As I was saying yesterday, art is primarily used commercially. You may take this for granted, or flat out object. Some artists like to defend their work as purely inspirational—as if to say, it doesn’t mean anything, but it is intended to get you thinking and inspire you to draw your own conclusions… And on the gobble-dee-gook goes. This is all sweet-sounding empty-thinking. All art has a definitive purpose/use. One way or the other, that always involves something commercial, unless the art is good for nothing.

Commercially, you face a difficult balance with every piece of art promoting a service or product because if the art is too interesting in and of itself, it may draw potential customers away from the product itself and not really get them to buy the product. The same thing can happen with art on a product package that isn’t all that great—of course no one will buy your toothbrushes if the packaging makes it appear the toothbrushes are 20 years-old — dated packaging.

Then there is the fine line of success: when you make that packaging that just sings and draws people to buy the product, then, REALLY buy the product. These are the winners. The “art of the sale” proved to make a deal, and profits everyone involved in the sale (assuming it is a good product to begin with). These successes are in large part credible to the graphic designers understanding of the balance between the art and the product. Optimally, the art will not under or over sale. It will reflect the very nature of the product (not appear to be selling a Winchester rifle on a curlers set). It will genuinely satisfy the seller and buyer.

These qualities usually have to be learned by gaining experience. Any excelling artist would agree that throughout their career they made steady improvements and preferred their later works over their earlier. If I look at work I’ve done much more than two years old I want to throw it away. There’s so much I’d do now to improve the art/graphic design.

Lastly, I’d like to comment on how much ought the artist appreciate and trust his own work. I encounter artists all the time that think they have their own special style, and they consistently use the same attributes throughout all of their work. This is usually detrimental to good work. If your style goes out of style, and as you get older you keep using it, then you are “dating” your new stuff. Nobody wants stuff now to appear circa 1989, unless it’s a product deliberately reflecting the past. You see a lot of this kind or stuff out there.

Artistry is something we’ve gotta constantly refine in our abilities as exceptional artists. You gotta observe what works that others are doing currently, and take what works, bend the principles that guide art (in a good way) and make something unlike everything else you’ve ever made before. Then repeat this procedure with your next project. Again and again.

Please don’t perpetuate bad art. There’s too much of it out there. Learn what you need to learn and, if you have to, slowly climb towards excellence.

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