ICAD (International Conference on Art & Design ) 2020

THE RELATION OF FINE ART DESIGN AND VISUAL ARTS

Assoc. Prof. Huynh Quoc Thang, Ph.Dr. (*)
hquocthang@gmail.com
Abstract
Among types of art, Visual Arts has a special role and position due to its
applicability and ability to develop in industrial and modern society, in which Fine Art
Design is a target genre most expression. The relationship between Fine Art Design and
Visual Arts is therefore not only the relationship that constitutes the linguistic
characteristics of a particular genre and type of art, but it may also relate to the specific
laws of artistic development in the industrial revolution of modern society today.
Keywords
Fine Art Design , Visual Arts, The relation of Fine Art Design and Visual Arts.
1. Introduction
As a lecturer participating in the teaching of Artistic Studies, Theory of Visual
Culture & Arts and some other basic knowledge subjects for art and graduate classes, the
author of the article usually must confront questions related to the relationship between
art and technology in relation to the development of art forms, especially with Fine Art
Design. In that direction, the topic of the paper as determined hopes to contribute to the
research, writing and training related to the field of Applied Art, directly on Fine Art
Design .
2. Methodology
The paper is made from an interdisciplinary approach, directly in Fine Arts Studies
combining Artistic Studies, Cultural Studies and some other specialized sciences with
qualitative methods are mainly based on the basis of examinations surveying, comparing,
analyzing and synthesizing various sources to initially clarify the development of Fine
Art Design in relation to the Visual Arts both in terms of history and contemporary.
3. Results
3.1. GENERAL PERCEPTION ABOUT THE FINE ART DESIGN AND VISUAL
ARTS
3.1.1. Fine Art Design

(*)
Senior Lecturer, Department of Cultural Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National
University HCMC; Visiting lecturers University of Fine Arts of HCMC (Graduate School), Van Lang University
(Dep. Industrial Fine Arts) and Ton Duc Thang University (Dep. Industrial Fine Arts) ...
1
 In a general sense, Design is the creation of a drawing or convention to create an
object, a system, or a human-to-measurable interaction. In different areas, the Design is
assigned different meanings of the aesthetic, functional, economic and socio-political
aspects of both the designed object and the design process. Three important elements that
the designer must always take into account are: the function of the product and the
material production and production technology. Design is “a plan or specification for the
construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process, or
the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product or process”.
Therefore, Fine Art Design is an art form of creation includes the whole of creative
writing “Fine Art” (especially “Applied Art”) and “Design”, including “industrial design,
graphic design, fashion design, and the decorative arts which traditionally includes craft
objects. In graphic arts (2D image making that ranges from photography to illustration),
the distinction is often made between fine art and commercial art, based on the context
within which the work is produced and how it is traded” [Design,
https://en.wikipedia.org.]. All aimed at creating works/products that can effectively bring
about aesthetic value to the visual field at the same time with values/functions that meet
the requirements of culture - economy - society through 3 creative steps: Drawing
sketches (to sketch out) ideas, Model building (model), Implementation of ideas…
3.1.2. Visual Arts
In a broad sense, if Art is "a way of reflecting reality and conveying ideas and
emotions with images" (Institute of Linguistics 2005: p. 676), then Visual Arts is the
main art form impacting on human eyes, it creates works of art with artificial images of
aesthetic value, which are made of natural materials and are received mainly through
visual channels with specific types:
“The visual arts are art forms such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture,
printmaking, design , crafts, photography, video, filmmaking, and architecture. Many
artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspects of the visual
arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts are the applied arts
such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and decorative art”
[Visual arts, https://en.wikipedia.org.]

