4 rules from art school that I use in my work
Hi! My name is Yulia Vakulenko, I am a designer at AGIMAI want to tell you how knowledge from art school helps me solve work problems.
No, this article will not answer the question “Should designers be able to draw?” But if you do ask, I will say no, they should not. The thing is that the principles that were instilled in my head at art school determine my approach to tasks and, in general, to the work of a designer. I want to talk about them. This text will resonate in the hearts of all my fellow designers who spent years in art school.
1. From general to specific
Probably, everyone is familiar with the pain and disappointment when a hypothesis fails or a concept doesn't work. It's even more offensive when you seem to have thought everything through, calculated, aligned it on the grid, pixel by pixel, card by card, taken into account the styles, components and all that. And then you look at your ideal design, drag blocks around the layout for two hours, but nothing new comes to mind.
It reminds me of that same story with the “cube that needs to be moved” in a still life. But you've already laid out everything by tones, painted the shadows and reflections, and even designed the work.
“First, you outline the general composition with broad strokes, and then you go into the details” – a principle that I ignored in art school and always tried to draw that perfect right eye. In the end, instead of a real person, a crooked, disproportionate freak looks at you from the portrait. And you are disappointed in yourself as an artist.
This is exactly the scenario that many designers often follow, and I myself am still guilty of this. They worry too much about pixels, indents, components — in general, they hone technical things already at the start of work on a project or task. Therefore, they often forget about what the goal is in front of them. In my experience, the faster and more carelessly you throw out ideas, the less you focus on secondary factors and think more about global goals and the overall vision. As a result, it is easier for you to accept mistakes and failures, roll back a few steps or even start all over again.
I don't argue that Pixel Perfect is important, that it's necessary to describe user paths and components, that without styles, a proper indentation system and well-developed scenarios, you will be cursed by developers. But first and foremost, we solve the problem, and then everything else – the needs, pains and goals of clients. That's why lately my drafts have been in chaos and anarchy. Now I move pixels and correct indentations only when all the more important issues have already been closed.
2. Context is king
This long-suffering clay jug, it seems to me, was present in every production. It doesn’t matter whether it’s graphics or painting, whether it’s an autumn still life with a rotten pumpkin in the center of the composition or a spring one with tulips in this very jug — it was everywhere. But at the same time, it was different in each work: cold or warm, bright or dim, accentuated or faceless. Everything depended on the conditions that surrounded it. How the light falls, what objects are around, the angle and even the mood of the artist himself — all this affects the result of the work.
Let's draw a parallel with our tasks, because they don't come out of a vacuum either. There is always a context, goals, and conditions. Sometimes they are specific and clear, and sometimes vague. But they are what determine priorities. Target audience, user problems, brand positioning, business needs, team capabilities, budget, legal restrictions – the list is endless. It is important to take everything, or almost everything, into account, because the final result depends on it. The same design can be both a success and a failure in different cases. There is no universal solution to the problem.
3. Feedback is not a clear indication
Those who have been to the viewing are not afraid of criticism. I always thought that viewing at art school was a carnival of censure of you as an artist. Sometimes it seemed that no matter how perfectly I built the composition, that same ill-fated cube would always be out of place in the eyes of the teacher. And the funniest thing is that four different teachers can have completely different opinions about the placement of this cube.
Now I understand that this event taught me to treat criticism not as a call to action, but as food for thought and a possible guide to finding a solution to the problem. Each person comments on something based on their experience, preferences and a bunch of other different factors. So who is right then?
In fact, everyone and no one at the same time. Before you tear yourself apart, try to adapt to everyone and do everything “correctly”, try asking clarifying questions first – why the commentator made certain conclusions.
Once you have reached your conclusions, try to look at the solution from a different perspective. Sometimes people insist on their opinions simply because they see no alternative. But it is in dialogue that truth is born, and in an ideal world, it is also supported by metrics. Therefore, any feedback needs to be discussed, digested, prioritized, and only then processed. Otherwise, you can slide into a complete misunderstanding of your value and die from impostor syndrome.
4. It is easier to complicate than to simplify
This principle intersects with the first one, but I still put it aside. And here's why. In art school, we always taught that any object in front of you — be it an apple, the head of David, or St. Isaac's Cathedral — is a set of certain geometric figures that make up the overall shape. Simplifying it down to small forms while preserving the object's characteristic features is no easy task. This skill is useful not only in working out icons or logos, but also in general for searching for conceptual visualization in a product.
If we want to show a cat, it is not necessary to show it in the form in which we see it in life. Sometimes it is enough to simply draw two triangles and a couple of lines that look like ears and whiskers. What is not obvious at first glance is usually remembered the most.
Conclusion
Although I graduated from art school, I do not paint. But art school taught me other important things for a designer: for example, the ability to adapt to certain restrictions within a team and produce the highest quality results in given conditions. The knowledge and skills that we receive at a university, in courses, in books, articles, etc., must not only be absorbed, but also passed through the prism of our perception, the unnecessary sifted out and used in our work.
P.S. If you have any rules and techniques from art school that you use at work, write in the comments. And also watch our podcast One Two Prod — in the second episode, together with Pavel Aksenov, Ex CPO of Samolet Plus, we figure out what a “good product strategy” is and why product metrics are needed.
