enhances communication. It allows more people to understand a given message and accelerates learning.
• Design is finding the best solution to a problem within the limitations of the problem.
• Design may be considered as a method for improving safety and efficiency.
• Design is an urgent requirement, not a cosmetic addition. 
   
• Design is essential to survival.

CRITICISM OF FINE ART - Inventory, formal analysis, interpretation, judgement. Analysis of form in the criticism of art can assist in the interpretation of content and the evaluation of communication effectiveness.

A quick critique for graphic design considers: execution, correct information, parameters followed, appropriate to communication task, well designed, creative.

Terms: plastic/decorative, picture plane/picture frame, figure/ground, positive/negative,  hard edge/soft edge, motif, hatching, cross hatching, stippling, pencil grades (2B HB 3B 4H 2H), Local color, optical color, arbitrary or subjective color, simultaneous contrast, value scale, value key, value contrast, craftsmanship, rectilinear, curvilinear, biomorphic (organic), geometric, scale/proportion, symmetry/asymmetry (formal and informal balance), horizontal/vertical/diagonal

  The creative process

1. EXPOSURE: initial stimulus, awareness of a problem or need, exposure to parameters and limitations, exposure to previous solutions, possibly some preparation of media.
2. INCUBATION: subconscious assimilation of stimuli and past experiences.
3. ILLUMINATION: conscious awareness of possible solution or direction toward a solution.
4. EXECUTION: verification of possible solution. Translation from idea to reality.

Creative people resist premature closure. (hold out for the best alternative).

The aesthetic response to art manifests itself as a sensing, feeling, awareness that something has been received from the work of art. 

It can be enhanced by an understanding of symbolism used by the artist and knowledge of the artist's sources of inspiration.

"Beauty" in art does not mean a presentation of an attractive ideal. 

Beauty means having qualities of a high order, capable of delighting the eye, or engaging the intellect or moral sense. 

Beauty can occur when works of art embrace whatever is spiritually expressive, even if the expressiveness is achieved by discord, harshness or unsparing realism.

Linear approach to form: shapes are defined by outline or contour.

Painterly approach to form: imagery is developed as open masses of color or value rather than closed edge shapes.

Color is a neurophysiological, psychological response associated with light frequency stimulus. Color is very persuasive. 
 

Color terms etc. from review 2

Illusions of space: linear perspective, atmospheric perspective, chiaroscuro, shadow, size, position on picture plane, overlap, transparency.

Perspective is the way things look from where you are.

Linear perspective presents lines as they would appear from the viewer's position. In two point perspective, horizontal lines appear to converge at one of two "vanishing points" on the horizon. The horizon line represents the eye level of the viewer. Sizes decrease toward the vanishing points.

Atmospheric perspective, sometimes called aerial perspective, presents distant objects as they would appear if seen through layers of atmosphere (air, mist, fog, smoke, haze). This manifests itself in a loss or reduction of: detail, value contrast, and chroma. There is also a hue shift toward blue (distant object colors are seen as cooler).

The nature of a mark, such as a line or a letterform is dependent on: inter-action of tool and surface, response of the surface to the tool or pigment, speed or technique of execution.

Style is a characteristic handling of media, techniques, and elements of form, that give a work its identity as the product of a particular person, group, art movement, period, or culture. The emergence of a new art style does not necessarily mean the replacement of an existing style. Because a style once existed during a certain time period does not mean that it will not return.