3.2. OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT HISTORY OF FINE ART DESIGN

IN RELATIONSHIP WITH VISUAL ARTS
3.2.1. Stage of foundation development
(1) In the first industrial revolution (late XVIII - early XIX, from steam engines
invented by James Watt in 1787):
+ Interior decoration of public works or religious architecture, decoration of
wooden products, ceramics and textile products;
+ Art Designers with the Designs of architects, painters and craftsmen,
carpenters, painters, weavers, blacksmiths ...
2
 (2) The 2nd industrial revolution (at the end of XIX and the beginning of XX,
from electric motors, industrial chains and more and more goods ...):
+ Publication industry with industrial printers, architectural works decorated
with electric light;
+ In particular, the birth of the Bauhaus school (1919-1933) with the declaration
"Fine arts and technology - a new unity" (August 1923) …
This is the period of shaping and growing more and more of Fine Art Design as
a genre that has a special relationship with Visual Arts. For example, new art style (New
art) in Western Europe and the US in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
was applied mainly in applied Fine Arts such as decoration, graphics, etc. including
famous artists with typical "penmanship" such as Siegfried Bing (France), Beardsley
(England), Tiffani (USA), Mucha (Czech), Velde (Belgium) ... This movement started by
advocating "Modern Design Style" against the classic historicalism of nineteenth century
art ...Next, in the mid-1950s, in the Harvard University 's undergraduate program, "Fine
Arts" was changed to "Visual Arts" with the "Art History" subject officially taught in
Department of "Design". It is thought to be a new development, but it can also be seen as
a trace of the influence of the previous Bauhaus school in a "improved design theory with
a approach to modern needs" with the foundation of painting and graphic arts as well as
industrial and decorative art forms ... The important thing here is to affirm the important
role of "artistic vision": "The eyesight is most used in our senses ... The impression
gained from sight is extremely diverse", "artistic vision is the main role in organizing
perception" because "to become art, objects must be made by man". Moreover, "The
division between art, applied art, and functional art should be canceled because of their
similar characteristics, the contemporary design industry". Under the name "Visual Art"
and under "the common characteristic of the design industry, artists and designers are just
one". This confirms "a growing trend in universities from the mid-1930s through the late
1940s, to educating artists with designers' skills, while training designers to be perceptive
about his career as if he were an artist ”[Howard Singerman, 1999].
3.2.2. Stage of shaping and comprehensive development
(1) In the 3rd industrial strength way (between XX, from computers and
inventing new materials, semiconductor technology and supercomputers, internet…):
+ The concept of "Design ", 1960s (XX century);
+ Digital technology revolution, Macintosh computer (1984), Apple laser printer
(1985), software ...;
+ The birth of CNC (Computer Numerical Control), CAD (Computer Aided
Design ) and graphic software such as Corel, Photoshop, 3Dmax, AutoCAD, Google
SketchUp…;

3
 + Change in shape, material, color ...to balance the aesthetic factor and product
Design…
(2) In the 4th industrial revolution ("Industry 4.0", officially announced by the
German government in 2013):
+ Platform Digital - Industry - Business (based on internal functions and
processes): Since 2010, 3D printing technology has begun to be applied in industrial
design (car printing, table printing chairs, jewelry prints and some other products in the
field of fashion design ...);
+ Graphic Design was born: From paper publications to online advertising;
from flyers, posters to social networks and multi-media…
+ Fashion: Designing - Performance - Entertainment technology - Designing
products - Consulting dressing style…;
+ Producing wooden furniture;
+ Advertising - Marketing Communications: Audiovisual - Feedback - Sharing
- Asking ...
Through the activities as mentioned, the types of Fine Art Design can both
inherit the achievements of Traditional Art/Fine Arts and continuously recreate and
create techniques, models and types. New image with new values to not only meet the
cultural needs, aesthetic tastes of people in the present life, but also towards the
requirements of future life in the context of market economy, public industrialization,
urbanization and international integration are expanding…It is clear that Interactive
design has been considered a future trend because through this type of marketing, the
forms of marketing will be organized in a more attractive and entertaining way, which
will entice viewers to examine themselves destroy all information to be conveyed by
hiding small details, only retain the most fascinating and intriguing factors. In fact, the
Art Designs related to QR codes, online games, pop - up books, reality television, touch
screens at bus shelters, home delivery letters, mobile applications, means of using
wireless networks...have been developing and developing strongly: “In general,
Interactive Design is a tool to connect users with products or alternatively erase the
boundaries between people. Design and consumers: Consumers can change designs to
use according to their own needs and designers must think of creating products to meet
this demand ”[Nguyen Trong Thai, 2014: p.73 ].
Through some historical features as mentioned above, one can clearly see that
meeting the cultural and artistic needs of people in modern - industrial society is the main
social function of Fine Art Design in its role as an authentic creative activity of the Visual
Arts: “Design history, it is not only the history of objects and their forms, design history
is the history of life forms, the interest and behavior in the relationship between people
and objects reflected largely in cultural history ”[Le Huy Van, 2000: p. 24]. In other
4
words, Fine Art Design is how Visual Culture & Arts becomes available. More
specifically, under the name Visual Arts and under the general characteristics of the Fine
Art Design industry, artists and designers are just one.
3.3. SOME EFFECTS AND PRINCIPLES ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP OF
FINE ART DESIGN WITH VISUAL ARTS
3.3.1. Technical Effect of Fine Art Design in relation to Visual Arts
In Fine Art Design, the concept of "technique" can be understood as the
decisive factor of "creative tactics of beauty" or "conditions for mass production of
beauty" with principle: “The creation of product models from the inception to the end of
the product. Design must ensure technical, artistic and reasonable factors ... Design
creates a product model for application in production or daily life, in which, the beauty of
the product is always associated with the work its usability ”[Dang Thi Bich Ngan (c.
ed.): p.133]. Along with the development process of the industrial revolution, the
development process of techniques in Fine Art Design will gradually become more and
more qualified in the future. However, "Due to increasingly innovative materials and
techniques, especially techniques from hand-shifted to making machines with chains",
"Due to the mass production of products, there must be a lot of products", "Due to The
idea of widespread consumption is that the majority of the people ": "These are the main
conditions that make industrial products have a beauty of its own, a beauty in accordance
with new technology, and a perfect fit. new use landscape ”(Nguyen Van Y, p.43).
Because of this trend, design techniques on the other hand, Fine Art Design in relation to
Visual Arts is a creative activity through the combination of imagination and aesthetic
feeling of the artist in the process of using the technique of an artist specific types of
design to create a specific idiosyncratic image, so graphic designers as "Design artists are
the factors “connecting the gap between art and technology” through specific technical
and artistic manipulations ”[Huynh Quoc Thang, 2019: p. 46]. That social effect of Fine
Art Design is the most enduring in the industrial revolution 4.0 with context "The growth
of the world economy now depends on digital technology and explodes its expansion",
namely: (1)The growing importance of information and applied knowledge in the modern
economy; (2)The shift from physical production to information processing activities; (3)
The profound change in the organization of production has shifted from standardized
mass production to customized flexible production ”; (4) New economy with global
scale; (5) The transformation of the world economy is taking place through the
technological revolution ... "[C. Barker, 2008]. However, all these processes must always
be associated with the aesthetic nature of the visual arts that accompany them as an
indispensable element : “The artistic value here is not created by technology itself and is
not killed by technology, but appears in a dialectic relationship with the resolution of
mission-technical tasks… where we are. the same association is found between self-
interest and artistic function, as well as the correlation between technical structure and
aesthetic expression ... ”[M. Cagan, 2004: p. 347]. It confirms that the effective technical
relationship of Fine Art Design in relation to Visual Arts is indispensable for specific

