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Barrett Kincheloe

Shane Sullivan

GDES 3300.01

20 October 2010

The Arts and Business: An Inseparable Phenomenon

In today’s world, there is nothing more ridiculous than the notion of the arts and the

business world having any sort of close relationship. It has been a long tradition in the arts to

remain independent of economics and the nature of money. However, when the arts is combined

with a study of economics, the results can be both enlightening and extremely useful. The

business practices behind the arts will always remain. One example is that museums and theaters

have to compare prices with other institutions in order to set their prices. This is a very basic

business practice among many others that the arts sector practices. Graphic designers especially

have to listen to market signals considering that most of their work is for a client or business.

Some artists are quick to advocate for utopian theories like Marxist style socialism, but how

would that affect their work and lives? Also, keeping up with trends in the markets is especially

important for the graphic designer. Their work can be improved greatly if they see trends in the

markets before everyone else does. Before going deeper into the role of a graphic designer in

any given economy, explanations are needed for economic terms.

The word “economy” has almost become a buzz word as of late. Since the housing

bubble finally collapsed in 2008 and the stock market crashed in 2009, the word has transformed

into a strange connotation. Just like graphic design can be talked about from an artistic and

business viewpoint, economics can be talked about from a mathematical and psychological

viewpoint. What is this economy that everyone talks about? Mathematically it is simply
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described as the combination of labor and capital, but let us move away from mathematics. Is it

located somewhere in Washington D.C.? Is it on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange?

Maybe it is hanging somewhere over the Indian Ocean. Contrary to some views, the economy is

located in the brains of every individual participating in the economy, usually grouped as

nations. Everything that an individual does with his life and money is directly translated into

what an economy is. It makes no difference whether you are the CEO of Wal-Mart or flipping

burgers at McDonalds, you are a part of the economy no matter who you are. If you are a free

individual economically, then you are a part of a free economy. This is where market forces play

the ultimate role in allocating the economy, not any other outside force like government or

totalitarian regimes. In the United States specifically, economic freedom has not existed since

the Great Depression era with the introduction of the government interventionist experiment

“The New Deal”, and the enactment of making gold and silver illegal, which was used as money

at the time. This was mainly a test of waters that was a compromise between free markets and

the most popular idea of the time, socialism. In other words, the United States has not been

economically free for over 70 years, but we will pretend like it is currently to make the role of

the graphic designer in an economy make more sense.

One question that constantly surrounds professionals and their work is “how can I

achieve more?” For the graphic designer, one of many ways to achieve a greater experience in

design is to watch for market signals. How markets send out signals can be explained with the

Austrian theory of the business cycle. The most fascinating aspect of freedom economics is that

the consumer rules supreme. The demands, needs and wants of a consumer is the driving force

that leads businesses to create products for them. As time goes on, businesses engage in

competition and attempt to outdo the other with lower prices and a higher quality of product.
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This phenomenon eventually leads to a higher standard of living for all individuals, even people

outside of that given economy. This is basically the definition of liberal capitalism; the

production of goods and services as cheap and high quality as possible to the masses in a

competitive society.

The consumers express themselves through unlikely means. Those means are how the

markets coordinate, which is by time and interest. When do consumers want their products?

Can they wait longer for more intense business projects, or do they lack patience and want

everything quickly? These fluctuations in time preferences directly affect the interest rate as

well, because the interest in their time preferences has changed. So, when consumers want

products sooner than later, the interest rate rises because banks need to make more money on

their loans over a short period of time. We see lower interest rates when the opposite effect

happens, and consumers can wait longer for their products. These changes in interest rates cause

businesses to invest in two separate areas, consumer goods and capital goods. Consumer goods

are simple things like candy, food and umbrellas. Capital goods are products specifically for

businesses like steel, engine parts and tractors. These goods will always take longer to produce

whereas consumer goods do not take as long. Whenever you see this change in interest rates,

you can make some fairly solid bets on where the demand of consumers is shifting.

How can the graphic designer benefit from this seemingly odd information? Graphic

design is a unique field to go into because we can design for either consumer or capital goods.

We can design candy wrappers for candy companies and we can also design websites for a

manufacturing business. We already need to be attentive to social changes that are going on with

the related cultures. Why not pay attention also to the rise and decline of interest rates?

Considering the interest rate can give us a clear distinction on where consumer demand is
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shifting so that we may prepare design concepts ahead of time. Graphic designers can get ahead

of the game to impress their employers and peers and make some serious money.

What sort of design decisions could graphic designers make with this information? If

people are more interested in consumer goods then how can we change our design? Solid design

choices could include using shapes, lines and typography that represent fun and joy. Graphic

designers could figure out ahead of time how to design the emotion of buying a new pair of

shoes, or receiving a new video game system as a Christmas gift. Representing the impatient

nature of children would also be a plus because it would coincide with the time preferences of

the consumer.

Design choices that are meant to express a period of low interest rates could evoke the

feeling of patience and long periods of time. Designers could use typefaces that are more serif

based to represent the old and timely nature of things. A more serious approach to design would

absolutely be necessary. Producing capital goods is infinitely more about products that are

capable of their job description rather than fun. The use of exploding colors and sans-serif

typefaces should not be used. Furthermore, producing in these markets involves a long process,

so high amounts of movement would not be the best of design choices.

Just as it is important to watch for changes in culture, changes in economic affairs can be

just as crucial for the graphic designer or even an artist. Even though it may seem as if

economics and the arts are polar opposites, they can actually relate to each other on many

different grounds. The arts sector keeps financial records just as any other sector does. Also,

ticket prices and pieces of artwork are closely watched to regulate its price based off of current

market forces and inflation. The markets coordinate in complex ways, but if the graphic

designer can spot the trends early, he can elevate himself to an entirely different level of design.
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Bibliography

America’s Great Depression. Murray Rothbard.

Design and Art. Various.

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The Economics of Art and Culture.

The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality. Ludwig von Mises.

Economic Freedom and Interventionism. Ludwig von Mises