Design, craft, art & hobbies

[wayfarer]

Here’s something to think about. It concerns the difference between design, craft, hobbies and art. It made a lot more sense out of what I do for a living after I had learned the differences. The inspiration to write this came from a curious brief for a high school’s design & technology major work to be found in another thread.

Design: is the act of creating the specifications (in terms of form and function) of an artefact for use by another person from a brief (or need) supplied by that person or a third party. The artefact would be considered manufactured or fabricated even if it’s just one item. The person who designs it does not make it nor do they write the brief. Their main purpose is the design phase only. There are loose ends around this, naturally, such as the designer could also use the object but it wasn’t the main drive to create it. For example; a car.

Craft: is the act of creating an artefact from raw materials for personal use (or as a gift) using manual skills. A person who does this is a craftsperson; a craftsperson who gets paid to do it is a tradesperson. It’s not a hobby. A hobby doesn’t necessarily include manual skills or the creation of an artefact from raw materials, e.g. Stamp collecting is a hobby but basket weaving is a craft. A craftsperson might identify a need, he/she might work out what it should look like and how it should work, and they will make it and probably use it of give it away but that does not make them a designer as their main efforts and drive is not from the design perspective but from the satisfaction of making it themselves. They might well use design disciplines in the design phase but its minor in comparison to the end result and why they did it.

Hobby: A hobby is a pastime that does not create something from raw materials and manual skills. Its aim is personal pleasure and is rarely given away. Puzzles, stamp collecting, bird watching are all hobbies.

Art: is the activity of creating a self-interested message in any medium that can be communicated to others. The message may be related to personal feelings or attitudes which can be as simple as “I paint landscapes because they are beautiful” or as complex as moral issues of the day. The artist creates the work himself/herself, for personal reasons usually for other people to view. You could argue that a painter commissioned to paint a portrait is not an artist but a tradesperson (a painter) but they would argue they paint for profit to pay for their art. That art is their primary goal and painting for money helps them achieve that therefore they are still artists. Most people I’ve met will say that anyone who is skilled at painting is an artist but I dispute that.

So, what does this all mean?

In a wood working forum I’d expect to find a lot of craftspeople, a lot of tradesmen, a few artists, very few designers and absolutely no hobbyists.

What category do you fall into?

[RETIRED]

No wonder I have an identity crisis.

[bobsreturn2003]

what was michaelangelo ??? a painter. i believe we combine all these skills , to produce ,many of our pieces! along with many others . such as the ability to get a good result out of what appears to be a dodgy piece of wood. what do others think ???? cheers bob

[joe greiner]

I don't think these categories are mutually exclusive. (Does that help, ?) In some activities, it's possible to wear many hats, although one hat in particular may dominate. As you said, "there are loose ends." In my engineering practise, I often had the task of defining the mission, designing the final product, and sometimes specifying detailed steps of the production process. Now that I'm retired, my "hobby" is doing all of the other three. Whether or not my "art" is really ART could be questionable. "Artisan" would seem to be the more inclusive nomenclature.

Joe

[wayfarer]

Yep, I wouldn't suggest things were as black and white as I've described them above. There are overlaps in all areas, but for the purposes of defining the occupations you'd have to leave it out for clarity.
Later, we'd ask which of these roles best describe what we do most of the time. Also, it has a lot to do with passion. Carrying out the role a craftsperson might be more satisfying than the designing phase but if you principally do the design work and love it instead then you might be a designer who happens to make things too. But for most of us, making a good looking chair for Aunt Billy makes us a craftsperson rather than an artist or designer.

Does being a craftsperson making objects for the sheer enjoyment of it make it a hobby? I don't think it is. It's somewhere between art and trade ; a whole thing on it's own rather than drifting into a passtime.

I find the most interesting overlap is the artist and the craftsperson. I've seen woodwork that carries such beauty it separates itself from a mere object and can't be compared to a well made workbench.

I think someone like Michelangelo might be best described as an artist where someone like Da Vinci might best be described as a genius. Someone who can master more than one discipline.

[Harry72]

Yep big overlaps... a custom car builder is a good example.

[pitbull]

I do woodworking for a hobby.

[Wongo]

Hobby has the shortest description so I will pick that one.

[silentC]

You design a piece of furniture, then you craft it from raw materials. The hobby lies in the collecting of tools and lumps of wood that might one day have a use and the art is in justifying all of this to your wife.