5
contents such as: The preparation phase aims to create an idea for a graphic design
project with the first steps in the design that may include: Needs identification, Design
brief, Design planning (Direction), Identifying objects (Audience), Sketching ideas
(Sketching out the idea), Determining images (Thumbnails) ... [Nguyen Dac Thai, 2014:
p. 71]. Similarly, the problem is looked deeper: "art was initially personal, but through
artwork it became social", or "art is like a social emotion " extended " or a "technique of
emotions" in a way that “emotions don't become social, but on the contrary, they become
personal, when each of us vibrates with a a work of art, it becomes an individual but at
the same time remains a society ”[Vugotxki, 1981: p. 314 - 315 & 326]. That "individual"
is the technical efficiency of Fine Art Design, and the "social" here is the elements of
Visual Culture and Arts.
3.3.2. Principles about the relationship of Fine Art Design with Visual Arts
Inherited as a part of Visual Arts, Fine Art Design is inevitably governed by
creative principles such as the laws of existence and development. Some principles of
Visual Arts in Fine Art Design as: (1) Unique design language principle; Overcoming the
situation of copying ideas, styles between artists and designers is increasingly popular;
(2) The principle of diversity; (3) The principle of "Less Is More" & "Minimalism";
(4) The same principle based on ideas from things that share visual characteristics such as
shape, size, color, texture, value…; (5) The principle of “Avoiding visual effects” is a
very interesting issue, for example the limitation in propaganda "design" such as: Abuse
metaphorical images to fool viewers; Magnify the image deviated from the original,
distorted image array, color; Fan pictures are placed arbitrarily, not distributed according
to certain content; The contradictory "words" and "meanings" are presented,
counterproductive and other visual effects are ...
Besides, in the freface of "Media & Culture", the authors of this book have raised
a problem that "while many of today 's student have integrated digital media into their
daily lives, they may not understand how the media evolved to this point; how
technology converges text, audio, and visual media; and what all these developments
mean" [R. Campbell, C. R. Martin, B. Fabos, 2016 : Pref. V]. Indeed, it is one of the
topical issues of modern society that Visual Arts and especially Fine Art Design has its
own characteristics and strengths, which can actively contribute to finding a solution.
Besides the linguistic characteristics as mentioned, Fine Art Design in relation to Visual
Arts is in fact one of the art forms with the clear nature of "cultural goods" according to
principles: "Once the set identifies such goods requires conditions of value evaluation by
mutual awareness in a stable market...then it is assigned a price special treatment. Goods
not valued by the market cannot be valued, and therefore cannot be labeled "cultural" [I.
Even - Zohar (Transl. Tran Hai Yen, Nguyen Dao Nguyen), 2014: pp. 38]. That means
Fine Art Design contributes to creating beauty through a specific work/product subject to
the drastic refinement of the market so the creative decision maker is the designer
necessarily the professional as a true Visual Arts artist:

