by Michael Patrick

Created on: February 28, 2009

Graphic design, also known as commercial art, is a vastly underrated discipline. It is the means of communicating, in a compelling visual context, the value, status, cost, reliability and appeal of an idea, product or service to a potential consumer. It is the art of contracting those vital messages into a specified space, page or screen with the most advanced tools available.

Graphic design is Art (with a capital A) in a league with the Masters. Above all, it is accomplished by those with 1) a superior artistic talent, and 2) the highly-trained technical skills to create specialized art forms that are practical and commercial.

I have yet to meet (or employ) and good graphic designer who isn't an artist. They are pragmatic, but above all, they are artists. Rather than cut off their ears or commit suicide before their creative works become worth millions, graphic designers employ their natural creativity to buy homes, feed their families and send their children to college.

In today's rushed marketplace, the art of graphic design is often viewed as some kind of computer-generated, PhotoShop-enhanced process that anyone with a Mac or CorelDraw can do. Non artists, often marketing directors and CEOs, consider computers more important than the artists who use them. The artists know that computers are nothing more than a "tool" in a defined medium. There are thousands of computer-savvy "designers" out there with not a whit of creative talent. Trust me, I've hired and fired a lot of them.

The debate, conducted by seriously constipated art critics, over whether graphic art should be raised to the level of "fine" art is ongoing. Many of these respected worthies refuse to consider Norman Rockwell as a fine artist and, instead, demote him to what they feel is the lesser status of "illustrator", a subset of commercial art and graphic design. These same critics laud Andy Warhol's commercial graphics as fine art without blinking an eye. The distinction seems to be that because Rockwell produced his immortal paintings as magazine covers, he is less worthy of the recognition Warhol has for generating graphic designs as art. If that confuses you, join the club.

An argument can be made that creating an image on canvas or in a computer that is free of commercial constraints is more important, somehow, than graphic art. That "real" art isn't influenced by anything but the imagination of the artist. This idea flies in the face of centuries of artists, including Michelangelo, Raphael,

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