[RufflyRustic]

What SilentC said

I'd have to agree that there's a big overlap and sometimes will differ between each project, for example, I've got lots of designs that I'm sure will never get built

I'd have to say that most of my .... work, both in wood and in leather would classify me mainly as a craftperson, but the art status is there too, especially in certain pieces.

cheers
Wendy

[Andy Mac]

The inspiration to write this came from a curious brief
So these are your own definitions, put together from your research, not direct quotes? Not criticising, just fixing it in my head. I think you've done well to isolate what you see are the key differences!
the designer could also use the object
Sorry, lost me a bit here. Do you mean the specific designer could use it (as in take ownership of the finished thing); or do you mean use a functional thing as opposed to a decorative thing? My take is a designer could work equally on functional and non-functional objects with no difference in job description.

Craft: is the act of creating an artefact from raw materials for personal use (or as a gift) using manual skills. A person who does this is a craftsperson; a craftsperson who gets paid to do it is a tradesperson. It’s not a hobby. A hobby doesn’t necessarily include manual skills or the creation of an artefact from raw materials, e.g. Stamp collecting is a hobby but basket weaving is a craft. A craftsperson might identify a need, he/she might work out what it should look like and how it should work, and they will make it and probably use it of give it away but that does not make them a designer as their main efforts and drive is not from the design perspective but from the satisfaction of making it themselves. They might well use design disciplines in the design phase but its minor in comparison to the end result and why they did it.
I have a bit of an issue with calling a craftsman (or craftsperson) a tradesman just because they sell their work. A tradesman does a fixed term apprenticeship gaining a recognised trade paper or certificate; I don't believe there is any equivalent for crafts practitioners in this country. Their skills are learnt in an open ended journey, sometimes from a master, but usually by building on their own inherent abailities.
And some tradespeople have a real passion for and understanding of their chosen medium!

Hobby: A hobby is a pastime that does not create something from raw materials and manual skills. Its aim is personal pleasure and is rarely given away. Puzzles, stamp collecting, bird watching are all hobbies.
The ATO might challenge your definition...they see it as intent for renumeration!
Art: is the activity of creating a self-interested (?? expound!?) message in any medium that can be communicated to others.
I have studied art and work in a school of creative art, and I'm personally over this whole"message" thing. The forcing of students to imbue their work with a bl**dy message has mostly screwed up their output and often them too!! If anything it's far too self-centred. Is that what you meant by self-interested? One risk is the work turns its back on the viewer.

What category do you fall into?

Trade trained artistic craftsman, and occasionally designer.

You design a piece of furniture, then you craft it from raw materials. The hobby lies in the collecting of tools and lumps of wood that might one day have a use and the art is in justifying all of this to your wife.

Love it, especially that last sentiment!!

Interesting thread.

Cheers,

[Poppa]

I like to design furniture, then come up with ways to actually make it. I don't think I'm good enough at it yet to call myself a craftsman. So I'll go with hobbyist for the moment, with a design bent.

[Waldo]

To the professional that practices his profession (in my case, advertising and graphic design) this are two sides: design - which is the understanding of what works, why, and the craft is making it work and perfecting it. My 2¢.

An example in typography (which in my profession is recognised as a craft and in the big agencies a typographer makes big money), setting 300 odd pages of copy - I will optically kern and copyfit every single line of copy for aesthetics and so that there are widows hanging off the end of a line.

A headline - I will optically set each letter so that it looks right. My anal attention to detail comes after learning finished art the old way, which was scalpels, cowgum, bromides, repro cameras and typeset copy. Computers do away with al that now, but they can't do everything perfectly.

Studied Fine Art at Toowoomba Uni, but found it too cold so I left after 6months, I was going to major in Printmaking. 2 years at Qld College of Art doing Commercial Art. Loved every minute of it all and love evry second of my work now (except sometimes for some clients), love what I try in the shed and wish I could turn it into a craft.

[journeyman Mick]

................What category do you fall into?

I'm a tertiary qualified "artist" with RPL'ed qualifications as a tradesman and a tradesman contractors license who's on an open ended journey that's a juggling act of self discovery, craftsmanship, design, art and all too often, making a living. How's that for a definition?

Mick

[wheelinround]

sold my first art works at age 14/15 string art remember those sold for $100 & $40 through a gallery no formal training

Trade trained craftsman well thats what the papers say

self trained in other aspects of design further

created a few pieces of woodwork & metal work

drew plans up for my dad for a bar he had to make many years ago

done some desktop publishing design

layout of tech manuals

Lifes a Journey don't miss the ride

then you have the professional-Uni student who never works just studies knew one of these 30 years at Uni and died of cancer.