6
 “From the organic relationship of Visual Arts to the direct perception of the physical
world, a series of aesthetic properties have been born and exist, such as the ability to express
such objects as sensing as real. This ability requires that an artist not only has to master the
technique, be proficient in visual materials, but also have the talent [...]. The talent of the
artist is shown in suggesting, exploring the novel ideas, making the public see the hidden
beauty in the art image, the deep and vast implications of the work and make the souls of
people, the consciousness of society lift up ”[Nguyen Xuan Tien, 2017: p. 175 & 204].

Through the analyzed contents, we can generalize the basic factors related to the
relationship between Fine Art Design and Visual Art with the following diagram:

4. Conclusions and discussion

In close relationship with the field of Fine Arts / Application in particular, Visual
Arts in general, in the nature of Fine Art Design can be considered as a specific art form.
The most distinctive and typical characteristic of Fine Art Design compared to other art
forms is its applicability and development ability in industrial society - modern. Because
of this feature, Fine Art Design in relation to Visual Art, while on the one hand, still has
linguistic characteristics of a specific art genre, on the other hand, it can be directly
directly influenced the specific rules of the market economy to become a kind of "art
goods" that are increasingly developing strongly in the industrialization process of
modern society today. That perception not only has practical implications for artistic
creation or the study of Fine Art Design but it also raises many big issues related to the
content and training methods related to this field. In the context of the current industrial
revolution 4.0, the urgent significance of the problem is not only to help the visual arts
increasingly expand its content to tolerate various types and types of fine art (especially
7
including Fine Art Design) is increasingly developing both in breadth and depth but can
also “create works/products that can effectively bring aesthetic value to the visual field at
the same time as the values/works. ability to meet the different requirements of culture -
economy - society ”[Huynh Quoc Thang 2019: p.44]. The most overarching goal is the
development of Visual Arts in general, Fine Art Design in particular in the life of modern
art with many organic interrelated elements, including directly Artists - Works - The
public, indirectly the Social Environment - Art Institutions - Regulatory agencies and
many other factors ...
Reference
1. C. Barker (2008), Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications,
California: Thousand Oaks.
2. M. Cagan (Phan Ngoc transl.) (2004): Morphology of art, Publishing House of
Writers Association, Hanoi.
3. R. Campbell, C. R. Martin, B. Fabos (2016), Media & Culture : Mass Communication
in a Digital Age,Bedford/St.Martin ‘s, Boston, New York, 10th Edition.
4. Dang Thi Bich Ngan (c. ed.), Tran Viet Son, Nguyen The Hung, Nguyen Trong Cat,
Dictionary of general fine arts, Education Publishing House.
5. Design, https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiet ke; accessed on 28/12/2019
6. Institute of Linguistics (2005): Vietnamese dictionary, Da Nang Publishing House -
Dictionary Center.
7. Even – Zohar (Transl. Tran Hai Yen, Nguyen Dao Nguyen) (2014), Polysystem
Theory Culture and Literature Research, The gioi Publishers.
8. Howard Singerman (1999), Art subjects, making artists in the american university,
University of California, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London.
9. Huynh Quoc Thang (2016), Ethnography of Arts and Culture, Publishing House of
Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.
10. Huynh Quoc Thang (2019), Artistic creativity in art design, Proceedings of
International Science Conference "Social design Vietnam Design Trend 2020", Van
Lang University - Culture and Arts Publishing House.
11. Le Huy Van (2000), History of Industrial Fine Arts, National University Publishing
House Ho Chi Minh.
12. Nguyen Dac Thai (2014), First steps in design, Journal of Design & Fine Arts - Van
Lang University, No. 06/2014, pages 70 - 72.
13. Nguyen Xuan Tien (2017), Fine Arts Curriculum (for postgraduate students),
Information and Communication Publishing House, HCMC. Ho Chi Minh.
14. Nguyen Van Y, Ethnicity in pragmatic fine art, In: Ethnicity of visual arts, Cultural
Publishing House, Hanoi, pp. 37 - 44.
15. Visual arts, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_arts, accessed on 29/12/2019